Future State: The Next Batman

Future State (Collected Editions)

by John Ridley, Vita Ayala, Andrew Constant

The DC timeline has been shattered, and the pieces of a dark possible "Future State" are reflected!

The DC timeline has been shattered, and the pieces of a dark possible "Future State" are reflected! Giant, sprawling future Gotham City is under martial law, protected and regulated by a private security force led by the infamous Peacekeepers. Their mandate is to maintain the safety of the citizens of Gotham, regardless of any Constitutional rights, and to hunt down, incarcerate, or kill all masked vigilantes, villains, and criminals in the city limits. It's a dangerous and violent look at a possible future Gotham City and the heroes and villains who live there!

Collects Future State: The Next Batman #1-4; Future State: Dark Detective #1-3; Future State: Nightwing #1-2.

DC Future State spotlights the World's Greatest Super Heroes in fresh new roles, with all-new characters taking up their iconic mantles. DC Future State features an incredible array of creative talent, combining award-winning writers and artists with new voices from the worlds of TV, movies and animation. Discover the DC Universe like never before!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Batman, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2021

About the author

John Ridley IV (born October 1965)[2] is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed anthology series American Crime. His most recent work is the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992.


Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just an awful collection of throwaway stories that ranged from dull to terrible.
I had to force myself to finish because they seemed to get worse and worse as they went on. Nothing is explained. Nothing!
You're just plopped down in this dumb setting where the mayor has (apparently) put martial law in effect, and a shoot-on-sight order out for anyone wearing a mask.
Something happened to Batman that caused all of the chaos, but what it was is never stated in this volume. A recap of the events leading up to this at the beginning of the book would have been nice.



The Batman story didn't particularly make much sense, wasn't very interesting, and ended abruptly. Tim Fox? Who the hell is that? Apparently, he's an old character from the bygone days, but it doesn't explain why he insists that everyone call him Jace. That just added an extra layer of stupid that didn't need to be there. Also, the plot revolves around a bunch of family drama that leads nowhere by the last issue and didn't capture enough of my interest to make me want to pick up any more.



Nightwing's entry was on par with Batman's in that it was readable but nothing stuck to my ribs. And as Chad mentioned in his review, once you notice that Dick's chin strap is attached to his goggles, you can't unsee it.




But Batgirl's story? That's when I really got an inkling that I was in for a tedious shitshow. Prison fights, stupid levels of mistrust between old friends, more prison shenanigans, a breakout, and the prerequisite not leaving one of our own behind trope. Bah.



The Outsiders stuff with Katana and Duke didn't make any sense to me. Just random stuff happening while she swings her sword/husband. I mean, who the hell is keeping up with Katana, anyway? Not me, that's for damn sure. I had no idea what was going on in her personal life and no idea what the deal with the two swords was. I also had no idea what the curse was that Black Lightning was under or what it meant for the story. So. Confusing.



However, those four were the best of the bunch, and I was sorry I hadn't appreciated them more by the time I got to the gratingly stupid Gotham City Sirens issues. A complete garbage story about AI that wants a Sex in the City girl's night out drinking experience in return for information on her evil corporate creator. Everything about this one made me grit my teeth.



And the Sirens' issues were amazing compared to the ridiculous Arkham Knights grandiose dialogue and ridiculous plot. Spoiler ---> they risk their lives to steal the Bat symbol from the roof of the GCPD and then turn it into an entirely different symbol. Why the fuck wouldn't you just make another big fucking light with your own symbol on it? That's the kind of dumbassery that's in the pages of this book.



The Grifter was the last story and who cared by then? I just wanted it to be over already.
It really wasn't that bad. Grifter runs around trying to get Luke Fox out of the city while everything goes fubar around them. Thing is, it didn't really make sense because whatever happened to Luke wasn't explained in the Batman story, and it just felt confusing and disjointed.
But that was basically how this whole collection felt.
Future State isn't anything I'm interested in at this point, so unless someone can give me a good reason to keep poking around in these titles, I'm done.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

For all the big deal DC made of this, it all fell very flat. The Magistrate has taken over as a private police in Gotham and shoot all masks on sight. That's the gist of every story in this so it all feels very bland without any real antagonists. This event needed much more editorial oversight. Some of these stories don't even fit together in this limited world that only existed for 2 months.

The Next Batman by John Ridley, Laura Braga, and Nick Derington
Tim Fox (who hasn't been around since the 70's) is the new Batman. The story felt very small and too much time was spent with Fox family drama which never came to fruition.

Nightwing by Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott
Nightwing is leading the resistance (I guess). For some reason now he has a chin strap for his domino mask which makes no sense. It's like having a chin strap for my sunglasses. Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain appear in this which doesn't at all mesh with the next story.

Batgirls by Vita Ayala and Aneke
Cassandra Cain gets sent to prison where she meets Spoiler (who is some kind of traitor now) and a bunch of other super criminals. This all doesn't make any sense because the previous two stories were all about how the Peacekeepers shoot to kill all masks on sight.

