Batman Arkham Knight came out in 2015, and it introduced a new Batman villain in the form of the titular Arkham Knight - although he would eventually turn out to be rooted in the comics. Today, however, Rocksteady's Arkham Knight becomes official Batman canon as the character is finally introduced in Detective Comics 1000.
The landmark Detective Comics #1000 mostly contains stories from across the ages of Batman, but the final story "Medieval" introduces the Arkham Knight comic version into Batman comics for the first time, making him canon - and the first time he has appeared outside the Arkhamverse.
Detective Comics 1000 is out today, and in celebration of the landmark it contains Batman stories from various different Batman writers, including such notable names as Scott Snyder (creator of the Court of Owls, who may be the subjects of the next Arkham game), current Batman writer Tom King, and Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City writer Paul Dini.
SPOILERS FOR DETECTIVE COMICS 1000 AND BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT AHEAD
The last story is called Medieval, and is written by current Detective Comics writer Peter J. Tomasi. It's mostly monologue by some unseen character over pictures of Batman fighting his rogues' gallery, but the final page reveals the character speaking as none other than the Arkham Knight, making his first ever appearance in official Batman comics - and his first outside the Arkhamverse games and comics.
In the game the Arkham Knight is revealed as second Robin Jason Todd, who was supposedly killed by the Joker. In the comics Todd became the Red Hood when he returned, which also happened at the end of Arkham Knight. This comics version, however, does not appear to be Jason Todd, so his identity is a mystery at this time.
The "Medieval" storyline will continue in Detective Comics 1001, but it's certainly worth picking up this issue (or the final graphic novel release) if you're a big fan of the Arkham series - and it's certainly cool to see one of Rocksteady's own creations brought back to the original Batman comics.
