{"id":21239,"date":"2021-02-15T15:27:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T21:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=21239"},"modified":"2021-02-16T16:22:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T22:22:00","slug":"future-state-the-next-batman-2-2021-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/15\/future-state-the-next-batman-2-2021-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Future State: The Next Batman #2 (2021) Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The mixed bag that DC\u2019s new publishing initiative of adding two back-up stories and raising the cover price hits hard on this issue. If these back-up stories had been included in the initial issue, I would have never given the series another chance. I still feel that the \u201cfeature\u201d story is somewhat lacking, but the back-up stories at downright terrible. $7.99 for a comic book is a tough sell for retailers in today\u2019s market, but in no way is this issue worth it.<\/p>\n

Writer John Ridley still hasn\u2019t given us any reason to see Tim Fox as a new Batman. Whereas Bruce Wayne dedicated his entire life to avenging the death of his parents, Tim became Batman because\u2026 his sister did drugs, or something? It\u2019s still not entirely clear why he became Batman or even how he\u2019s able to do the things that Bruce did without Bruce\u2019s lifetime of training a dedication. It\u2019s because of technology, I guess? It\u2019s just so unsatisfying to see a fill-in character without any justification for it.<\/p>\n

The story this issue follows Tim as he investigates the murder of man found in a dark alley. His assailants kept their faces covered well enough to defeat the rampant facial recognition technology in Gotham City, and while he\u2019s concerned with finding the murderers and their motivation, The Magistrate is hunting him down and attempting to kill him. We\u2019re also shown a little more of Tim\u2019s mother who is working with the mayor to fix the \u201ckill all masked vigilantes on sight laws\u201d because it\u2019s unconstitutional, though she supports the idea because \u201c\u2026Batman\u2026 my daughter\u2026 something\u2026 something\u2026\u201d I can\u2019t tell if Ridley is just putting a placeholder idea in here because he has no idea how to flesh out the story, or if he thinks it makes it feel more like a real story from another timeline by not having them rehash the details, but as a reader, I need something more to keep me invested in these characters.<\/p>\n

Art chores have changed hands, which is odd because they\u2019ve been working on these stories for months and should\u2019ve had plenty of time to work in advance, but we find Laura Braga, Nick Derington, and Arif Prianto taking over this issue and I feel like it\u2019s a better overall fit than last issue. Together they bring more of a traditional superhero style that at least helps to make the story fell more that a traditional Batman comic book, even if the story still feels like it needs a little more of anything to tie it into the Batman mythos.<\/p>\n

If the issue ended here for $3.99, I\u2019d probably still be unsatisfied, but more likely to give it a pass. However, the following two stories are downright terrible. I can\u2019t fathom who gave these scripts and artwork a pass but considering how many people have been fired and shuffled in the editorial offices at DC Comics in the past two years, perhaps I shouldn\u2019t be surprised that these made it through the process, but I certainly feel like the idea of sticking extra stories on a \u201cheadliner\u201d title and charging extra came about because they realized what stinkers they had to deal with.<\/p>\n

The first story, simply titled \u201cBatgirls,\u201d finds former Batgirl Cassandra Cain being tossed into a Magistrate prison facility where both heroes and villains are interred until they can be processed for long-term holding. Her cellmate is Spoiler, former Batgirl (maybe, depending on what continuity this is) Stephanie Brown, who turned against the heroes at some point in the past. Stephanie waxes on and on about the prison: the hierarchy, the technology, the guards, the friends she\u2019s made, the way to get ahead\u2026 and you can\u2019t help but wonder why she\u2019s explaining all of this. I know that complained in the Next Batman story that we weren\u2019t getting enough details, but these details are so poorly presented within the narrative that you wonder if writer Vita Ayala even knows how to structure a basic story.<\/p>\n

Eventually Spoiler and Batgirl spar leading them to time in solitary confinement where they each come clean and reveal their secrets. Spoiler went undercover as a villain but was caught before she could make a move against the bad guys and had to maintain her cover. Batgirl has been getting secret messages from within the prison that \u201cThe Bat Lives\u201d and has discovered a secret chamber underneath the holding cells. Batgirl believes Batman may still be alive down below and asks Spoiler to help free him. Unfortunately for us readers, Ayala gives away the fact that it\u2019s actually Barbara Gordon (former Batgirl and daughter of Commissioner Gordon) being held below, not Bruce Wayne. I can\u2019t fathom why this important plot point would be revealed here, again except for the ineptitude of the writer. Spoiler agrees and when released from solitary, she calls in every favor to start a prison wide riot.<\/p>\n

