Poor Tim Drake just can't seem to catch a break, even in Future State. The events of the previous issue saw our intrepid hero putting together a plan to infiltrate a Magistrate convoy so that he can destroy the dangerous new Lazarus Resin, a chemical derived from the Lazarus pits that will make the Magistrate's new mechanical soldiers even stronger. Unfortunately, the issue ended with Tim being killed by the Magistrate, but being covered in Lazarus Resin in the process; resulting in Tim literally rising from the dead.
This issue picks up where that left off, with the newly resurrected Tim fighting against the Magistrate whilst Spoiler and Darcy try to find a way to stop the convoy. Despite being an issue that focuses a lot more on the action than the first one, there's a surprising amount of time given over to characterisation as Tim begins to hallucinate because of the Resin, giving readers something of an insight into his mind. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be a great place right now.
despite having seemed to have done pretty well in the Future State, having remained a hero and fighting on for his home of Gotham Tim seems to be full of doubts, second guessing himself and not thinking that he's good enough to stand against Bruce's legacy. Considering how close Tim is to being like Bruce it's ridiculous that he'd be filled with these kinds of fears, that he'd consider himself a failure, but this is a future where Bruce is dead, Dick is up in Arkham, Damian is gone, and Jason is working for the villains; this isn't the Tim that we all know and love. With the rest of the Bat-family fallen apart would he still see what he's doing as the right thing?
It's hard to know how much of this is really what's going through his mind, or if the negative effects of the Lazarus Resin are warping his thoughts. We've seen across the decades since its introduction that the Lazarus pits have a poor effect on the minds of the people who use them, often twisting them into violent versions of themselves, and now there's a version of those chemicals that are no longer compatible with humans, so who knows what it could be doing to Tim's mind?
On the plus side, the resin seems to have had some positive effects physically, turning Tim into something of a one man army, letting him beat down dozens of the heavily armed and armoured soldiers without injury. It seems to have transformed Tim into an even more impressive fighter than he's ever been before, but it doesn't look like this is something that's going to last.
The issue ends with Tim seeming to sacrifice himself to stop the Magistrate and their plans, saving Darcy in the process, but the final moments of the issue shows that he manages to survive the event; probably in thanks to the resin. There were hints that this wouldn't have been the end for the character anyway thanks to Future State: Justice League #2 showing him alive and well and being considered for Justice League membership, but I think it's a shame the issue ended with the reveal of him being alive, rather than showing a bit more of what kind of state this experience leaves him in. Does he still have enhanced abilities, is his mind still affected, is he back to normal? Sadly, it seems we won't know unless he happens to turn up in the ongoing Future State: Gotham series and this story still counts.
As it is, this is a pretty entertaining story that centres on Tim Drake, with some great action, some good character insight, and includes some good characters in Spoiler and Darcy. Hopefully Tim will continue to get some good stories once Future State comes to a close.
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