Outsiders by Brandon Thomas and Sumit Kumar
A small story that just shows Signal, Katana, and Black Lightning doing their own thing. Again this doesn't mesh at all with Jefferson Pierce's appearance in prison in Batgirls. Sumit Kumar's art is directly copying Sean Murphy's art style.

Gotham City Sirens by Paula Sevenbergen and Emanuela Lupacchino
Catwoman and Poison Ivy take an android out for a night on the town. Babs Tarr did the character designs and they are awful. This story has the same hipster twee feel the Batgirl of Burnside comic did that Babs worked on. All I can say is "Ug".

Arkham Knights by Paul Jenkins and Jack Herbert
Jenkins loves the sounds of his own words. Jenkins drones on and on during what could have been a neat story about Arkham's prisoners redeeming themselves like a Gotham version of Suicide Squad.

Grifters by Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine Di Giandomenico
This was probably the best of the bunch although Luke Fox is written wildly out of character. Grifter tries to get Luke Fox out of the city. That's the entire plot.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Each of the Future State collections have proven to be a chore to read, and this second slog through the Batman Family and their battle against the fascist police state that is now Gotham City is no exception. I thought the point of these stories were to inject excitement into the DC line, but nothing here rises above tedium. And one has to focus on the poor editing that allows so many continuity gaps and contradictions. They can't even agree if Cassandra Cain is Orphan or Batgirl in this mess.

I feel like these books will end up in the bargain bins with all of the DC 1990s "fifth-week events" like Tangent Comics, Girlfrenzy, and New Year's Evil.

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. Batman/Bruce Wayne is dead, but like the book starts with

"In Gotham the more things change the more they stay the same".

A new Batman has risen, but the city is a police state. The Magistrate has grabbed power, and the Peacekeepers have absolute power. They are judge, jury and most of all executioners. Law number one all masks are to be shot on sight. Even the Foxes' now in charge of Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne fortune support this (mostly).

A very good main story and great backup stories the changes and reactions of the Bat family, new heroes rise, some "black coats" find redemption, and some simply switch sides.

Separate ratings:

The next Batman four issues. 5 stars.

Nightwing two issues. 5 stars.

Batgirls two issues. 5 stars.

Gotham City Sirens two issues. 3 stars. This was a kidder story and more of filler anyway.

Arkham Knights two issues. 4 stars. Now my favorite characters but a solid story.

No future past two issues. 5 stars. Staring Grifter where things aren't as bad as they look.

The book is a lot bigger and better than I though it was going to be. Usually I hate anyone trying to be Batman rather then Bruce Wayne, but it works here in the story. I enjoyed the majority of the backup stories as well. No cover gallery, but every chapter starts with the issue cover.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Future State: The Next Batman is an anthology of three series that are a part of the greater Future State event, published by DC Comics. This trade paperback collects: The Next Batman #1–4, Future State: Nightwing #1–2, and the back-up story from Dark Detective #1 and 3.

Gotham City is under martial law, protected and regulated by a private security force led by the infamous Peacekeepers. Their mandate is to maintain the safety of the citizens of Gotham, regardless of any Constitutional rights, and to hunt down, incarcerate, or kill all masked vigilantes, villains, and criminals within the city limits.

The Next Batman (★★★☆☆) is a four-issue storyline (Future State: The Next Batman #1–4) has Timothy "Jace" Fox, formerly estranged son of Lucius Fox, taking up the mantle of Batman to fight the Magistrate, after the apparent death of Bruce Wayne. It is penned by John Ridley and penciled by Nick Derington.

Outsiders (★★★☆☆) is a two-part storyline and the first of four back-up stories in Future State: The Next Batman (#1 and 3) has Tatsu Toro rescuing Duke Thomas from the Magistrate. They took refuge outside Gotham City as the Magistrate only has jurisdiction within Gotham City. Duke wants to return to the city one day, but Katana is not of the same opinion and leaves, but only to return when she hears that the Magistrate has planted a mole to spy on Duke. It is penned by Brandon Thomas and penciled by Sumit Kumar.

Arkham Knights (★★☆☆☆) is a two-part storyline and the second of four back-up stories in Future State: The Next Batman (#1 and 3) has Astrid Arkham as the Arkham Knight forming a team of villains to fight the Magistrate. Her team is: Anakry, Clayface, Copperhead, Doctor Phosphorous, Humpty Dumpty, Killer Croc, Mr. Zsasz, and Two-Face. It is penned by Paul Jenkins and penciled by Jack Herbert.

Batgirls (★★★☆☆) is a two-part storyline and the third of four back-up stories in Future State: The Next Batman (#2 and 4) has Cassandra Cain as Orphan captured and sent to the Magistrate's Detention Center, where she would be interrogated about the resistance leader – Nightwing. There, she meets former resistance member and supposed traitor – Stephanie Brown, who is in a deep undercover mission of her own – to find Barbara Gordon. It is penned by Vita Ayala and penciled by Aneke.

