Future State: The Next Batman #1
DC Comics
Written by: John Ridley
Art by: Nick Derington
Colors by: Tamra Bonvillain
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
It’s too bad DC allowed the identity of the new Batman to slip out. While it seems unfathomable for something like that to be kept under wraps for so long, not knowing who has taken on the cowl before John Ridley explicitly told us would’ve been nice.
While that might seem like an obvious statement, DC’s handling of the matter of the new Batman’s identity comes to mind because of the approach Ridley and Nick Derington take in Future State: The Next Batman #1.
Readers are diving into a world of familiar faces where nothing so much is different, which Ridley and Derington take advantage of that right away. So, their approach to Future State: The Next Batman #1 is still effective, but it would’ve been enhanced if readers didn’t know Batman’s secret identity.
Future State: The Next Batman #1 also gives us a clear understanding of what exactly this Batman fights. That definitely needed to be defined early in this book, since Bruce Wayne tough so many different forms of evil through the years — on top of the fact readers are coming off of Dark Nights: Death Metal.
Also featured in Future State: The Next Batman #1 is Outsiders by Brandon Thomas (writer), Sumit Kumar (pencils and inks), Raul Fernandez (inks), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Steve Wands (letters), along with Arkham Knights Chapter One: Rise by Paul Jenkins (writer), Jack Horner (art), Gabe Eltaeb (colors) and Rob Leigh (letters).
Both stories are important to the world-building — not sure when, or even if, we’ll see the new Batman meet either Future State groups. The two issues were good, but Arkham Knights really gets your attention with its wild combination of knowns and unknowns.