A goodbye that feels like a promise for more, and I'm here for it. Future State has been pretty interesting all around - I've enjoyed nearly everything I've read across the entire line so far, and I'm glad that many these characters and storylines will be continue in some form. Read Full Review

I stand by what I said in my Future State: The Next Batman #2 review: Batgirls is outstanding. Definitely one of the best sub stories Future State has produced. Read Full Review

Future State: The Next Batman #4 is the end of this miniseries, but not the end of the Future State Gotham story. This series has done an outstanding job in introducing Jace Fox as a new Batman and the dystopian future he lives in. I look forward to seeing the story continuing is the months ahead. Read Full Review

It's "Closing Time" in Gotham as The Next Batman, Batgirls, and Gotham City Sirens all reach their conclusion. Read Full Review

John Ridley does a good job of showing Tim Kane's struggle to take on the mantle of Batman. The emotional turmoil he goes through is heartbreaking. It leads one to wonder: Is the cost of saving a life too great a price for losing your own? Read Full Review

They only "bad" thing I have to say about Future State: The Next Batman #4 is that it's the last one and with the quality of this book"specifically this issue and the little series overall"that's just wrong. Read Full Review

The Next Batman was a decent re-introduction to Jace Fox, a character poised to make big moves in DCs future and this was a solid if not remarkable run to show his potential. Read Full Review

The conclusion of the first four-part story in Future State really emphasizes the main issue here"this is a character-driven and decompressed story that would work well as the first chapter of an extended run, but not as a stand-alone miniseries. Read Full Review

Future State: The Next Batman #4 is both a solid ending for the main story and a perfect set up for future stories in this universe. Even if the backup stories were hit and miss, I plan to read Second Son and hope that Ridley has many more stories to tell with this Dark Knight. Read Full Review

John Ridley, Laura Braga, and Nick Derington did a good job completing the 'Year One' tone that was taken with Jace Fox rise as the new Batman. A strong foundation was built to create even more engaging stories with Jace in and out of the Batman cowl. The back-up stories for The Next Batman #4 added further value to this series. Vita Ayala and Aneke's Batgirls story did a fantastic job creating greater intrigue for the conflict between the Batman Family Resistance and Magistrate. The developments in that story made me even more excited to read all the Future State Batman Family titles together in one sitting. Read Full Review

Future State: The Next Batman #4 sees a bevy of creators doing some really fun things with the new status quos set up in 'Future State.' Read Full Review

This perfectly adequate Batman story now has a perfectly adequate ending. Read Full Review

The whole story structure is a mess. It is only saved by the pretty and bright art by Emanuela Luppachino. Read Full Review

The Future State book for Batman comes to an unsatisfying conclusion as major story points that were focused upon during previous issues fall to the waist side as we focus on a long action scene instead of tying up any loose ends. I assume that the creative team was asked to leave things open so that the company can make an ongoing series if the books are popular enough, but ultimately it does a disservice to this book which has been pretty good up to this point. Unfortunately, this ending is incredibly unsatisfying. Read Full Review

What a way to end this story. While the previous installments of Future State: The Next Batman all had their fair share of weak stories, it was typically limited to one and the others held them up. This is the first issue where all of the stories were weak. At this rate, I really wish we would have gotten the full 5G event. Read Full Review

It's a genuine shame to say this " especially when there are merits to each story here " but I'm very happy to be done with reviewing The Next Batman. Read Full Review

I didn't read the backups. ❤️

The backups are pretty mediocre in these even issues.

I thougoghly enjoyed bot the Batman & Red Hood (with my girl Ravager) stories. They had good writing, good ar and good characterizations.
However, is this really the end of the Future State Batman Family of stories? Because if it is, it's a really unsatisfying one.

" Love you, Sara will love you always."
- ERIC

The next Batman story was ok at best, even if I did enjoy some of the bits there. The backups felt like a chore to read. I still believe that Ridley's Batman will definitely have better stories than this one, it's a shame that the character got introduced like this though.