Despite the structural problems with this story, there are plenty of other problems with it as well. All of the heroes and villains are allowed to intermingle freely during the day like a normal prison with no signs to any steps taken to dampen super-powers or stop archenemies from confronting each other. Also, during Spoiler\u2019s informational monologue, she discusses how the prison is wired for sound and there\u2019s no safe space to talk freely unless you have a \u201cnullifier\u201d which gives you a safe radius of a yard. She says this openly without fear of being overheard, so I\u2019m guessing she has a nullifier, but Batgirl is far enough away that anything she says would not be covered by it, so there\u2019s a pretty big problem with the way it\u2019s being handled here.<\/p>\n

On top of all of these story problems, the art is barely serviceable. The linework by artist Aneke is stiff and unexciting. There\u2019s very little fluidity to the layouts and the character designs are just enough to claim their existence. I had no idea that Batgirl\u2019s cellmate was supposed to be Spoiler until Batgirl called her by that name 11 pages into the story. I had just gone forward with the assumption that this was a new character who had risen and fallen in the future. The bland art alone wouldn\u2019t be so bad if it weren\u2019t for the flat and lifeless colors by Trish Mulvihill. Almost nothing has shading or any sense of form. Spaces have no sense of depth, and even when presented with a blank background space (which is certainly more than most colorists probably would be by today\u2019s artists) she takes no opportunity to fill in the area with texture or shading. It feels very much like she knows the basics of a computer coloring program, and nothing more.<\/p>\n

I wish this was the end of the issue, but there\u2019s still one more story to slog through and while I will admit that I am not the target demographic for this story, it\u2019s still being forced upon me by being included in the $7.99 cover price. This entry into the Gotham City Sirens world of stories of obviously tailored for female readers with Sex and the City references and a female android who feels betrayed when her creator gets engaged to be married. It\u2019s certainly not as bad as the last story, but Paula Sevenbergen\u2019s tale is still not very well structured with a by-the-numbers flashback that does little other than fill space before oddly warping back to the present with no proper transition.<\/p>\n

The artwork isn\u2019t great, but it is certainly better in this story than in the last. It just took four people to make it happen this time with Rob Haynes providing breakdowns, Emanuela Lupacchino on pencils, Wade Von Grawbadger doing the inking, and John Kalisz as colorist. The look is lighthearted and cartoony which fits the simplistic tone of the story, but at least there\u2019s more action when there needs to be, and the colors add to the feel of each scene instead of just filling the spaces between the lines. However, the final product is still a story that doesn\u2019t feel like it belongs in a Batman comic book, much less a flagship title like this one.<\/p>\n

