Future State: The Next Batman #4: When One Reaches a Fork in the Road…

Well, my friends, this is it: the final issue of The Next Batman and thus the end of Jace’s mad overnight run through all the trouble Gotham has to offer him in 2025.

In the past three issues Jace has been busy. He stopped brothers from blooding in to the Bane-lito gang, giving them another chance at choosing a better life path. He investigated and solved the murder of a random civilian in a Gotham alley and tracked down the guilty parties… only to find that the man was a predator killed by the parents of his latest victim. Jace then served as both keeper and guardian for those parents, Eric and Sara, helping them escape the “shoot on sight” policy of the Magistrate. Now they’ve taken refuge in a church and Jace has arranged to turn Eric and Sara over to the GCPD, thus sparing their lives while also upholding justice… only to find himself betrayed when Eric attempts to murder him in the hopes that killing the Magistrate’s #1 fugitive will move the Peacekeepers to mercy.

Frankly, I doubt the Magistrate would hesitate for a fraction of a second to kill them anyway and then thank Eric’s corpse for solving their Bat issue, but I guess hope keeps you alive.

Eventually, cooler heads prevail and the situation de-escalates. However, that doesn’t solve the larger issue: they’re thirty blocks from the drop off point, with no car and streets full of Peacekeepers and drones.

Meanwhile, everpresent in the background of Jace’s life is that tug between what it means to be a Fox in this new Gotham and what it means to have taken on the mantle of Batman. The conflict culminates in a thematically inevitable showdown between the two sides of Jace with his priorities in the balance. The question is, will Jace be more Tim Fox or more Batman?

This highlights the differences and similarities between Jace and Bruce – and I realize that comparison is going to get old, but it’ll also never go away. Bruce is a man motivated by the loss of his family, which has resulted in his life being defined by tragedy as he continues to recreate and retrigger that loss through his myriad break ups with friends, family and lovers. In short, because he was birthed in loss, he lives in loss.

Jace on the other hand has plenty of family, but he lives at odds with them both in and out of costume. His siblings are relatively positive toward Batman’s activities, but clash with Jace himself. Meanwhile his parents love and accept Jace, but despise Batman. Therein lies the challenge for him and the primary separation point between the two men’s experiences and what brought them to their role as the Dark Knight. I won’t say either is simple or pleasant to navigate, but there’s a great deal of untapped potential in Jace’s intrafamilial conflict that I’d love to see explored and I’m thrilled to know that Ridley is interested in doing just that.

Laura Braga continues on art, working from Breakdowns by Nick Derington. I was about to say I haven’t really felt Derington’s style coming through in the panel or storytelling structure but having looked back at issue 1, I can now say I disagree with myself. What I mean is, it’s not so much that the storytelling style is radically different – Braga still makes use of those full page columns of widescreen-esque panels and follows Derington’s generally cinematic style. I think it’s more a question of the chemistry between Braga’s more subtle style (and thus the more subtle Prianto coloring) and breakdowns that are designed for Derington’s bold and black-heavy art paired with Bonvillain’s highly saturated neons and jewel tones. Overall while I do enjoy the artwork, if you want to see what Braga can really do, google her and behold.

Speaking of being held, a smooth transition to be sure, this issue also contains the final chapters of Batgirls and Gotham City Sirens.

Batgirls packs a pretty heavy punch. When we last saw Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, they had just reunited inside the Magistrate’s detention facility, where they’re keeping all of the masks that didn’t get murdered, I suppose. Far from being a hug-it-out moment, their initial meeting was rather rough due to Stephanie’s having betrayed the Resistance… but as it turns out there was no betrayal and Stephanie was on the side of “right” the entire time. Meanwhile, Cass allowed herself to be captured by the Magistrate in order to investigate messages coming out of the prison which many believed to be coming from Bruce. Little did they know, the messages were actually sent by Barbara Gordon, a prisoner deep within the facility.

Part Two opens in the midst of a riot, with the inmates both black and white hat joining forces to rain violence down on the Peacekeepers. Elsewhere, Cass impersonates a Peacekeeper to search for the source of the messages that brought her here to begin with. Their missions, individual but coordinated, lead the story toward an ending that I will not give away… but I will say it felt more like a beginning than a conclusion.

Batgirls lives or dies on the reader’s investment in Cass and Stephanie’s friendship. If you love these characters and want to see them reconnect this is definitely the story for you. More than that, though, even as someone who really doesn’t feel any kind of way about either character, I found myself pleased at their journey back to one another. Ayala portrayed their bond beautifully, including the pain, the joy, the struggles and the love.

Also, if you’ve been wondering who exactly makes up the Resistance, this is the issue where you find out – this or FS: Nightwing #2, that is. Or both. Either way, that sure was an interesting revelation for me personally.

Aneme’s artwork is minimalist in its use of lines, which allows their mastery of body language and facial expressions to take center stage supported by Mulvahill’s beautiful color work. And while I admit it can sometimes be difficult to talk about lettering, Carey’s work with different lettering styles, colors and weights serve to add authenticity to the atmosphere and visually distinguish between different speakers.

Finally, in Chapter Two of Gotham City Sirens, we pick up Selina and Ivy’s outing alongside Domestic Droid prototype DeeDee. When last we saw them, Selina had been shot in the midst of a raid by Peacekeepers at Slam Bradley’s mask-friendly speakeasy. Now it looks like Slam will be retiring soon, having taken a bullet or two himself.

Of course our (anti)heroes survive the confrontation, with Selina’s injuries necessitating that they retreat to an upstate safehouse Ivy has prepared in case of emergencies. There, she will have the chance to recover… which mostly serves as an excuse for what can only be described as an Onsen episode of Gotham City Sirens. Ivy, Selina and DeeDee just kind of relax and trade girltalk for a while. I will note that the story does not quite live up to the solicitations’ promise to delve into the Future State status of Bruce and Selina’s relationship. Just a warning, in case you’re looking for that.

Another, far more serious, warning is also called for, however. This chapter does make evident that Dax Dilton sexually abused DeeDee who, while an android, is clearly sentient and self-aware. The resulting pain of this, as well as other circumstances around her existence, has led her to contemplate disconnecting herself from her programming chip. Once done, her consciousness would survive only minutes, which basically means DeeDee is suffering from ptsd induced suicidality.

Now… that whole plot is a strange choice to me. I’m not one to say that certain subjects should be left untouched or certain stories left untold. But I do think sexual assault and suicidal ideation should be handled with some degree of gravitas in most, if not all, cases. The tone of Gotham City Sirens therefore makes that a really awkward topic to address as the story is still overall a little on the light-hearted side. I’m not really sure what to make of that, though, so… moving on.

Much like Batgirls, Gotham City Sirens ends on a “new beginning” note, establishing what would presumably be a new status quo for Ivy while Selina’s adventures continue in her own FS title.

All told, I’d say that Part Two is definitely better than Part One. Still, the series itself just feels like an odd fit, due to the whimsical tone and artwork.

Basically I’m still struggling with this one. That said, I remain a fan of Lupacchino and Von Grawbadger’s artwork, and Kalisz’s coloring is just beautiful. Of the three color artists on this issue, I think Kalisz was given the most room to play with colors due to the constantly changing environment, and he really takes advantage of that to make for a beautiful, rich color palette.