Gotham City Sirens (★★☆☆☆) is a two-part storyline and the fourth and final back-up stories in Future State: The Next Batman (#2 and 4) has Selena Kyle as Catwoman and Pamala Isley as Poison Ivy with Dee-Dee, a Domestic Droid and to show it a night on the town – as they go against Dilton Luxury Tech and of course the Magistrate. It is penned by Paula Sevenbergen and co-penciled by Rob Haynes and Emanuela Lupacchino.

No Future Past (★★★☆☆) is a two-part storyline and one of two back-up stories in Future State: Dark Detective (#1 and 3) has Cole Cash formerly Grifter teaming up with Lucas Fox, formerly the vigilante known as Batwing as they escape from prison, because the Magistrate is locking up anyone that had a connection or was once a vigilante or mercenary. Together, they try to outwit the Black Mask Syndicate and of course the Magistrate. It is penned by Matthew Rosenberg and penciled by Carmine Di Giandomenico.

Once Upon a Night in Gotham (★★★★☆) is a two-issue story (Future State: Nightwing #1–2) has Dick Grayson as Nightwing and leader of the Resistance trying to make his final stance with the Magistrate at their headquarters – Arkham Asylum. However, the next Bataman, changes his plans drastically. It is penned by Andrew Constant and penciled by Nicola Scott.

For the most part, these short stories are written and constructed moderately well – and that's being rather generous. The premise is somewhat interesting, in the near possible future, Batman is supposedly dead and Gotham City is under martial law, being watched by the Magistrate, who outlaws masks of any kind. However, the execution is much to be desired, as stories are told with little or no backstory, which confuses readers. Furthermore, the sequence of the stories as it is not written in chorological order, which makes the already confused reader, further confused.

As for the pencilers, there are far too many to comment or to form a cohesive flow as their styles are drastic from one another. They have rather distinct styles – some more pleasing to the eye than others. However, the artistic flow is mitigated somewhat by having one penciler or a team of pencilers doing one story, which made a clear distinction of a new story.

All in all, Future State: The Next Batman is a serviceable, albeit confusing collection of stories that is trying to paint the greater picture of the Future State event.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

If the Next Batman is any indication, Future State is an even that was fatally flawed at the fundamental level. Because, this doesn't read like an event, it reads like the start of a new line of comics. It's full of table-setting and other setup, or else it contains minor stories. That's not what you want from an event. If anything, it's the opposite of what you want from an event. This created a new status that's never going to be quo. Events need to be sound and fury, they need to be grandeur and beauty: this was none of those things. In the few situations where it rose above the level of mediocrity, it made promises of a future that's never going to be seen. In the end, unless the DC Comics now turn around and reorient their whole line to be either referencing, avoiding, or heading toward this future, it was a waste of time, without the good storytelling that could have brought it up to the next level.

The Next Batman. It's a bit of a surprise to have Future State start off with such a small story. Though set against the background of Gotham grown into a fascist corporate state, this is about Batman finding two killers and about his relation with his family. A lot of this feels that it would be intriguing as an ongoing series, but as a one-off miniseries, it's all foundation with nothing atop it. The result is an OK story [3+/5].

Nightwing. Dick's story is simultaneously more on point (because it's about a direct confrontation with the Peacemakers) and not as great of a story (because it doesn't have the same professional storytelling technique as the Batman story did). A decent continuation of The Next Batman [3/5].

Batgirls. This story has a big suspension-of-disbelief problem, as it depicts a prison full of masks, who should have all been shot on sight in this Future State. With that aside, it's a nice look at the Batgirls that revisits a lot of characters who were treated very badly by the misguided New52, including Stephanie as Batgirl, Cass as Batgirl, and Babs as Oracle, and it's a nice character piece for them that also advances the overall narrative of the Batman Future State [3+/5].

The Outsiders. Like the Next Batman story, this one is very small: The Outsiders get a few people out of Gotham, and one is a traitor. We need more than that for a big event like Future State, and this one isn't supported by the superior writing of The Next Batman. The big change int the status quo seems to be the return of Black Lightning, except we of course didn't know he was gone, and there's a weird tonal shift where in this ultra-fascist society he was cursed by a wizard!? There's just nothing to love about this story [2/5].

Gotham City Sirens. The depictions of Cat, Ivy, and DeeDee in the book are good, and I wouldn't mind seeing an extended story about them. The plot is less interesting, since it's more of the Magistrate being bad and being in bed with bad people. And after all of that, the end which is meant to be moving is a bit of a cop-out. Still, pretty enjoyable [3/5].

Arkham Knights. Man, Paul Jenkins loves to hear himself write. This is sooo overblown at times. It's also a comic that I have troubles fitting into the Future State world, as there's yet another powerful organization trying to overthrow the Magistrate. But I do like the premise, of a sideways Suicide Squad, of mental patients trying to redeem themselves. It's got a lot of opportunity for characterization and growth. And like all of the other setup work in this volume, it's ultimately wasted [2+/5].

Grifters. This feels like it's one of the better stories in the volume, because there's a lot of action-adventure that's well written. But, it begins to drag in the last issue, and again it feels like a setup for a series that never occurred [3+/5].

