MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #22, available in comic book stores on Wednesday, January 6th, details our hero’s response to the recent death of one of his beloved family members. In the concluding issue of the Ultimatum arc, Miles’s uncle Aaron Davis sacrificed himself to defeat the evil villain terrorizing the city. And his absence now leaves a vacuum in the Morales family. Yet hope seems to be brewing. The people in Miles’s life are finding new ways to express who they are in an ever-changing world.
Story
The idea of one’s name and its relation to their identity is explored throughout this issue. Readers first encounter it via a discussion with Miles and his father. The former “Jefferson Davis” reveals that he changed his surname to “Morales.”
Despite the obvious negative history associated with the name, Jefferson explains how this change represents an opportunity for a fresh start—a development in the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent’s identity. He describes choosing this path to better represent who he is as a person.
We see this same dynamic played out throughout the rest of the narrative—whether it’s Starling’s explanation of her superhero moniker or the villainous Frost Pharaoh’s new title. Writer Saladin Ahmed demonstrates a remarkable ability to portray deeply human concepts and emptions in his characters.
Artwork
Natacha Bustos’s penciling and ink work, David Curiel’s coloring, and VC’S Cory Petit’s lettering worked well together in this issue. Miles and Tiana’s forms seem to glide effortlessly across each panel, drawing readers into their movements. Their costumes’ shades of black and red pop against the grays and browns of the cityscape. In addition, the word balloons are placed strategically—at times subtlety out of the action and at others a part of the city itself.
Conclusion
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #22 is the breath of fresh air needed after the heavy toll taken on our hero during the Ultimatum arc. Perhaps Miles will look deeper into his own identity and what his name represents in the coming issues.
Do you think Tiana will share more of her secrets with Miles? Let us know in the comments below!
Writer G. Willow Wilson and guest artist Javier Rodriguez’s bring us the start of the next arc of their staggeringly good Sandman Universe series with “The Dreaming: The Waking Hours” #6. This issue takes young witch Heather After, one of the best supporting cast members of the first five issues, and thrusts them in the main protagonist position to deal with the consequences of one of her more reckless actions in a prior issue. With colors from Mat Lopes and letters from Simon Bowland, this is yet another gorgeous and sharply written chapter in the legacy of Sandman comics.
“As life gets back to something almost like normal for Lindy, sorceress Heather After finds herself plunged into a waking nightmare of her own! The cruel creature known as Puck is stalking her, and no being she could possibly summon can protect her from his wrath! Unless… no, she couldn’t possibly try to summon…really?!”
Writing & Plot
Unlike prior issues, “The Dreaming: The Waking Hours” #6 has Wilson following the plot of only one character’s actions. As much as I loved Lindy and Ruin and the rest in the first five issues, I was most intrigued by Heather After, young sorceress and descendant of Sandman villain Roderick Burgess. This issues focuses in on her life with her himbo boyfriend and dealing with the consequences of one of her more hasty actions earlier in the series – involving one of Faerie’s more unpredictable residents. She naturally plans to resolve this issue by – in true Vertigo form – making more consequences. The tightly focused and immensely entertaining script is shaped by Wilson’s ear for naturalistic dialogue and her poetic narrative voice. This single issue feels the most likeSandman or early Vertigo-era of any of her issues thus far, while still maintaining a completely unique narrative voice. Heather is a brilliantly capable and wickedly smart character, who is also just arrogant enough to land herself in a heap of trouble – while being humble enough to ask for help. She’s completely contemporary and feels like a real person, making her one of the most easily relatable protagonists I’ve read in a comic in recent memory. The reintroduction and use of longtime Sandman and DC/Vertigo staples and the careful handling of their characterization makes this issue an absolute winner in all regards from a writing perspective.
