From the Batcave: Squire and Knight

Technically Beryl was created during Morrison's JLA run, but I think that she became a bit more well known in the pages of Batman. Her "communication powers" also got eventually downplayed (or removed entirely) so I feel like she is definitely more of a Batman character than JLA's.

Her appearances in Morrison's JLA and Batman are obviously must reads for any fan of Morrison, but is there anything else worth checking out?

There was Knight and Squire miniseries by Cornell and Hodgkins. It fleshes out their partnership and tries to expand DC universe in UK by introducing (and re-introducing) various characters. Nothing spectacular, but solid stuff and it is not like we can be very picky for content with Beryl.

After that there was a guest appearance in Batgirl #22. Again, nothing spectacular, but solid stuff that is worth checking out. As a bonus it works as a set-up for Stephanie getting involved with Spyral in Morrison's Batman Inc. storyline. 

A bit of a side topic, but I feel like Stephanie was going to play a bigger role in Morrison's run if Flashpoint/New 52 hadn't removed her for few years. On the other hand then we likely wouldn't have gotten Grayson ongoing if Stephanie wrapped up Spyral's plot. So who knows which scenario is better in the end.

Anyway, Beryl had few more cameo appearances before Flashpoint, but nothing really that stands out. So what happened after Morrison "promoted" her to Knight role? Not much as it turns out. Snyder's Batman was taking over at that point and naturally plots connected to it got more focus. It wasn't till Infinite Frontier that Beryl got some pages again. 

If you have read my Batman Inc. post then you already know that she made a return there, but those comics weren't any good. Anything else?

There is Batman: Detective by Taylor and Andy Kubert. It is not in continuity, but Beryl gets decent amount of pages there. Is it any good? Personally I didn't find it very good, but I usually don't like Taylor's writing. So if you liked his other stuff then I think you are likely to enjoy this as well.

Now funny thing is that Doomsday Clock mentioned Beryl getting a new Squire and we actually get to see her in Batman: Detective. It is a development that makes sense, but it is in a weird place. Detective is not in continuity. Doomsday Clock kinda is and isn't, feels like its status changes every year. And there was also one panel cameo in Dark Crisis, but we couldn't see them clearly there so who knows if it was a mistake or a real thing. And she was nowhere to be seen in Brisson's Batman Inc. So who knows in the end.

One last thing. Morrison did kill the previous Knight, but it is rarely that simple, is it? After he gets buried and Beryl becomes the new Knight we get one panel with UK officials talking about him. One of them mentions that Knight was very popular, but unfortunately there are no Lazarus pits left to bring him back. And another official says "That may not be strictly true, prime minister...". It looks like Morrison was setting up potential return, maybe real return, maybe some sort of evil zombie return. Unfortunately it doesn't look like this plot point will ever get addressed.

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