[Chris W · Rating 3 out of 5]

The batman and nightwing arcs were interesting but the rest didn't work. Decent premises and ideas but the titles just didn't meet the mark. 3/5 stars.

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was certainly different. In a world where Batman has been killed (they never say how) and a new private police group known as the Peacekeepers are shooting masks on sight. The first story is "Future State: The Next Batman" wherein one of Lucius Fox's kids is Batman. The premise behind a government funded private police that can kill on sight is a but much, but that's the basis.

Anyways the art is good and the story was ok in an Elseworlds type of way. Then the story shifts to Nightwing who is hanging out in Arkham and leading the "resistance". He encounters the new Batman and then they fight the Peacekeepers. This was also ok, until the rest of the Batbunch showed up. Why is Two-Face a Hero? Why is Talia-Al Ghul running with these rejects? It makes no sense.

If at all possible, considering the mediocre level of the stories so far, it gets worse. Much worse. A noticeable worsening of the art and a truly awful story about "Batgirls" that takes place in a prison. Then there are some utterly awful stories revolving around non-entities like Grifter, the Outisders and the Gotham City Sirens. I found myself completely not caring about these shitty stories. Also? Two-Face running around being a hero in body armor? Yeah? That's your grand creative talent at work? Stick to writing Hollywood scripts, it requires far less story telling ability. One of the dumber Batman concepts I've read I awhile.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of four Future State collections lands, and of course it's Batman out the gate.

I love the idea of the Next Batman. The execution...not so much. His solo mini-series is a bit of a mess in terms of momentum, shoving a load of conclusion into the final issue and not much of much else in the first three issues. John Ridley's dialogue comes off a bit stunted at times as well, although Laura Braga's art's pretty nice.

The back-up stuff's okay - Arkham Knights is FAR too wordy for its own good, while Batgirls and Gotham City Sirens are nice but feel a bit inconsequential. The former at least matches up with some stuff in Robin Eternal later on.

Also included, since it features the Next Batman, is Future State: Nightwing, which is a much better outing for the character. Nicola Scott's artwork sings as always, and I'd have rather seen some more of this story than the main one, if we're being honest, since it was far more engaging in terms of both plot and the Future State status quo as a whole.

And thrown in for fun are the back-ups from Future State: Dark Detective, which aren't great either unfortunately. The Red Hood story's decent, and sets up stuff that'll be followed up in the Future State: Gotham spin-off, but the Grifters story drags on while managing to go in circles.

You know how this is going to go going in, I'm sure. It's an anthology book, so some of it's good, some of it's not, and most of it's just okay.

[Matěj Komiksumec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Předně říkám, že chci hodnotit jen hlavní příběhy, tedy Next Batmana, Dark Detective a Nightwinga. Zbytek je výplň která ani moc nestojí za řeč.
Každopádně na Future State Gotham jsem se těšil protože pokus o to zmodernizovat Batman Beyond bylo poměrně dost znatelné a částečně jsem to cítil. Vlajková loď Batmana byl Next Batman který nám představil afroamerického Batmana ale to nemělo na příběh vliv. Každopádně tohle dost trpělo na to, že nám příběh o postavách řekl málo a tak nějak jsem se špatně vžíval. Příběh samotný byl fajn, žádná revoluce ale mělo to své dobré myšlenky.

Dark Detective od Mariko Tamaki je skvělý. Tady se vrací Bruce Wayne a na tajňačku si Batmaní. Nejen, že mě bavil příběh ale kresba od Mory a barvy od Jordie Bellaire jsou špica. Tady byl Batman Beyond znát opravdu hodně.

Nightwing je nejlepší Batman-Verse série. Nejsem moc fanoušek téhle postavy ale tady bylo strašně vidět pochopení této postavy autorem v moment kdy přijde o Bruce. Dick je tady napsaný naprosto perfektně a týmovka s Next Batmanem se mi líbila ukrutně moc.

Ve finále, všechny tyhle věci jsou zábavný. Bohužel jsou strašně krátký takže se rozjedou minimálně, což u Nightwinga není vůbec poznat a jede celou dobu na plný plyn. Tady jsem spoko.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In reading the Future State event (in actuality before management changes swept through DC Comics this have been the new continuity) as digital floppies it makes sense to combine this 2-4 issue series into anthology style TPBs. I read this as digital floppies, but out of laziness and poor record keeping I'll use the same start date for all of these. This is one of the stronger collections, amusing because yes I like the Bat Family but this exceeded expectation.

I've read some of John Ridley's novels and comic work (yes I know I should watch his film/television work). In some ways this meant I wasn't surprised by his work on The Next Batman, but what did surprise me was that Ridley and the other's did a good job of showing what Gotham City would like as a fascist state.

Catwoman's tale was very much in tone with her current series. Nightwing shows a Dick Grayson who has learned strategy from one of the masters.

While skeptical I was proved and shown how a Bruce Wayne could work well in this environment.

[AJ Kallas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I reluctantly and regrettably ended up reading most of Future State. A lot of neat ideas that ended up "fine".