Art Direction
“The Waking Hours” #5 sees guest artist Javier Rodriguez filling in for series regular Nick Robles on pencils. This is no small task, as Robles’s work on this series has been nothing short of staggering on each issue. Fortunately, Rodriguez absolutely murders it on this chapter, with not only fantastic detail and animation but wildly dynamic and intricate panel direction. Stylistically, it’s impressive how artists working on The Dreaming in the past couple of years have managed to have a sort of all-around stylistic similarity while still retaining their own style. Rodriguez’s fine penciling is alive with character, with every individual looking just as unique as Robles had designed them. There’s a liveliness in Rodriguez’s work here that’s a bit different than prior work on this series, and that’s largely afforded by the kinds of scenes in this chapter. This issue has Heather and her boyfriend in their apartment and going to nightclubs rather than mysterious eldritch veils, so the setting feels more relatable while still offering the strange mysticism needed in a Sandman Universe comic. Now the leading component for why Rodriguez’s work here is such a seamless addition to “The Waking Hours” visuals thus far is honestly the coloring of Mat Lopes. His work on this issue, as well as every issue of The Dreaming over the past couple of years, is marked by a saturated hues of both natural colors and sudden explosions of bright neons and fantastical shades. This issue is brightly lit with the comfortable colors of Heather’s apartment that switches over to the strobing lights of a nightclub (a cathartic sight here during a pandemic) and then to the otherworldly tones given off by eldritch entities and spells. The lettering by Simon Bowland is once again a use of the classic Sandman fonts, with different characters using their own fonts. This is especially cool when a character speaks from off-panel and we we have to guess who the new speaker is. This is once again, a brilliant work of visual storytelling that this series is now known for.
“The Dreaming: The Waking Hours” #6 is a phenomenal start to a new arc for this Sandman Universe series. G. Willow Wilson takes a fascinating supporting character and creates a thrilling chapter that is a tumultuous joy to read. The artwork of Javier Rodriguez and Mat Lopes is absolutely stunning, taking real-world settings and mashing them together with otherworldly visons in true Sandman fashion. Be sure to grab this issue from your local comic shop when it releases on January 5th!
Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1 releases a return-to-form piece from the 90s Ghost Rider team of writer Howard Mackie and artist Javier Saltares on December 30 courtesy of Marvel Comics. Joining this duo is co-inker Marc Deering, colorist Arif Prianto, and letterer Joe Sabino.
Who Is Vengeance?
Michael Badilino/Vengeance (as his name suggests) is a Spirit of Vengeance, much like the Ghost Riders. Originally appearing as a co-star with the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider, he was killed in battle along with their mutual enemy Hellgate.
Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1: Bat Out of Hell
With current Ghost Rider comics in demand by creators, now seems like a great time to revisit some elements. Mackie keeps things simple in Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1 while getting readers up to speed. By showing Badilino in the lowest part of Hell, readers surmise his character without exposition.
From beginning to end, Vengeance shows himself off as a Punisher-esque anti-hero. The guy flat out admits he has no humanity. With his return, now’s a good time for readers to witness the manhunting days of the Spirit of Vengeance; that is if they don’t mind continuity errors. Besides the more enjoyable parts of this one-shot come from Badilino giving villains vicious payback after enduring their cruelty.
A Fearsome Presence
Saltares gives a fittingly hellish aesthetic to Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1. Just the new design of Vengeance displays the overall menace. The spiky armor with no chains or leather presents him as a direct product of Hell. There are no ties back to the main Ghost Riders, only a fury that goes in every possible direction.
The inking shared between Saltares and Deering attests to this even further by blurring Vengeance’s linework. This makes him look more spectral, which adds to his already threatening visage.
The colors by Prianto are best when looking at the end of Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1. With so many reds, oranges, and flesh colors in Hell, Vengeance’s appearance on Earth is what makes him stand out. This return signals a Hellish monster ready to wreak havoc on Earth’s sinful.
VC’s Sabino meanwhile demonstrates how each of Vengeance’s actions is a force of reckoning; between the SFX and flame-bordered word balloons, Vengeance is not a character to take lightly.
Try Out Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1
After two-and-a-half decades, readers are ready for a good old-fashioned Ghost Rider romp. No big internal battles for Hell, just giving the sinful a beatdown courtesy of a morally questionable. Because when a plot is manifesting, it’s good to have some alternatives. Ghost Rider Return of Vengeance #1 is certainly good enough to get attention from casual readers.
The Amazing Spider-Man #55 is where everything begins to come together but is still so far from concluding. Out now from Marvel Comics, this issue is a page-turner that will keep your heart racing, as the multiple storylines that we followed all culminate into one outstanding tale.