This was probably the best "Next Batman" story so far. Not that Tim is a compelling character or anything but the interactions between characters were pretty good and the art was very dynamic. Unfortunately, the backup stories were pure shit, especially Vita Ayala's. She's just not a good writer, I don't think I've read anything from her that I liked. I'd say I don't know why she keeps getting these gigs but I do know, unfortunately. Overall I can't say I'm looking forward to the Next Batman's story but it's not as bad as other Future State stories. He still isn't Batman for me but at least he acts in character close enough that I'm not feeling a huge difference in attitude between him and Bruce. Whether that's a flaw or a good thing is debatable. more

I think the main story was really boring, I don't really see the appealing or need of the new Batman.

The New Batman "Crime is Mostly OK" issue number 4 decides portrays a bat family, with "justice" values to aid killers, give a killer a device used in suicide bombing, have several Magistrate figures killed and mutilated, and reject law enforcement punishment for hardened criminals. For a lot of fans, that will be worth $8. Unlike pro-crime figures in Crime Syndicate, we now have justification in persecuted revolutionaries in Future State Gotham. As to "The New Batman" Future State bat family, resistance is all, at any cost. And in issue 4, you should really like Homer, because you will be hearing Homer quoted a lot, and Delphic maxims of course.

The New Batman (Part 4 finally). Rating: 4.5. Because there is a story, no matter how weak. The challenge of Future State The New Batman is "The Magistrate" dystopia creates an environment to justify murder, because "The Magistrate" has created an anti-law police state. But this is used as a strawman argument to also "heroize" violence and murder by Future State "heroes" on behalf of "justice." The past several issues of The New Batman have been about Batman protecting a couple who committed a brutal murder of another criminal, because "he deserved it" for murdering their daughter. But the idea of becoming judge, jury, and executioner is both a fault-line for The Magistrate fascists as well as the corrupted "future" bat family.

While Tim (Jace) Fox as The New Batman is seeking to get hooded couple (Eric and Sara) "safely" (?) to GCPD peacekeepers for "justice" for this murder, he too ends up compromising his values. And Jace gives both members of the couple a weapon with a micro columb charge, to press the trigger, and throw at the peacekeepers. Eric jumps out of the car in front of peacekeepers pursuing them, and with the weapon from The New Batman, becomes a suicide bomber, taking out two of the peacekeeper vehicles with armor flying and vehicles on fire. Perhaps other readers are aware of suicide bombers with Batman in past issues, but I really don't remember them.

Do we remember when Batman used to rescue people who were in burning vehicles?
Even his enemies?

But it is Future State (a few years from now), and The New Batman just lets them burn. That is his idea of "holding back." The New Batman has another fight with The Magistrate figures and also his mother en route to getting Sara (now that Eric is dead) to Peacekeepers. His mother pulls a gun on The New Batman, and Tim slices her shoulder with a bat-blade shuriken. (FYI, his bat suit is bullet-proof, we later discover.) After he injures his mother (do we think Bruce Wayne would stab his own mother), then stabs disarmed Magistrate Captain Stanz in the shoulder/chest with a knife; it is hard to tell from the art. But the image of Batman with a knife in his hand, stabbing a disarmed individual, is something I really don't want to see. I really don't want others to think this "New Batman" is "The Batman," anymore than I did with Azrael. But DC Comics goes through these periods. [Spoiler for DC Comics, when you had Azrael as Batman you got zero (count-em, zero) dollars from this reader.]

And the New Batman would have killed Captain Stanz, except Sara (another killer) stops him. Magistrate Captain Stanz hypocritically says to The New Batman: "You don't care a thing about innocent civilians." Stanz is the "bad guy" and clearly also doesn't care about innocent civilians. But is Captain Stanz also right about The New Batman, who just injured his own mother, and ends up putting his own mother in the hospital. Or should we not question the new values of the Future State "heroes"? Ironic to Barbara Gordon's later words, in Future State, criticizing "ends justifies the means," when it has become the new world view.

Other than Batman the stabber, Batman the mother slicer, and Batman the armer of suicide bomber, there really isn't much to Issue #4 plot. Dystopia, killer couple, Batman gets one of the couple to Gotham police. And has family conflicts. We still don't know Tim's (Jace) motivation, but DD seems to explaining that based on treacherous brother Luke Fox. And Lucius seems to be working just fine with The Magistrate. But could Ridley at least pick one first name for Tim/Jace Fox?