Future State: The Next Batman #2 feels like the proverbial switch after issue #1\u2019s bait of not being so bad. In no way does this collection of stories justify the $7.99 price tag. If these back-up stories had been published in the first issue, there\u2019s no way it would\u2019ve returned for a second printing and I now question if I\u2019m going to even bother buying the fourth issue in this series that continues these awful chapters. Can the main story in the third issue be good enough to bring me back for the finale?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mixed bag that DC\u2019s new publishing initiative of adding two back-up stories and raising the cover price hits hard on this issue.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[54,885,1574],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FS-TNB-2-Cover-1-e1613424448861.jpg?fit=899%2C598","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21245,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/16\/future-state-the-next-batman-3-2021-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":21239,"position":0},"title":"Future State: The Next Batman #3 (2021) Review","author":"DiRT","date":"February 16, 2021","format":"image","excerpt":"Issue #3 once again shows how quickly the overall quality can shift in DC\u2019s new publishing format that combines a 22-page feature story with two 20-page back-up stories. While the feature that should be drawing me in has left me underwhelmed, again, the two back-ups have proven that there are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Book Reviews","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/category\/i-need-comics\/comic-book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/future-state-the-next-batman-3-1-e1613541582979.jpg?fit=899%2C650&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/future-state-the-next-batman-3-1-e1613541582979.jpg?fit=899%2C650&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/future-state-the-next-batman-3-1-e1613541582979.jpg?fit=899%2C650&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/future-state-the-next-batman-3-1-e1613541582979.jpg?fit=899%2C650&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21249,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/17\/future-state-batman-superman-1-2021-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":21239,"position":1},"title":"Future State: Batman\/Superman #1 (2021) Review","author":"DiRT","date":"February 17, 2021","format":"image","excerpt":"Unlike other Future State comics that have been set in the far future where things are radically different, Batman\/Superman is set at the beginning of the massive upheaval that changes the DC Universe. On the one hand, it\u2019s a sad moment of the last gasps of a DC Universe that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Book Reviews","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/category\/i-need-comics\/comic-book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/7779855-01-1-e1613583889513.jpg?fit=832%2C521&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/7779855-01-1-e1613583889513.jpg?fit=832%2C521&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/7779855-01-1-e1613583889513.jpg?fit=832%2C521&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/7779855-01-1-e1613583889513.jpg?fit=832%2C521&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21280,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/24\/future-state-batman-superman-2-2021-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":21239,"position":2},"title":"Future State: Batman\/Superman #2 (2021) Review","author":"DiRT","date":"February 24, 2021","format":"image","excerpt":"Gene Luen Yang\u2019s final chapter of this Batman and Superman team-up reads like the final chapter of Batman and Superman\u2019s friendship, strained and exhausted, before the events that lead to Superman\u2019s exit from Earth and Batman\u2019s descent into the worst version of Gotham City ever imagined. It\u2019s sad because even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Book Reviews","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/category\/i-need-comics\/comic-book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/batman-superman_21-1-e1614183826947.jpg?fit=900%2C605&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/batman-superman_21-1-e1614183826947.jpg?fit=900%2C605&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/batman-superman_21-1-e1614183826947.jpg?fit=900%2C605&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/batman-superman_21-1-e1614183826947.jpg?fit=900%2C605&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21234,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/13\/future-state-the-next-batman-1-2021-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":21239,"position":3},"title":"Future State: The Next Batman #1 (2021) Review","author":"DiRT","date":"February 13, 2021","format":"image","excerpt":"One of the many problems with Future State is the \u201cElseworlds\u201d dilemma. We are given a story set in a \u201cpossible future\u201d of the DC Universe and are asked to care about it, when we know that it will most likely be gone in 2 months and little, if anything,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Book Reviews","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/category\/i-need-comics\/comic-book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0-1-e1613257237521.jpg?fit=899%2C636&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0-1-e1613257237521.jpg?fit=899%2C636&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0-1-e1613257237521.jpg?fit=899%2C636&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0-1-e1613257237521.jpg?fit=899%2C636&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12919,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2019\/02\/16\/read-bendis-story-from-detective-comics-1000-right-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":21239,"position":4},"title":"Read Bendis’ Story From Detective Comics #1000 Right Now!","author":"DiRT","date":"February 16, 2019","format":"image","excerpt":"DC unveiled full story details on the landmark 1,000th issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, debuting on March 27, 2019. The 96-page DETECTIVE COMICS #1000 celebrates the Dark Knight through a series of seven-to-nine-page standalone short stories from an all-star collection of the top writers and artists in Batman\u2019s recent history including\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Book News"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Book News","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/category\/i-need-comics\/comic-book-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/226370_1297687_1.jpg?fit=1068%2C820&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/226370_1297687_1.jpg?fit=1068%2C820&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/226370_1297687_1.jpg?fit=1068%2C820&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/226370_1297687_1.jpg?fit=1068%2C820&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/226370_1297687_1.jpg?fit=1068%2C820&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21296,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/03\/future-state-dark-detective-4-2021-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":21239,"position":5},"title":"Future State: Dark Detective #4 (2021) Review","author":"DiRT","date":"March 3, 2021","format":"image","excerpt":"This is the best the issue of Dark Detective, but that\u2019s been a very low hurdle to clear. The strongest factor that helps this issue to soar above the others is that Mariko Tamaki doesn\u2019t have much story to tell or inane inner monologues to annoy us with. Instead, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Book Reviews","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/category\/i-need-comics\/comic-book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/dark-detective_41-1-e1614798447681.jpg?fit=900%2C595&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/dark-detective_41-1-e1614798447681.jpg?fit=900%2C595&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/dark-detective_41-1-e1614798447681.jpg?fit=900%2C595&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/dark-detective_41-1-e1614798447681.jpg?fit=900%2C595&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21239"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21239"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21244,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21239\/revisions\/21244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}