I read these as floppies, but this trade collects:

The Next Batman #1-4
Future State: Dark Detective #1-3;
Future State: Nightwing #1-2

The Next Batman: Story was fine. Felt jipped Nick Derrington only did the first issue. That's why I picked it up. Story is fine. 2/5
Outsiders - 2/5
Arkham Knights - 2/5
Batgirls - 1/5
Gotham City Sirens - 1/5

Dark Detective: I find it odd this trade only has the first 3 issues of this book. I hope that is a mistake on Goodreads/Amazon's part. But this was probably my favorite of the Future State books. Dan Mora was great. And it was a fun read. Wish it had been more fleshed out. Felt rushed in the last 2 issues. 3.5/5
Grifters - 3/5
Red Hood - 2/5

Nightwing: was my second favorite Bat books in future state. A nice team up between Nightwing and the Next Batman. 3/5

[Clint · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
An inconsistent mix of what I’m hoping is the weaker half of the Future State Batman stories. Nothing here is great, but there’s a few above average standouts, some middling stories, and a couple of wastes of time.

The Batgirls, Outsiders, and Nightwing issues were my favorites, and each one was some sort of team-up. Batgirls sees a fun prison breakout heist with former Batgirls Spoiler and Orphan, with chunky colorful art I was mostly a fan of. I wish the dialogue had avoided them quoting The Odyssey back and forth, as that’s the sort of literary allusion that rarely works for me in a goofy superhero comic like this. I’m less familiar with The Outsiders, but the more serious tone of their story fit the grim police state setting of this event and the art by Sumit Kumar and Jordie Bellaire is nice and textured. The Nightwing issues are an action-heavy team-up with the Next Batman; the story is pretty thin, but there’s some entertaining character moments.

The Next Batman is just okay. The Fox family focus and a new character taking up Batman could be interesting, but the story doesn’t really develop into anything with 100 pages. Way too much time is spent on dealing with a generic street-level case. Gotham City Sirens is similarly just okay. It’s a flimsy “girls night out” story that feels totally at odds with the event’s oppressive setting and filled with the sort of Tumblr-y dialogue I’m not a fan of, but may be a nice change of pace for readers looking for that sort of girl boss wish fulfillment.

Arkham Knights and Grifters are both pretty bad. The “Arkham inmates turned rebel militia’ premise in Knights could be neat, and I loved the design of Grifter as a kid in the 90s, but neither story is interesting and the art for both is garish and way too busy.

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was better than I’d feared based on others’ reviews. It’s uneven, as most compilations are, but it’s bookended by solid entries. The opener featuring the new Batman after Bruce Wayne’s death is good-but-not-great. Serviceable. The Nightwing story is pretty dark, called out by one of the characters, who says “You’re grimdarker than you used to be.” The girl power Gotham Sirens is okay if uneven. Could’ve been tighter, frankly. The Arkham Knights entry featuring escaped bad guys is the weakest point. I put the book down several times during those chapters, finding other things to do. The Grifter story that finishes the book is the best of the lot. It has actual funny moments, and Grifter is a genuinely amoral character who vacillates wildly between good and bad so you never really know what he’s going to do. If I’d read that as a standalone I would’ve given it 4-1/2 stars. I don’t really know much about Grifter, but this was very entertaining.

Overall I’d say I liked the idea better than the execution. Exploring what Gotham would be like if Batman weren’t around any more (and folks like Commissioner Gordon also seem MIA) kind of fills in the time between the regular Batman stories and Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Given the current rise of authoritarianism and fascism around the world, it’s easy to see how such a violent police state could come to pass. It’s heightened because of the superhero/supervillain-ness of it all, but beyond that it feels all too plausible.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a few different series and accompanying backup stories, so it’s gonna be a mixed bag. I didn’t read the two Nightwing issues at all, FYI.

The Next Batman is fine 3/5

The Dark Detective was really good short story, the penciler and colorist were fantastic, 4/5

I read the Jason Todd short story, 3/5

I read the Grifter short story, 4/5

The rest of the backup stories I didn’t care for.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Nightwing issues were excellent! The Next Batman was alright. But the Dark Detective was such a drag to get through. Overall, a mixed bag, which is kind of expected. 3/5 stars

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this much less than the Dark Detective edition. It contains more of an introduction to the new Future State with the Magistrate, Peacekeepers and exactly what it's like to live in Gotham. It reminds me a little of No Man's Land where the city is isolated from the rest of the country (no one seems to care what is going on there.) It's also united just about all of the heroes and villains against a common enemy, the Magistrate's police force/army. By the time you get through this collection it gets very repetitive.

Batman - this is the new guy (not Bruce) and for an introduction this is lackluster. I just don't see what makes this guy different or unique, other than a more complicated family life. Sure being Batman is more difficult in the new Gotham, where even the people you are trying to save are hurting you, but otherwise I wasn't enamored with him.

Nightwing - It's always good to see him and it's nice to see he's still fighting the good fight.

Batgirls - this was actually my favorite story. Some excellent connections between members of the Bat family and the art was good too.