The challenge for new DC writers is not "who" Batman is. It is "what" Batman is. And motivation is not a sideline topic. For Batman, it is everything. Otherwise, it is just another costumed character. But most of the effective ones have "powers." What is Batman's "power"? His Compulsion. His Determination. His Values. Not what he wears and or his gadgets. But his identity. That is Batman's superpower. Always has been for 80+ years.

Batman's real super powers are his obsession to refuse to surrender to violent crime, and not BECOME like them. It is a determination beyond measure. It is a refusal to surrender under any circumstances - to violent crime, not only to refuse their power, but also to refuse to become LIKE them. Batman's loss is not just part of his origin, but a definition as to Why He Fights. So with a character like Batman, you will believe he will overcome any obstacle, not because of "superpowers," but because of the power of his identity. He has no choice. It is not just he should, but He Must. So in the wild, Elseworld type, Dark Metal stories, you can believe Batman would keep going, even after shot, even after KILLED, with a Black Lantern ring, even after his arm is cut off. Because, after all, he is Batman. He Must. Motivation is Everything.

Batgirls (# 2). Rating: 3. Nonsensical. People repeatedly quote Homer (yes, that's right Homer-from around 700–750 BCE); I noticed four Homer quotes. They actually quote Homer in between punching Magistrate figures in the prison. Imagine. Someone is punching or hurting you, and in the middle of fighting, you stop to quote Homer passages. And the same thing is done by other characters, also quoting Homer. [I like Homer just fine, despite the fact that some people would never want him taught in schools or colleges anymore.] That might be the type of "comedy" (?) type thing that Thor would do in Marvel? But honestly. Batgirl? Black Lightning? Oracle? (Shrug.) And wasn't Black Lightning literally a force of lightning last time we saw in the Bat universe in DD? Same one this New Batman is in ?

So the idea behind Batgirls 2 is not a comic book story, but a moral and timeless call for revolution of the persecuted. OK, Vita Ayala. It is still DC Comics. In this story about Batgirls Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, we get to read about a prison riot. The story is about Cain and Brown organizing a prison riot to free Batgirl Barbara Gordon, locked in prison basement, whose brain is so important that she is inexplicably connected to computers from The Magistrate on 24x7 basis. Cassandra Cain finally gets to basement to release Barbara Gordon. Babs is just fine and ready in fighting shape after being locked up and hooked to computer against her will for "years." [I missed the part with Barbara Gordon was also a secret Kyrptonian with infinite strength and invulnerability. (sarcasm)]

Barbara then uses The Magistrate computer system network (what she was connected to) to call for public to rebel, and well, you just hear her (as "Oracle") call for rebellion, but you really don't know what happens. On the "Oracle" side, you do get to hear her shout out some incriptions from the Temple of Delphi (aka ironically known as "Temple of Apollo.") And while that is interesting historical stuff from 3rd-6th century (when carved into temple), a little side note reminder that equality was not such a big thing back then, and part of 147 Delphi Temple inscriptions, for example, was "Rule Your Wife." (As well as three Delphic maxims against violence and one against murder. Well, we know the Future State Bat family community would struggle with these.) And of course, Homer was a big fan. Ancient wisdom for a timeless article on the need for The People to revolt against oppression.

The Bat family revolutionaries control the prison, defeating the Magistrate guards. (And doing what with? Maybe we don't want to know.) But the Bat revolutionaries also decide to free murderers and other criminals, who could just be good members of the Resistance if given a chance, and urge killers and masks work in harmony side-by-side to build little tents, etc. to create their own Autonomous Zone. When the prisoners succeed in their riot against The Magistrate, the criminal killers locked up with "the masks" are not a problem for the "Future State" "bat family." "Rehabilitation through service. There are no white hats or black coats now, only resistance." There is never any question WHY and HOW the rest of U.S. and world just allowed Magistrate to create this dystopia without any outside intervention. Just because, you know.