The Amazing Spider-Man #55 is some of Nick Spencer’s finest work in the entire series. After we have been following the stories of Kindred and Peter, Norman and Mary Jane, and the Order of the Web for the majority of the “Last Remains” arc; we finally get to see all of them connect in a scene so tense that you will be unable to stop turning the pages. The dialogue in the issue is superb and allows for scenes that effortlessly tug at the readers’ heartstrings. The dialogue is so heavily tied to the characters’ emotional connections, and we already care so much about all of the characters involved, that it is easy to become invested.
The best response I can give to describe Patrick Gleason’s art in The Amazing Spider-Man #55 is WOW. Just WOW. His work in some panels is incredibly intricate, and his characters’ faces perfectly capture the emotional scenes of the issue. The experience of reading the issue is one of flying through pages as you take in Spencer’s phenomenal story and then having to pause at the stunning artwork presented by Gleason. His depiction of Kindred is disturbing, the setting establishes a creepy tone with ease, and the action is some of the most intense I have ever seen. Gleason also uses some unconventional panel framing that adds to the eerie tone of the beginning of the issue, which helps tell Spencer’s story.
Edgar Delgado provides fantastic coloring in The Amazing Spider-Man #55, which reinforces the issue’s themes. Since the issue has a very dark tone, Delgado makes sure to reflect that in his color palette choice. However, he does not let the colors be too dark or dreary, which would result in a bland color composition, but instead finds a delightful middle ground. The colors still represent the tone, but there is still plenty of color that makes each page pleasant to look at. Delgado also provides some excellent gradients for the characters’ faces, which helps them come across as realistic.
The Amazing Spider-Man #55 features VC’s Joe Caramagna’s brilliant lettering talent, and it drastically improves the issue. Bold fonts and vibrant colors give sound effects a deeper impact and cause the blows inflicted to seem more brutal. Caramagna’s positioning of word bubbles also allows for the story to flow smoothly, which is vital for a tense issue such as this.
The Amazing Spider-Man #55 is a nearly perfect issue that had me deeply engaged the entire time. The art is jaw-dropping, and the story had me dying to turn the page and discover what happened next. The coloring helps the creepy art disturb the reader, and the lettering adds weight to the action. I really couldn’t recommend this issue enough. It had everything I wanted and more with combining the separate storylines that we followed in The Amazing Spider-Man.LR issues. I am eagerly waiting to see where the following issues will take the story.
The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR, out now from Marvel Comics, is an issue where the plot is continually twisting and turning in ways that a reader couldn’t predict, and the art is stunning.
Nick Spencer and Matthew Rosenberg wrote The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR, and successfully provided for a captivating issue. As the events that were set up by the previous issue begin to play out, there are twists that almost everyone would fail to predict. The surprising way the plot plays out leaves the reader wondering what will happen next and glues their eyes to the page. It all builds up to a shocking conclusion that excites the reader for the next issue in the series.
An intriguing aspect of The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR is the inclusion of pages from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #200. Written by J.M. DeMatteis, drawn by Sal Buscema, colored by Bob Sharen, and lettered by Joe Rosen, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #200 is related to the issue because of its focus on the same characters. Since the history of the characters involved is so long, many readers may be unfamiliar with the dynamic between the characters the issue is focusing on. They included this scene to give context to new readers, and by having an actual scene from a past comic book, the reader knows the information about the past isn’t embellished in any way.
The pencils of Federico Vicentini and Takeshi Miyazawa combined with the inks of Vicentini, Miyazawa, and Scott Hanna result in a delightful cartoonish art style for The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR. This cartoonish style allows for action scenes to have a lot of dynamism, which is difficult for highly realistic art. The exaggerated expressions they have would look ridiculous in other art styles, but here it helps easily carry the issue’s emotional moments. The style is also not overly cartoonish, but instead is a nice semi-realism that allows both a serious tone and exaggerated emotions.
The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR features Erick Arciniega’s coloring talents, and he brings life to the issue that would have been absent otherwise. Each page’s color composition is beautiful, and the gradient backgrounds help add a creepy tone during one encounter. Arciniega also uses the technique of drastically changing a panel’s background color from the setting to help instill energy into the scene, and it works perfectly. I can not say enough good things about his performance in this issue.
