Murphyverse

The Murphyverse is the unofficial name given to a line of American comic books created by writer/artist Sean Murphy, and published by DC Comics under its Black Label imprint.

Following the critical and commercial success of Batman: White Knight (2017–18) and its sequels Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019–20) and Batman: Beyond the White Knight (2022-23) — three limited series created by Sean Murphy — DC Comics was reportedly interested in creating a comic book line centered around Murphy's works, with him overseeing the making of each comic as they are developed by different creative teams and then published by DC under its Black Label imprint.^[1] Although it currently does not have an official name, the line is commonly referred to as the "Murphyverse".^[2]

In revealing vision for the Murphyverse, Murphy laid out six rules that all writers and illustrators must follow when creating stories for it:^[3] First, any character that dies cannot be subsequently resurrected; second, there can be no internal monologues; third, no series can be rushed; fourth, the authors of the books must have as their primary focus the goal of pleasing their readers; fifth, there must be at least one vehicle, such as the Batmobile, in each comic; and sixth, no series may crossover with another, despite taking place in the same shared universe.^[4]

While the Murphyverse has so far focused on the superhero Batman and his overall cast of supporting characters, Murphy has indicated that he plans to expand the line with the release of comics based on other DC characters and teams, such as Superman and the Justice League.^[5][6] Murphy said that his comic book line is DC's equivalent of Marvel Comics' Ultimate imprint: "I feel like I've got all the freedom in the world and my own universe, Batman. I mean, like, everyone wants that. So I don't know how I ended up here. But it's like Marvel's Ultimate Line but with Gotham City."^[7]

• The Sandman Universe