If there's one thing that Future State is teaching me, it's that I absolutely love Ram V's writing, and think he might be my favourite writer at DC at the minute. Whether it's horror futures with Future State: Swamp Thing, magic apocalypse in Future State: Justice League, or now Catwoman doing a train heist, he just seems to be able to make everything work.
This issue follows a similar set up to the other Gotham based Future State books, which is something I really enjoy as some of the Future State stories don't really seem to work together or make complete sense as a whole. With the Magistrate having taken control of the city they're looking to get a stronger hold of Alleytown, and the issue clearly shows how that's affecting everyday people in the city, with the first few pages showing citizens waiting to be loaded onto trains to be relocated. The book very clearly sets the Magistrate up to be villains here, probably more so than any other Future State book, and I think the fact that the imagery is evocative of Nazi's helps a lot with that.
Luckily, Catwoman is on the case and is looking to get onto the train. This is the highlight of the issue, and her heist skills get used in a great way, transferring things that she would have once done to steal stuff into a way of saving people highlighting how far the character has come over the years from villain to hero.
Unlike some other Future State books, Selina feels a lot more like the character we've been reading for a while now too, and it's more the world around her that's changed and who her enemy is. Where other books in the event are changing how characters act it's great to see her still being herself. It's one of the few books that feels like a natural progression of her current series, and it's all the more stronger because of that.
It's also great to see a more human face put onto the Magistrate. They've been a pretty faceless threat so far, with only a couple of characters that seem to have any kind of character to them, but here they actually seem like people. There's some small moments where a faceless guard s dealing with a kid who's asking to go to the toilet and you just get the sense that he's a regular guy just trying to get by. He seems tired and worn down and just wants to get things done so that he can clock off and go home; and it's more character and more humanising that any other portrayal of the Magistrate I've seen.
Otto Schmidt provides the art for the issue, and makes everything look great. Whether it's the wide shots of the processing station where crowds are waiting to be put onto their trains, or the tight confines of the train itself, he's able to breath life into whatever the story dictates. He also makes Selina look great, and I love her new costume, especially the way her goggles retract up into her cowl when needed. It feels very high tech, yet also true to who Catwoman is, and makes sense as something she'd use.
There's some twists and turns in the story, with some surprise characters thrown into the mix that I wasn't expecting, and make things a lot more interesting that the story first appears. It also sets up for what could be one of the more interesting second issues in the Future State Gotham books, and one that I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing resolved.
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