VC’s Ariana Maher’s lettering never ceases to amaze. Her work in The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR is particularly impressive, as the bold captions and choice of fonts do wonders to enhance the issue’s experience.
The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR is an excellent issue, which shows that the story has lots of excitement to come. The art is terrific, the coloring is gorgeous, and the lettering helps make the issue a page-turner. If you’re a fan of what’s currently happening in The Amazing Spider-Man series, you will not want to miss this superb issue.
There’s not much that’s new about DC Comics’ Generations Shattered #1. It feels more like a retelling of DC history than its own original story. But somehow, writers Dan Jurgens, Andy Schmidt, and Robert Venditti, along with a huge cast of artists, colorist Hi-Fi and letterer Tom Napolitano, make this patchwork of DC favorites feel fun and fresh. It’s the dose of 80’s/90’s joy and weirdness comics sorely need right now.
Writing
Jurgens, Schmidt, and Venditti borrow from a lot of major DC works. In fact, most of Generations Shattered #1 feels nearly identical to Crisis on Infinite Earths. A major villain is destroying the DC Universe, and a cast of heroes is brought together by someone who’s watching from out of time (dare I say, a monitor?) to put a stop to this big baddie. So why does Generations Shattered feel like it works? For one thing, it seems deeply aware of its own “plagiarism.” It rehashes Crisis to comb through it for opportunities missed. And the moments that Generations Shattered does its own thing are pitch-perfect. Old man Booster, Kamandi meeting Changeling, the general flubbing of Skeets’ entire plan. It feels so true to ’80s and ’90s comics, forever humbly nodding to its influences. It’s a creative team that’s throwing out the rule book for the sake of fun. They’re telling us a story we’ve seen before because they’ve decided it’s about time we got a rerun.
Art
There are a good 22 separate artists working on Generations Shattered #1. A little overkill? Well, actually no. Because Generations Shattered is a treasure hunt through DC’s multiverse and history. So when Dan Jurgens and Klaus Janson are drawing pages, following the Golden Age Batman, they’re deliberately imitating the style of 1940’s comics. But when we meet our very ’90s-esque supervillain, it’s John Romita Jr. and Danny Miki who take the helm, using the edgy stylistic linework we know from that era. When Generations Shattered #1 mimics works like Animal Man, with characters falling outside of panels, Rags Morales takes over. Morales’ style is remarkably similar at times to that of Chas Truog, Animal Man regular. And finally, we land in a world drawn by Mike Perkins. It’s a peek behind the curtain, a humanity behind the theatrics. Generations Shattered #1 is a spectrum of themes, eras, and styles. A team of artists brings their wildly different approaches to the table, with intense diversity to the spectrum.
Coloring
Hi-Fi is constantly adapting to each new scene in Generations Shattered #1. To match Kevin Nowlan’s style in the 1960’s scene of space battles, Hi-Fi makes the scene bright and vibrant. Much of the comic is incredibly colorful, in fact. It’s reminiscent of the Bronze and Silver Ages. Occasionally, like when Dr. Light fights Hector Hammond, we’re reminded that we’re reading a modern comic. And when we see our heroes falling through time, the scenes behind them are slightly faded. It’s like we’re watching these scenes through shards of glass as time is literally shattering. Finally, as the issue closes, Hi-Fi drains the page of all color. It’s an interesting turn. It reminds us both that we’re reading a modern comic, it feels quite new and experimental to change the color scheme so late into the issue suddenly, but it also reminds us this issue is dealing with the world of old comics. Like a 1920’s comic strip, we’re left in a strange, old world.
Lettering
So much of what makes this issue feel like a fun romp through time is Napolitano’s lettering. Napolitano’s lettering is constantly changing, especially noticeable in his sound effects. The thin lettering of an ’80s style “BWHOOSH,” marking an explosion, looks so different from the “KRAK” of 1940’s Batman breaking open a door. When we finally meet our big bad villain, Napolitano brilliantly shows us his state of mind. First, as he sees the heroes undoing his hard work, his lettering is all over the place, from small whispers of disappointment to screaming in anger. And as he makes his move, the change is chilling. We see the next few lines as cold, emotionless captions. It feels like a flex. This villain is so powerful that he doesn’t have to follow up with screaming and wailing when he makes his move. Instead, his actions speak for themselves.
