Batman #63
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeBatman #63 is the third installment of Tom King's 'Knightmares' arc — a formally daring sequence within his long-form Batman run (Vol. 3, 2016–2019) in which an enemy has trapped the Dark Knight in a machine designed to drive him insane through an unending chain of nightmares. 'Smoke and Mirrors' stands out within the arc for its emotional weight: it presents a dream-world in which Catwoman and Batman are partners in both crimefighting and life — a 'road not taken' following the aborted wedding of Batman #50 — before John Constantine, himself revealed to be part of the dream, tears that illusion apart with a gut-punch cliffhanger. The issue is a key chapter in King's sustained meditation on grief, identity, and the cost of Batman's mission, and it demonstrates how the arc used the comics medium's formal tools — changing artists issue to issue, fractured chronology, and unreliable narration — to put readers inside Bruce Wayne's disorientation.
ComicBooks.com Value
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Written by Tom King with interior art by Mikel Janín (colors by Jordie Bellaire, letters by Clayton Cowles), the issue was edited by Jamie S. Rich with associate editing by Brittany Holzherr, and shipped January 23, 2019 with a March 2019 cover date. It falls at the midpoint of King's planned 100-issue run — a run that would ultimately be restructured and concluded with issue #85 before continuing as a separate maxi-series — and was produced during a period when King was deliberately deploying rotating artists to underscore the dreamlike unreality of the 'Knightmares' arc, with each installment carrying its own distinct visual texture. A variant cover was provided by Tony S. Daniel. The issue also carried a five-page story excerpt from the then-forthcoming Wonder Twins #1 (written by Mark Russell, art by Stephen Byrne) as a promotional backup.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Part 3 of 7 of the 'Knightmares' arc (subtitled 'Smoke and Mirrors'), published January 23, 2019 (cover-dated March 2019).
- Written by Tom King; interior art and cover by Mikel Janín; colors by Jordie Bellaire; letters by Clayton Cowles; edited by Jamie S. Rich.
- A variant cover was provided by Tony S. Daniel.
- All characters in the main story — Batman, John Constantine, Catwoman, Two-Face, and Alfred Pennyworth — appear exclusively within dream/illusion sequences, a formal device King sustained across the entire 'Knightmares' arc.
- The narrative twist: Constantine, who appears to be helping Batman recognize his nightmare, is himself revealed to be part of the dream — and warns Bruce that an enemy has strapped him to a machine with the intention of driving him insane.
- The issue revisits the emotional fallout of the failed Bruce/Selina wedding (Batman #50) by showing a dream-world in which the two are married and crime-fighting together, before that vision collapses.
- Collected in Batman Vol. 10: Knightmares (DC Comics, 2019), a trade paperback that gathers Batman #61–63 and #66–69.
- The issue includes a five-page promotional excerpt from Wonder Twins #1 (by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne) as a backup feature.
Cast · 22 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Batman: Renacimiento #32 (2019), Batman #10 (2019), Batman #32 (2019), Batman #33 (2019), Batman: Deluxe Edition #5 (2020)
Key issues in Batman
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.