Outsiders - something about the art on this really pulled me into the story. Strong panel to panel storytelling and I also liked Katana's costume. The plot gives a new meaning to the name Outsiders.

Gotham City Sirens - too goofy and cartoony and really doesn't add much to the overall Future State story. Plus, this depiction of Selina Kyle is drastically different from the version in the Dark Detective volume.

Arkham Knights and Grifter - both of these are fairly forgettable. The preachy, poetic captions by the Arkham Knight throughout make for difficult reading. It feels like a cheap attempt at another Suicide Squad but within the Bat universe. Grifter is just another attempt at integrating him into the regular DC universe. It's mildly funny and is full of action but unless you are a die-hard fan of the character it's not necessary because it also doesn't add anything to the overall story.

Barely a three star book. The first half of the book is a strong try with some bright points, but the second half really pulls the book down.

[Bryan Stoffel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The DC Future State books are a successful cash-grab that are just good enough to leave you wanting more. I read these in single-issues as they were coming out, and only followed The New Batman, Dark Detective, and Nightwing storylines, and felt these 3 series were enough to get an idea of this event.

This event takes place in a possible future where Gotham is being run by the Magistrate, a private task force that keeps the city in a police state, and where masks, heroes and villains, are outlawed. With Bruce Wayne thought to be dead, there is a new Batman patrolling the streets, and the remaining Bat-Family are the Resistance, lead by Nightwing, who are fighting to take back their city. Each main story in these books have a great team of writers and artists who bring these stories to life. I really enjoyed seeing The New Batman, fresh on his feet and new to the role, trying to help two murderers escape the Magistrate’s swift justice to instead face the proper, legal justice they deserve. Nightwing leading the Resistance while seeking aid from the new Batman and accepting this new hero. And also the Dark Detective series, following a not-dead Bruce Wayne trying to take down the Magistrate on his own, while struggling to remain in the shadows.

All 3 of these titles did an excellent job setting up this new world and establishing the futures of these characters in an interesting and fun way, however, there are quite a few negatives that bog this event down. Except for Nightwing, each of these titles are all double-sized issues featuring stories from The Outsiders, Arkham Knights, Batgirls, Gotham City Sirens, Grifters, and The Red Hood to expand the world of Gotham City in this Future State.

The problems with these backup stories surface from the fact that the majority of them are not good. The art goes from absolutely beautiful in some to downright awful in others, and most are just downright boring, making these double-sized issues a chore to get through just to feel like you haven’t completely wasted your money just to get the main story you picked up the books for in the first place. These backstories often contradict plot points and elements of the main stories, and sometimes make you question when these events actually take place, making it seem like this event wasn’t thought out or collaborated as well as it should have been. Out of all the backstories I only really enjoyed Grifters and The Red Hood, while the others were so bad I sometimes couldn’t even trudge through and finish them.

Overall I find this event disappointing. The price point and forced additional stories made this feel like more of a cash-grab than a well-executed event. I love the idea behind the Gotham-centric titles and thoroughly enjoyed the main stories. I love the characters the event established, and would read a full series of all 3 of these titles to see where the story went and ended. However, as of this review, I haven’t heard of any continuation of any of these characters or events.

At the end of the day, I enjoyed the main stories enough to give this 3 stars. And while I enjoyed these main stories, with all the problems that bogged these titles down and the unknown next chapters in this storyline, I’m almost sorry I gave Future State a chance.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another big chunk of Future State issues. What this volume actually collects is The Next Batman, Nightwing, Outsiders, Batgirls, Gotham Sirens, Arkham Knights, and Grifter. There's no Dark Detective in this volume, despite what the Goodreads summary says. I enjoyed The Next Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirls, and quickly became bored with the other books. The Next Batman does a good job of highlighting the new Bat, Nightwing is a nice outing for the character, and Batgirls is a pretty good story starring Cass and Stephanie. The other issues are mostly fine, but not terribly good and there's so much that I got tired of reading it. Arkham Knights in particular is incredibly wordy and dull. At least the Bat corner of the DCU seems to have a coherent concept of what's going on in this possible future.

[Clay Bartel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and easy read. Bit all over the place with main stories and backup.

Certainly the main stories are the best part. 2 of the backups didn't quite grab me... the Arkham Knights and Grifter story were the weakest.

Over all I love this more then enough to continue collecting. I already bought Future State Justice League.

This was a fun experiment and cool read after Death Metal and what I've read of Infinite Frontier definitely has me feeling that DC is really on a roll lately! Never been more excited to read new DC !!!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a tad underwhelming with the hype and high price point, but the story does one excellent thing. It does help remove the stigma and stink of Batman being a rich white man who beats down on the poor and mentally ill. The recontextualization works really well for me, regarding how this new Batman works.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
My third foray into "Future State". While I really wanted to know more about the whole Bat-Family and what was going on there, I thought most of this collection was kind of filler. Good filler, but still filler nonetheless. I can see where many of these ideas were good, but can understand why readers would not want this to be the start of a new DCU.
Highlights:
The Next Batman - Alluded to in other FS stories I've read, Batman (the new one) definitely is a strong presence in Gotham. His job is lessened by the Peacekeepers, but he is trying to continue the mission Bruce started. We do get a lot of story involving the Fox family, as Jace (also called Tim) Fox is Batman, and both Lucius and Luke Fox have been involved in the Bat-Family for years.