DC Comics’ Generations Shattered #1 is a love letter to the DC Universe. It takes classic earth-shattering events like Crisis and Zero Hour and brings them together in one fun romp through time. It’s nothing new, but it makes for an awesome rerun. Pick up Generations Shattered #1, out from DC Comics on January 5th, at a comic shop near you!
Available now, Tales from the Dark Multiverse #1 Dark Nights Metal is the latest event comic from DC Comics written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, originating from a story by Scott Snyder, Jackson Lanzing, and Collin Kelly. Providing pencils and inks are Karl Mostert, Trevor Scott, and Norm Rapmund. Finally, rounding out an appropriately epic creative ensemble, Romulo Fajardo, Jr. provided the colors, and Andworld Design created the lettering.
The difficulty in judging event comics lies in the fact that they aren’t really singular books. Obviously, there has been lots of set up leading to this comic. Because of the natural dependence on what came before, nothing much happens in this book. Despite the strong concept and art, the story’s heavy exposition and clichés mean the book falls flat.
Tempus Fuginaut, an interdimensional deity meant to preserve the boundaries between worlds, opens the book explaining who he is and how this world was corrupted. Batman became Barbatos, and everything was destroyed, including most of the Justice League. Now Duke Thomas, a metahuman and former Robin, is one of the few left along with Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Iron Man, and Nightwing who must defeat Barbatos.
Into the Darkness
In disguise, Nightwing has managed to fend off demons and dragons with his “multiversal frequency disruptor” that looks an awful lot like an electric guitar. But neither he nor the Justice League has managed to defeat the villains. Instead, they hide, doing their best to survive.
Duke Thomas seems to be the underdog of the story, but it’s his hope that galvanizes the remaining Justice League, and he devises a plan. While the high concept and inspiring underdog story are all well and good, by the end, Duke Thomas has an easy time defeating the enemy.
Aside from Barbatos, the story’s main villain is the Batman Who Laughs, an evil hybrid of Batman and The Joker. He’s equipped with Zatanna’s magical hand and a Joker dragon hybrid who does the dirty work. Here, we see the strengths of this book: character design.
Aesthetics
For example, The Batman Who Laughs, along with the rest of this dark, corrupted world, is full of sharp edges and muted coloring. Zatanna’s decomposing hand and the Joker Dragon are effectively disturbing for the same reason. Moreover, Zatanna’s hand permanently stuck in a Ronnie James Dio metal gesture and Nightwing’s guitar are a couple of decidedly metal aspects. Thus, Mostert, Scott, and Rapmund’s overall aesthetic are striking and exciting.
Andworld Design’s lettering, while fun, feels quite conventional in keeping with the established DC/Richard Starkings look. Unfortunately, each of these elements makes for a mediocre, forgettable read. Regardless of some conventionality, unnecessary expository monologues from Joker and Tempus Fuginaut, and plot conveniences, the most disappointing aspect of this event book is that it just isn’t very metal.
With art by Mike Perkins, written by Ram V, colors by June Chung, and letters by Aditya Bidikar, DC Comics’ Future State: Swamp Thing #1 is unnerving and mysterious. V, Perkins, Chung, and Bidikar have the hefty task of introducing us to a world that must be both new and familiar. But even the new, here, feels somewhat familiar. That’s because this creative team pulls from the real world to give their mystical story the smack of realism.
Writer
V links our new cast of characters, a nomadic tribe of plant creatures, to nomadic tribes of the real world. We get a sense of more than just survival happening. When a young plant girl comes to Swamp Thing, he tells her of their history. It feels ritualistic, like a pillar of a culture steeped in oral traditions. Ultimately, that’s what V achieves in these pages. He makes us feel like these are characters with an established, almost ancient culture, even if it’s new to us. And every few pages, V walks us through how Swamp Thing went about creating life. We see the challenge of making lungs, muscles, and emotions out of leaf and root. So, while we feel like we’re playing catch up in some ways, we’re regularly reminded that this fantastic new world is rooted (no pun intended) in realism.
A separate article could be written, dedicated solely to V, Perkins, Chung, and Bidikar’s beautiful work on this fantastic splash page.
