Future State: Dark Detective #1: All the Lonely People

With the book split into two parts, I’ll begin by looking at “Bruce Wayne’s a Dead Man” from Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora. This feature length story is simply poetry in motion. It manages to blend a dark, neo-noir narrative structure, complete with metaphorical flourishes (calling Gotham “Elanor Rigby” after the Beatles’ classic song) but all set against a sort of cyberpunk distopian background makes for an incredible read. The reader darts back and forth between now and two weeks ago as the story of the death and rebirth of Batman in Gotham’s future under the Magistrate unfolds. Broke (remember, in current continuity the Fox family is in possession of the Wayne Fortune) and pronounced dead both masked and unmasked, we see Batman slowly come to terms with being untethered from Bruce. The story evokes the adage regarding “dying a hero or” and leaves readers with a dangling fear of “what if?”.

The visuals from Mora and Bellaire are absolutely stunning. Dark and detailed figure work set against the afformentioned cyberpunk backdrop leads to a stimulating book. The small touches such as the yellow-rimmed chest-logo add depth and beauty to the issue while Jordie Bellaire lights Gotham afire in the neon-glow of the horrific future. And not to be outdone, Bidikar’s lettering is spectacular, from the logo design on the title page to the great many different fonts deployed through the issue. This book is everything Future State is supposed to be about.

Moving on to Grifter in “No Future Past” and we see a jarringly different (but still in synch) look at Gotham through the eyes of fan-favorite WildStorm character, Cole Cash. Rosenberg, who will continue to write Grifter after Future State, shows all the action-packed fortitude and sharp dialogue skills that brought so much acclaim to his Punisher run. Fans of the character will not be disappointed in this fun, violence-fueled romp through Gotham with Cole and Luke Fox, the artist formerly known as Batwing (another personal favorite of mine). The art from Giandomenico compliments the story exceptionally well but also remarkably, despite looking so different, actually compliments the book as a whole. Mora’s half of the book was highly detailed with rich backgrounds, as is Giandomenico’s. The major different is the dark coloring with splashes of bright from Bellaire to Giandomenico’s vibrant colors, a move entirely appropriate of the character. Cole is simply a lighter character than Bruce and the ability to capture that here is one of the small touches that makes this book my favorite Future State book yet.