Originally published on Patreon
The Future State event was where I got back into reading more of the DC Universe, thanks to it being something of a jumping in point after what I felt was a pretty awful period of The New 52 on to Infinite Frontier. And whilst I did enjoy Future State for what it was, there was a lot of it that just didn't work for me. The Batman side of Future State was pretty good, and so making an ongoing series based upon this alternate future sounded like it could be fun; and whilst the series hasn't been perfect, there is definitely a lot to enjoy about Future State: Gotham.
With the new Joker having been defeated, and relative peace across Gotham, the masked heroes can concentrate on Magistrate once again. However, it looks like others have different plans, as violence erupts across the city as multiple Batmen begin to appear, taking on the authorities in their own ways. So, how many Batmen is too many Batmen? I hope your answer isn't five, because we've got five of them now.
So, we have Jace, who's been Batman since the series started, and is currently working with Red Hood to take down the Magistrate. Bruce Wayne has now been rescued by Talia al Ghul, and is back in Gotham. Dick Grayson has used the Brain drug to gain precognative abilities, and has taken on the role of Batman in order to get the perfect future outcome. Hush has grabbed a classic Batman suit out of storage and is pretending to be the original Batman to further his plans. And Damian Wayne, who has spent decades in literal Hell searching for his father has returned to Gotham as Batman 666, determined to destroy all those in his way.
It's fair to say that there is a lot going on this issue, but it never really feels overly bloated; which is something of a spectacular feat really. Each of the Batmen get a scene or two where we further their stories. It also helps that each of the five have their own distinct looks to them, where each of them is instantly recognisable on the page. There's not going to be any moments here where you're unsure which characters you're following at any given time.
As someone who really enjoyed the Grant Morrison run on Batman, I really like that Batman 666 is being used here, in its own unique way. Damain thinking his father is dead and deciding to go to Hell to bring him back absolutely tracks with his character, and feels like the kind of wildly arrogant move he'd make. The fact that his time in Hell has changed him, twisting him into this even more violent man, with some mystical abilities, makes him the most interesting Batman of the bunch.
Future State: Gotham has been one of those series that I've found is getting better as it goes on, probably because it took it a little while to figure out the kind of book it wanted to be. Now that it's had some time to settle in, to establish this new version of Gotham and it's cast of characters it seems to be heading in a pretty decent direction.
The black and white art on this series has been compared to Manga art, and I'd agree that it has more in common with Manga than the usual DC stuff. But it really works with this title. Perhaps it's because the slightly sci-fi like setting and some of the new character designs seem to draw inspiration from several Manga series; but even if it's not, and that's just a coincidence, the art works perfectly for this series.
The back-up story for this issue features Batman 666, and much like the other back-up's we've had so far, doesn't really seem to be part of the Future State: Gotham timeline. Still, it's a neat little story that tells a short tale of an adult Damian in a very nightmarish place.
This article, and many others, can be read a month early on my Patreon for as little as $3 a month!
No comments:
Post a Comment