Art
Perkins does a brilliant job of making us feel that this is a tribe of real people we’re following. Their skin might be bark, their hair leaves, but their smiles and suspicious glances are unmistakably human. Characters like Indigo, and the curious young girl who meets with Swamp Thing at the opening, are bursting with character. In fact, Perkins’ juxtaposition between these two is what highlights their traits. Indigo is a gnarled, bitter, trouble-making old man, while the young girl is bright-eyed and full of hope. Perkins also imbues seemingly innocent moments with human drama. When Indigo asks Swamp Thing to “lay bare your secrets,” it’s Swamp Thing’s fear, clear on his face, that makes the request suddenly feel dangerous. And Perkins’ nuanced expressions are interrupted by impersonal images of a plant person’s anatomy. DC Comics’ Future State: Swamp Thing #1 is a visual tug of war between the emotionless, secretive nature of its titular character and the excited humanity of its offspring.
Coloring
To fully understand Chung’s coloring, you have to be familiar with the mythology of Swamp Thing. Guardian of the Green, Swamp Thing is a character who lives in a place of tension. Previously, he’d been a man. A creature of “the Red.” But now he lives to protect plant life. So it’s interesting, then, that Chung associates the color red with a few things. For one, Chung uses red to show when characters become panicked or angry. It’s their display of human emotions, marked by a color that is typically associated with humanity in this world. But, even stranger, Chung uses red to show Swamp Thing communing with the Green. When he uses his power, we see the roots of trees in red, looking like blood veins through the earth. Maybe it’s because Swamp Thing uses his power to find humans or because he’s a bit of both himself. Either way, Chung’s use of red and green in this issue is more than just cosmetic. It’s a representation of Swamp Thing’s warring natures.
Lettering
Bidikar makes some fascinating choices when lettering this issue. We see Swamp Thing’s dialogue, written in the same format we’re used to. The orange word balloon and black lettering with a jagged edge, with ellipses showing his difficulty forming words. But the rest of the plant people, Swamp Thing’s offspring, are lettered differently. They have a green outline to their white word balloons with no ellipses to show any hesitation. Bidikar shows us that Swamp Thing is different than everyone else. He’s not like the plant people, nor is he like humans. The one moment Bidikar seems to have missed an opportunity is when Swamp Thing finds a human. “Let me speak… to him in a voice… he will understand…” he says to the others. And he does, but his dialogue doesn’t change visually. There’s no change in font of any kind to show this transition, which is slightly confusing. It’s a tough moment though. There’s no way Bidikar can mark Swamp Thing’s lines to the others as “translated from” because there’s no known language for plants. But even an absence of ellipses when they’re chatting amongst themselves could be a small tell to show a change.
DC Comics’ Future State: Swamp Thing #1 doesn’t feel like a first issue. It feels like another chapter in the long lineage of an ancient tribe. V, Perkins, Chung, and Bidikar make this new world feel marvelously lived-in. It’s a great introduction to the mystical side of DC Comics’ Future State event. Pick up Future State: Swamp Thing #1, out from DC Comics on the 5th of January, at a comic shop near you!
Back in October of 2020, we were first given a peek into the future of the DC Universe. Future State gives writers a chance to explore new characters while taking up the mantles of iconic heroes. Along with that, it expands on potential stories for fan-favorite characters in this new world. The first of these Future State issues sees The Next Batman after Bruce Wayne. While this is not the first time we’ve seen a futuristic Batman, I’ve personally been excited to explore this new Gotham and its heroes. So what does the Bat-family of Tomorrow have in store for the readers of today?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
In the future, there is a new form of law enforcement in Gotham known as The Magistrate. They send out peacekeepers, which the new Batman has to contend with due to their more violent ways. We focus on the Fox family, with Luke helping out his mom, working on case laws during the day. He visits his comatose sister, Tamara, and comes face to face with his brother, Tim, going by Jace. The pair don’t see eye to eye since the latter went awol from army training. That said, it becomes more and more clear they are working to protect their city.
We also get two other stories involving the Outsiders and the Arkham Knight. The Outsiders follow Katana, now in sweet samurai armor, taking on Kaliber while protecting Duke Thomas’ pursuit of getting people out of Gotham. During one of her missions, Tatsu meets up with Black Lightning, now a lightning elemental, who has come to warn her that The Magistrate is setting Duke up to fail. The Arkham Knight, in contrast to the Outsiders leaving town, is leading a battle against the new order of Gotham. Using volunteers from Arkham, Astrid leads the battle against The Magistrate and their peacekeepers.