The first panel has NINE text boxes. Yes, nine. I literally fell asleep, and finished it the next day. Vita appears to have her strong suit in writing horror and science fiction. But... this is Batgirls. And where did Cassandra Cain suddenly get "diamond-tipped titanium steel nails" in a maximum security prison? (???). Not to mention the "Subdermal Key-Gen and Interface." We have assume all this somehow came from Dick's resistance, but we actually have no clue. Later on, non-super powered Cassandra also has an armored Batgirl costume pop up out of a ring. I can't recall, is that before or after the super-powered Bat-Unicorns appear? Perhaps Stephanie Brown gets a similar "ring," because a page later, her costume materializes on herself. Maybe the costume ring that Stephanie had was invisible too, which is why we never saw her wearing it. (Don't ask questions, silly reader.) Vita's story is good with the Homer quotes and the sci-fi. Coherent plot is just in the way.
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Absolute Z to the 4 - Feb 21, 2021

A late comment: I enjoyed your review more than the stories :). Agree with much. I also wondered where Cass's costume came from, but eventually noticed she opens a locker in what is labelled the "Contraband Collection Room," and one of the lockers was labelled "The Orphan." I guess both suits were stashed in lockers. The Next Batman should have been the "flagship" of Future State, but was far from it. Some FS stories have actually been good, but not these.

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I liked The Next Batman story. I don't really get the dislike of that story in particular. The Batgirls and Gotham City Sirens stories were so bad. I almost couldn't get through them.

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Bats20832 - Feb 18, 2021

I agree on the other stories. I was OK (largely bored) with The New Batman until issue 4. A Batman who is starting stabbing an unarmed man (even if it is Captain Stanz), puts his own mother in the hospital, and gives a killer a device where he can literally become a suicide bomber, is a bad news story. We keep edging Batman in the Elseworld, Dark Metal, etc., story lines to be more and more ultra violent and deadly. Question that decision making on the story.

Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 19, 2021

I guess you could consider it a more cynical take on the character, but I actually think I liked this and Dark Detective more than I've liked most Batman since Rebirth, at least.

Bats20832 - Feb 19, 2021

The reason why Batman has been so credible for millions for 80+ years has been what he is, not who he is. His obsession to defeat violent crime, while not becoming like them himself. Lots of others wearing costumes, some killers (like the Deathstroke, Shadow, Punisher), some with swords/knives (Katana, Red Hood, Wonder Woman, Azrael). Batman is not them - not even his childhood idol, Zorro. Different. Not simply because he is not cynical enough, but because purpose of character is different. IMO

Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 19, 2021

I mean, sure, but in some instances, I think Batman has been much more brutal than he has been in Future State.

Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 19, 2021

Or anything recently, really.

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Batman has gone from taking down secret societies, running a team composed of literal gods, and even defeating the mother of the multiverse, only to become a hack who can't even turn in two criminals to the police. This is just sad and a waste of potential. The Magistrate is a boring villain and the fact that DC has tried to convince me otherwise is insulting.

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Bats20832 - Feb 19, 2021

The 1999 (last century) No Man's Land plot was always an absurd stretch. But in its defense, that was the 20th century, and it was result of a major earthquake. Most of Gotham WAS evacuated. But in 21st century, idea that Gotham will be under cyber tyrant, The Magistrate? Ridiculous. There is Social Media, VPNs, and globally connected community. Never happen. It is just strawman to try to change character identities, continue "revolutionary" edge in Gotham. Magistrate would be easily defeated.

Onomatopoeia - Feb 20, 2021

Oh man, I remember reading the novelization of 'No Man's Land' and loving it as a kid. I'll agree that it was a bit of a stretch, but it's one of those stories that only make sense if you ignore the rest of DC's superheroes. The Magistrate is just a lazy villain that doesn't make sense. I like what you said about social media and whatnot, but how could Superman, or any of the Justice League let it get that bad in Gotham?

