Future State: Dark Detective #1
DC Comics
Written by: Mariko Tamaki
Art by: Dan Mora
Colors by: Jordie Bellaire
Letters by: Aditya Bidikar
The more of DC’s Future State I read, the more it becomes apparent —anything is possible. What Dark Knights Death Metal did was give DC the opportunity to really go out and explore their world like never before. Every issue that I’ve read so far makes this abundantly clear, and Future State: Dark Detective #1 is no exception.
Normally, I would never use “electric” to describe the world in which Batman exists, especially when it comes to Gotham City, yet that’s the perfect way to describe Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora’s Bruce Wayne book. The pages of Future State: Dark Detective #1 feels more like something out of Akira rather than Batman — which is the type of avenue I hoped DC would take when Future State was first announced. New, fresh, unexpected.
Future State: Dark Detective #1, takes us to a world where technology appears to be the new sheriff in town — where Batman is no longer welcome. While this troupe is not new, what we get in Future State: Dark Detective #1 is intriguing, showing us a Batman and a Bruce Wayne we’ve rarely, if at all, seen before — on the run and unsure of what to do. Furthermore, what’s both interesting and ironic is Wayne Enterprises appears to be the very entity that is the cause for Batman’s demise.
Also featured in Future State: Dark Detective #1 is Future Past by Matthew Rosenberg (writer), Carmine Di Giandmenico (illustrated by), Antonio Fabela (colors), Andworld Design (letters).
Some of the bigger Future State books have contained smaller stories within them — some good, some not so much. However, Future Past part 1 is a nice companion piece to Future State: Dark Detective #1. It does a great job of showing some of Gotham’s underbelly, as well as the military-like state that Gotham has become.