This issue is less about Batman and the other heroes of this new age and more about shaping this futuristic Gotham. That isn’t to say this is a bad thing. If anything, it sets the scene extremely well. We still get cool sequences of action, such as Tatsu hunting down Kaliber in an amazing two-page spread, and wonderful character moments, such as Astrid playing psychiatrist to one of her soldiers.
However, the best moments come from the main story, as we get to know our new Batman. While we don’t get too much action from him, we see him offering misguided kids a chance to go straight rather than leave them beaten down or taken down by the Magistrate. This new Dark Knight can be tough yet still be a hero. As the issues go on, and the rest of the world gets filled in with the other Batman book and Justice League titles, we’ll learn more about who he is. From this first issue, though, it’s already turning out to be promising.
Art:
The art teams do a fantastic job in crafting this world in their stories. Nick Derington covers The Next Batman, providing that style he mastered in Batman: Universe with Gotham gangs and our new Dark Knight. Jack Herbert worked on the Arkham Knights story, and while his style doesn’t quite match with Derington’s more cartoonish style, he is able to make the Arkham Knight and her fellow fighters look amazing, leaving us with a final page that could be made into a movie poster. However, Sumit Kumar provides one kick-ass, two-page spread in The Outsiders, showing Katana at her best cutting through foes to find her target. I truly hope these teams stick around for their stories because I really can’t imagine anyone different.
Conclusion:
Overall, this first issue into the world of Future State’s Gotham was pretty good. With fantastic art across the board, we got three stories that provide the context of what the city has become. The Outsiders showed heroes doing their duty to get people away from the Magistrate, Arkham Knights showed the active fight against them, and The Next Batman is that middle ground of just protecting the people. It was nice to get these perspectives. The only complaint I really have is that the main story’s slow-burn can be a little dull when you expect action. That said, we still have more issues coming, and this reviewer can’t wait to pick up the next issue.
FUTURE STATE: THE FLASH #1, available in stores Tuesday, January 5th, is the first of two issues that will lay out the character’s new status quo. After losing control of himself due to some mysterious entity within the Speed Force, Wally West murdered Wallace West and removed the powers of all the Flash Family speedsters. Now the team finds themselves on a mission to steal a helmet that could change the course of Wally’s self-destruction.
Writing
Wrecked by the recent deaths of Wallace and at the hands of a cursed Wally—and his speed powers stripped—Barry opts for a new strategy. He and the remaining members of Team Flash came across weapons from their defeated enemies, opting to seek out more useful items that could help Wally. Their most important mission leads them to The Calculator (initially believed to be the The Thinker).
The hope of these heroes emanates from the pages. Readers can emotionally join in with these characters’ last ditch effort to save their friend. The coordination, communication, and cleverness in their attack on The Calculator is an inspiring site. But all good things must come to an end at some point. And unfortunately, Impulse feels the full brunt of this via a dangerous energy blast. Will he survive this encounter?
Brandon Vietti’s writing is incredibly well-paced. Despite so many scenes of high-paced action, he lays them them out in a way that slowly builds momentum in the main plot. The story has many elements, making for great rereading value.
Artwork
Dale Eaglesham’s penciling and ink work, combined with Mike Atiyeh’s coloring, put together beautiful illustrations for this issue. Despite losing their speed, the protagonists are cast in a flowing style to still give the appearance of movement. The bright warms colors used for these figures are set against duller backgrounds to help them stand out. Steve Wands’s lettering helps complete these effects by placing the word balloons alongside our characters to follow the action.
Conclusion
FUTURE STATE: THE FLASH #1 is a thrilling, dark first step into this new chapter of Barry’s story. We are anxiously waiting to see how the Scarlet Speedster fairs against this demonic version of Wally.
Do you think there’s hope to save Wally? Let us know in the comments below!
Michael Badilino/Vengeance (as his name suggests) is a Spirit of Vengeance, much like the Ghost Riders. Originally appearing as a co-star with the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider, he was killed in battle along with their mutual enemy Hellgate.
