DC has provided ComicBook.com with an exclusive preview of Batman: White Knight #7, the penultimate chapter in writer/artist Sean Gordon Murphy's epic that pits a seemingly-reformed Joker against a Batman increasingly vilified by the government and the press.

At this point in the story, though, things have begun to unravel, with a new Joker on the scene and Jack Napier -- the chosen name of the reformed Joker -- dealing with a bit of an identity crisis.

The series has toyed with several themes from the movies -- Jack Napier, after all, is the name given to The Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 blockbuster. Meanwhile, his approach to "fixing" Gotham -- to run for mayor and radically change things from the inside -- is nothing entirely new to supervillain plots but feels less like the Penguin running for mayor in the comics and more like Harvey Dent's crusade in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.

The series, which Murphy has developed for years, takes place in an alternate DC Universe reality unrelated to the current Batman continuity, allowing him the flexibility to do, basically, his version of a Batman "movie," complete with the ability to kill or radically change characters in a way he would likely not be able to do in the main-line Bat-books.

Murphy recently said he hopes to persuade DC to release a special collected edition of the book for mature readers, restoring some of the adult language and nudity that had to be cut in order to match Batman's PG-13 brand. Murphy, who has shared process sketches on The White Knight for months including some of the salacious material, went to fans on Twitter to ask about interest, and was blown away by the response.

You can see the preview pages in the attached gallery, and the official solicitation text below.

This issue, it’s Jack versus the Joker! Napier’s identity crisis spins out of control and compromises his grand plans for Gotham City—but not before he strikes a fateful bargain with Neo Joker. A browbeaten Batman accepts a peace offering from Batgirl, and some unexpected advice from Alfred sets the tone for the GTO’s new mission to redeem the city.

Batman: White Knight #7 will be on sale next Wednesday, April 4. You can reserve a copy by contacting your local comic book retailer, or pre-order a digital version on ComiXology, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble's websites.