Whilst Yara Flor takes over as the new Wonder Woman in both Future State: Wonder Woman and Future State: Justice League, Diana and Nubia are given a chance to shine in two very different stories in Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman.
The first story, written by Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad with art by Jen Bartel, follows Diana in a distant future where most of the inhabitants of the world seem to have died out, and all but a few of the many DC heroes have fallen. It seems like Themyscira is the last place on Earth with living people that we see, with the last handful of Amazons defending an aged and dying Swamp Thing, who has transformed into a tree. If he falls, the Green dies with him, and all hope for Earth is lost forever.Unfortunately, it looks like Earth may very well end up falling as Darkseid arrives, looking for one final battle in the face of unstoppable destruction that has already claimed Apokolips. taking the lives of Orion and Big Barda in the process. Now it's down to Diana, her Amazons, and an elderly Superman, to stand against this New God and the destruction of Earth.
This story is one of a couple in Future State that has been set in a very distant time period, where most of the world seems to have died out; the other being Future State: Swamp Thing. Whilst that book was a very grim, almost horror-like book this story takes a very different approach. Despite the world being on the brink of destruction and heroes we know and love dead it still feels like something of a hopeful story, one where there's a lot of beauty in the world still.
A lot of this is down to the quality of art from Jen Bartel, who manages to make every single panel of the story look beautiful. The art has a very gentle feel, and its pastel-like colours and clean lines makes it feel very peaceful, and displays a future full of beauty even in the face of the end of everything. This is even more apparent when the story moves across to Apokolips for a bit, and you see the stark contrast to the darkness of that world. But it's not just down to the art, it's also down to Diana, to her ability to love and see the goodness in all things that leads this hopeless future to still feel like a place worth fighting for, one worth caring about.
The second story, written by L.L. McKinney with art by Alitha E. Martinez and Mark Moralez, is set much closer to the present time of the DC Universe, and sees Nubia stepping up take on the mantle of Wonder Woman in Diana's stead. We see Grail, daughter of Darkseid, searching for artefacts across the world. These seemingly unconnected pieces are being taken from temples and museums, and it's up to Nubia to figure out what connects these things, and why Grail wants them.
This story is more what readers would probably expect from a Wonder Woman title, with our hero involved in magical and mythology based adventures that make her the perfect person to step up and stop the bad guy and save the day. There isn't a huge amount in this issue that you wouldn't expect Diana to do, but there are a few moments that show how Nubia isn't just a stand in, or a coy paste version of the character. We get to see how she differs from her sister, and why she's just as worthy to be Wonder Woman.
There's much more of this story given over to world building and story elements than the first, and we get some interesting backstory on the artefacts that Grail is after, and what she might be intending to use them for, and it doesn't feel as throw away as some of the Future State stories, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is stuff that we may see in some form once Future State is over and the main series books start again with new titles.
Despite the stories being given the same amount of space it ended up feeling like we didn't spend as much time with Nubia as we did Diana, possibly because the first story seemed to be told so much from her point of view whilst the second had Nubia reacting a lot, rather than being more proactive. Hopefully this is something that will change in the next issue, as I really want to get to know her character better and spend some more time with her.
Overall Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman proved to be an interesting issue, one that showed readers a new version of Diana that still felt true to her character, and may have introduced Nubia to some new readers who've never had the chance to experience her before.
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