Nightwing - Dick has set up a base in Arkham Asylum and is the leader of the Resistance (members: Oracle, Batgirl, Batwoman, Talia Al Ghul, Huntress, Two-Face, Man-Bat and Robin.) When Peacekeepers finally come for him, only a team up with the New Batman is able to stop them.

Batgirls - Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) is in Blackgate Prison for something that betrayed the Bat-Family. Orphan (now Batgirl, Cassandra Cain) gets put inside to take revenge AND track down knowledge about the signal being broadcast from there. Thinking it might be Bruce Wayne, only when they work together (revealing that Spoiler was playing double agent) are they able to rescue the true prisoner of the jail: Oracle, Barbara Gordon herself.

Outsiders - Just across the bridge out of Gotham lies the Wasteland. Protecting it are Signal (Duke Thomas), Katana, and Black Lightning. This story is really Katana's, but two others are excellent too.

Gotham City Sirens - Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and a robot called DeeDee Prime work together planning heists, fun, and the strength of sisterhood. Dee is a creation of the Peacekeepers, but her heart is in the right place. I miss the original Sirens title.

Arkham Knights - a contingent of villains have holed up in Arkham (this must be later on if Nightwing and the Resistance aren't there) and have all swore fealty to Astrid Arkham in their battle against the Magistrate. Notable members are Dr. Phosphorus, Clayface, Zsasz, Croc, and Two-Face. Their story ends with them stealing the Bat-Signal and repurposing it for their team.

Grifters - Cole Cash, the Grifter (originally part of Wildcats) is hired by Luke Fox (previously Batwing) to help get him out of Gotham. Huntress gets involved and she ends up being the only one to escape after being injured.

Overall, this was alright. I'd read parts and skip others, but it really depends on your preferences.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Future State: The Next Batman collects Future State: The Next Batman 1-4, Future State: Nightwing 1-2, and all of the remaining back-up stories involving Gotham City/Batman characters by John Ridley, Uta Ayala, and many more creators.

2.5/5⭐️ Future State: The Next Batman - Gotham's newest Batman fights to deliver two criminal to a non-crooked detective while the Magistrate attempts to hunt him down. Probably the best story in the collection which isn't saying much. The reader just gets thrown into this story with little backstory so it was hard to care fore the new person behind the mask.

2/5⭐️ Future State: Nightwing - Nightwing, the leader of Gotham's vigilante resistance, makes a last stand against The Magistrate. I like Niggtwing but this is just more *Insert Gotham hero* vs an endless supply of Magistrate goons.

2/5⭐️ Future State: Batgirls - Cassie Cain has been caught by the Magistrate and thrown in prison with a bunch of other Gotham heroes and villains. Spoilers is now a narc while Cassie is looking for a high value target. Started off very confusing but picked up near the end. Does feel in continuity with other stories in Future State

2.5/5⭐️ Future State: The Outsiders - Duke Thomas is political figure who gets people safely out of Gotham and stand up to the Magistrate. A lot of unexplained events in this book but I really enjoy the characters.

NR/5⭐️ Future State: Gotham City Sirens - Catwoman, Poison Ivy and some other character probably fight The Magistrate. I tried reading this but after 10 pages of some of the worst writing and bad art I have witnessed in a DC book, I gave up and skipped the rest.

1.5/5⭐️ Future State: Arkham Knight a - The Arkham Knight leads of team of Gotham villains (Two-Face, Clay Face, Dr. Phosphorus, Humpty Dumpty, Killer Croc, Zsasz, and Anarky) against The Magistrate. Should have been a one-shot. Interesting premise but falls flat.

2/5⭐️ Future State: The Grifter - Lucas Foz pays the Grifter to get him securely out of Gotham. Grifter is always a fun character but Lucas Fox was so incredibly boring here. More Magistrate fighting.

I was so sick of reading about The Magistrate before I even got to this book and it's more of the same here. Why is 600 pages of story of Bat characters ONLY have the Magistrate as the villain? It was incredibly repetitive. This whole series was a continuity mess as well. Issues would constantly contradict themselves. Other than a handful of storylines, Future State for Batman characters was a major disappointment.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of different stories going on in here and it boils down to painting a picture of a future Gotham run by The Magistrate - a sort of police force that rules through marshall law, with main law being any masks, “shoot on sight”

Now,

Like I said there’s a lot in this. Some good some really bad.

From other reviews I’ve read I have gathered that a good place to start might be the Death Metal and Metal Batman series to get an understanding of what is going on here. I didn’t do that but feel better knowing before hand that this might not all add up.. and it didn’t.

The first 4 issues of The Next Batman were actually pretty good. We never really figure out what happened to Bruce Wayne - but he’s dead and gone. A little pre read could likely solve this mystery.

