Shoot on sight, that’s the deal in DC Comics Future State: The Next Batman #2. The Batman ante is upped, the only way for him to escape is to go higher than bullets, faster than this speeding “loco” motive.
John Ridley writes, Laura Braga illustrates on Nick Derington’s breakdowns, and Arif Prianto colours this second issue. Letters are by Clayton Cowles, in mostly orange text on mostly black. Highly irregular, somewhat illegible.
But it’s up on the rooftops and the tops of the buildings where the action is… Batman helping but hindered by the Magistrate and beastly Peacekeepers. Them keeping the ‘peace’ by pumping lead all over the blessed town. It’s heavy-handed, Batman is a heavy pounding man with heavy breathing, big boots, surrounded by thickly bordered panels, oppressive and squared off. A shotgun of a wet blanket upon them all.
But despite the despair and the surroundings, the colours breakthrough like rainbows, with Prianto adding notes of hope with the hues.
Backup story #1 is a wordy one, with slanted panels full of female figures, entrapped and enraged by their emprisonment. Writer Vita Ayala, artist Aneke, and Trish Mulvihill make the best of the worst when Batgirls Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown find themselves celled up and not too sisterly. There is a lot of story compressed in these pages, tightly wound tension, small panels, and small cells of mutual hate.
Finally, Paula Sevenbergen writes, Rob Haynes, Emanuela Lupacchino, Wade Von Grawbadger and John Kalisz contribute various visuals for the ladies: in Ladies’ Night Out: Catwoman, Poison Ivy and a new Siren are out on the town, trolling for problems. Drinking, lightning bolts, drinking, fighting and drinking, all in a multitude of brilliant night club colours!
My opinion? All in all, this is not the strongest contender for your $7.99 this time around.
DC Comics Future State The Next Batman #2, $7.99 for 60 pages of content.
Newsdesk