Bats20832 - Feb 20, 2021

Yes, it doesn't make sense. At least No Man's Land had a rational explanation with federal government making decisions (implausible, but still an explanation). Here we are to just assume USA, U.S Constitution, rest of nation/world, all other heroes, just going to ignore Magistrate, with no explanation - as you say, it's just lazy and doesn't make sense- especially in connected 21st century. If some sci-fi plot of removing cities like Brainiac's Convergance, at least explanation; here they shrug.

Onomatopoeia - Feb 21, 2021

It was the sheer hypocrisy for me. The Magistrate is literally doing what Batman did in Kingdom Come, only they're getting paid for it. I've yet to see the real damage they're doing to Gotham other than rounding up the vigilantes. If we're going off of the Harley Quinn Future State, then they've actually made some progress in rounding up and reforming villains. All we have to go on is that Batman says they're bad, so they must be bad.

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The problem with the "New Batman" is that it doesn't tell us who these characters are. Granted the original Batman didn't get an origin until six months after the character was launched in 1939, but that two-page story told us what we needed to know - why a guy dresses up as a bat to fight crime.

Given that this was a comic book in 1939, and people put on costumes as a matter of course to sell 10 cent books to nine-year-olds, that was all we needed.

But it's 2021. Nine-year-olds don't read comics anymore. I suspect more people over the age of 15 read them than under the age of 15. That means you have to come up with good explanations as to why people dress as a bat to fight crime.

The New Batman really doesn't tell us why young Fox does what he does. We know the Fox family basically stole Bruce's fortune so we know why young Fox has the means, but there is no motive.

We certainly don't know how Gotham became a police state outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Constitution. I know the reason behind the story - evil corrupt private police justify having a vigilante fight for justice. But the how of that situation really matters. As much as I hated No-Man's Land (Gotham is cut off from the U.S. and it's Mad Max time despite the fact that Green Lantern and Superman could have solved the problems in 10 minutes, meaning I didn't buy into the premise of the story, so I didn't buy the stories) the writers at least came up with a reason why Gotham was the way it was. Again, I didn't buy that but there was an explanation. I also didn't buy the whole "six months later, Gotham is restored and it's like No-Man's Land never happened, but that's a rant for another day.

I liked that we see Cass and Steph renew their vows of sisterhood, as it were. But again they left out the important part of them breaking up as it were. Being placed in the middle of the story means a lot of the hard work of world-building isn't done. So again, I don't buy into the basic premise of the story, so the stories don't work for me.

I am also sick of the dystopian future tropes. I have always liked the notion that this is our world, but with superheroes. I know that premise is problematic when you think about it for more than 10 seconds, but I started buying comics when you just had to accept idea, so I did. If you can't I can hardly blame you. But looking at the Marvel movies, seeing heroes in real places among ordinary people works if you do it right. Dystopian futures is just the Hunger Games with different characters. I truly believe something is lost, but that's me. Your mileage may vary, and fair enough.

The art was good, though.

But overall, I really just don't care about these characters. Their motivations for their actions aren't explained. Their worlds aren't built, so we don't know the rules. Say what you will about old comics, but the producers really did a great job of character motiviation and world-building. The first issues usually did a great job of doing that. The Spider-Man origin in Amazing Fantasy sets everything up beautifully, and it does it in like half an issue of a comic. Now that's efficient, smart story telling.

Or I could be wrong. more

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Bats20832 - Feb 19, 2021

The real challenge today's writers need to ask is "what is Batman," not "who is Batman." The motivation is everything. Otherwise, it is just another costumed character. The obsession to refuse to surrender to violent crime, and not BECOME like them - is heart of Batman. Anyone can wear a costume.

SenpaifenixJäger - Feb 22, 2021

Excellent analysis, that's what I mean, they are so in a hurry to like it and sell that they don't go to the main thing, the story and construction of the character.

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Here it is - a line ending the issue, but not really. It's there, we can't deny it, and it's there to make you believe it's an end for this series, but I can't say it does its job. Not when it's pretty much clear why it's there to begin with - and it's there because DC ditched the idea of Generation 5, turning it into a 2 month long event. Everything they've planned, all the long running new series, had to be cut short, and the result is this - an overall mediocre issue intended to be merely a chapter of something bigger, ending up being the finale. And honestly, the more I think about it, the more furious I am.