NightWing might have actually been my favorite story here. But after this, there isn’t much.

Outsiders and Arkham Knights rounding out the worst of the worst. I might even go as far to say skip on over outsiders if you want. I couldn’t even explain what I read, it was that dumb.

Sirens was kind of ok. And Grifters finishes this volume out. I actually liked Grifters until the last 2-3 pages or so. I like his character and attitude. It seemed like it was going to be a good rebound from the other garbage in this book, but it didn’t end with much pizzazz.

Cool artwork, with a lot of hit or miss in here. Hope the following volumes this leads up to are better.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had already finished the "Dark Detective" volume, so then I figured I should read the second Batman-oriented volume. "The Next Batman" is Tim "Jace" Fox, the son of Lucius Fox and brother of Luke Fox, who was Batwing for about a minute--long enough for me to have an action figure of him. Only the first 28% actually covers the 4 issues of this story. And just as we're getting into the story and Jace is starting to learn the ropes of being Batman, it's over. Where did he find the Bat-stuff and why did he decide to adopt the Batman moniker? Yeah, scene missing from this and the previous book. Maybe it was in the Batman comics before this?

After that is a mishmash of other full stories and I think some backup stories that involve Nightwing (with the Next Batman), Batgirls, the Outsiders, Gotham City Sirens, Arkham Knights, Grifter, and probably more! Most of it was OK. Some was kind of gritty and some was kind of fun. The art varies with a slew of different artists.

Overall it was OK, but I think like I said with the Dark Detective volume, it'd be better if they gave you a timeline or something to know when these stories are taking place. I mean in one issue Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning) is in jail as a human and in another he's some kind of energy being thanks to magic that happened when? It can be pretty confusing, especially if you haven't been following everything that's been going on with the Batman series.

[Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Ridley's issues with "the next Batman" were pretty decent, but everything else was awful. I don't really understand the point of Future State. Is it an Elseworlds? Is it in continuity? And what exactly does it have to do with Death Metal? It seems to be related to Fear State, which was the end of James Tynion's run and its low point. I particularly wonder what it's all about as far as the comics that aren't related to Gotham. I also checked 2 other Future State collections out from the library, and although I should probably return them without reading them, I probably will read them and most likely be just as disappointed.

[Mariano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this was difficult to get through. I think the only ones that are readable were the one about Orphan and maybe the one about Grifter? The rest range between inconsequential to boring.
Most feel like a shitty tie-in from an event that doesn't exist. None of this gets finished anywhere.
This is the "bad" Future State volume.

[Alek Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

So what the heck was this?!

With all the hype about Future State I really didnt see the benefit of this event at all. Maybe it's because I haven't kept up with Batman: Detective Comics since Tynion finished his run, but I was utterly confused throughout all of this. The whole time I felt like I was reading volume 3 of an ongoing series. There was so much background information I was missing that I really couldn't enjoy any of it.

John Ridley's "The Next Batman", was enjoyable but that's only because I like his writing. It was still a rather pointless story that lacked any real substance and instead felt like a filler episode.

Mariko Tamaki's "Dark Detective", was a complete mess. I don't know if it was their dialog or plot but it being the main Batman story was disappointing.

This whole book was just confusing and full of odd character depictions. Especially Luke Fox in the Grifter story. And since when does Lucius Fox have 4 children!

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buen dibujo pero la historia es terriblemente mala. Aburrida, sin trasfondo de ningún tipo. No recomendable.

[Will Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally have a day off so I can sit down and right something about this book. I remember liking what I read when Future State was initially coming out, but now, reading it all collected like this, it's pretty underwhelming. The pitch is that Bruce Wayne is dead and Gotham has essentially become the city from Blade Runner a police state, and so a new mystery man has taken on the role of Batman, and it's NOT one of the Robins. Because the man under the mask is black.

I've heard that this was going to be the definitive direction for Batman before most of DC's writers and editors were fired in the "DC Bloodbath" last year, so I suspect the changing of the guard deeply affected this book. It's an interesting pitch, but the story itself isn't great and I've kinda soured on this collection as a whole the more time has gone by. The thing meant to draw everyone in is that the new Batman's identity is a mystery. But his actual identity was spoiled in news articles before the book was even published. Oops.

Ok, well maybe we'll get an interesting backstory? John Ridley is a talented writer so maybe we'll get an interesting backstory as to what inspired this man to come back to Gotham to continue Batman's legacy? Nope. Not a single bit of dialogue explaining it. He's also on the outs with his family who lives in Gotham but the book doesn't explain that either. There's really not a lot here. In fact there's so little, that this book collects OTHER Future State books set in Gotham to fill out the volume. It's a meaty collection, but if you didn't enjoy the first story, or don't have any connection to the rest of the Gotham cast there's not much to enjoy. It's all very frustrating. Especially since The Other History of the DC Universe is proof that Ridley is a good writer.

If you want the actual story of a black Batman, go read Batman: Second Son. That series is apparently the continuation of this and fills in all the important details. Save yourself $30 and avoid this like the plague.