Look - The Next Batman started out strong. It offered us a lot of background story arcs and complex relationships between characters which could have been explored in the future. This comic had genuine potential, but since Future State has one week of life left, we will not see it (ever?) being tapped.

Fox family problems? Cut short. New Batman's lack of experience and confidence? Cut short. Fascist militia controlling Gotham City? Cut short. Two good detectives? Cut short. Heck, even the main story arc itself, involving two murderers, is not resolved nor properly concluded. Nothing is.
It pains me to give this comic such a low score when I can see what it could have been, but there's no other choice for me. I can't applaud this unfinished mess, as much as I'd like to see it continuing.

I'd say this issue is worth picking up... if Ridley finishes his tale one day. Until then it's a skipper. Keep your money.

Contrary to the titular story, Batgirls short actually concludes. I won't cheer for that, because I reasonably expect my stories to feature endings at their ends. I can cheer for the new beginnings, however, just like Cass said. New beginnings where none of this utter trash is even remotely acknowledged. Let's never return to this failed experiment, okay? more

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Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 16, 2021

This specific iteration of Batman is going to continue, it looks like, in a weekly digital series called The Next Batman: Second Son. Also, it seems apparent that DC is using Future State as a template for the literal future of the DCU, and therefore plenty of Infinite Frontier titles are introducing future state concepts into the actual DCU.

Nihilist - Feb 16, 2021

I haven't been up to date with their solicitations. If so, I'm definitely going to give Second Son a try. If it picks up the unresolved plot points from this mini series, that's great. But for now I feel like this book left everything loose.

maelstron - Feb 16, 2021

Seems like this will continue on a digital first series

Onomatopoeia - Feb 16, 2021

Have you noticed the extreme disconnect with critic ratings and fan ratings? I can only wonder who DC is listening to at this point.

Nihilist - Feb 16, 2021

I wouldn't personally rely on reactionary outrages and nontroversies in fan communities. Sure, there seems to be a growing number of people disappointed with DC's creative choices and they get more heat every year, but there are two things worth noting: negativity is generally easier to express than positivity, and we don't really know how affected DC's sales actually are, if at all. At the end of the day I can complain as much as I want about this comic, but I did what DC wanted me to - pay'em.

Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 17, 2021

As far as I can tell (as we don't have any hard data yet), Future State has been a successful endeavor for DC. The sales, as well as DC paring down its line and its editorial staff (and also possibly ridding the company of expensive exclusivity contracts), has really helped DC with its profit margins.

Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 17, 2021

Also, it's worth pointing out that comic book publishers don't really regard digital sales the way they regard physical sales. Physical customers have all the power here. So, the only option you have is choosing whether you're going to buy a physical copy of a DC title or not. If you buy your comics digitally, your decision whether to continue or not has little to no effect on DC. But if you buy floppies and you don't like what DC is doing, *stop buying their comics*.

Absolute Z to the 4 - Feb 17, 2021

I thought Second Son will be a prequel to this - what led to Jace becoming Batman (and maybe what led to Tim changing his name to Jace!?).

Onomatopoeia - Feb 17, 2021

Fair point. Though now that I've paid for a "sneak peak" into a possible future of DC, I'm not sure I want to continue giving them the money to see how we get there.

Bats20832 - Feb 18, 2021

Psycamorean - for the idea that "comic book publishers don't really regard digital sales the way they regard physical sales" - DC Comics is definitely driving its future issues based on digital distribution.

Amazing Psycamorean - Feb 18, 2021

Well, we know that digital sales are low, and didn't boost at all during the pandemic despite a renewed focus on it, and that DC has cut back on its digital distribution plans because of that. We know that digital sales can't compete with physical sales, and therefore, they're not looked at as the main source of the profits, but rather extra on top.

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It was a pretty crappy series overall. It started off ok but then didnt really follow up with anything worthwhile. The back up stories were not even something I wanted to read.

I don't like the substitution of the batfamily for this batman, a completely corrupt Lucios and they insist on this man. In the end the sales will speak.
The backup story was the only thing I liked to read.