By d. emerson eddy — Five weeks in, the world of Future State is getting weirder. The book’s themselves aren’t strange or weird in terms of content, but an overall purpose isn't forming. Two weeks in to the conclusions there isn’t overall coherence, things still just seem to be happening willy-nilly. Some stories come to an abrupt halt, hinting there should possibly have been more. Others come to a succinct conclusion. As I say, it seems weird.

By and large, it doesn't hurt the quality, it just makes Future State feel like a curiosity or big tease before Infinite Frontier. Though, we do get more confirmation this week that the fallout from these stories will spill across the DCU — some getting prequels in present day, others continuing from where they left off. This, in itself, makes it feel like some of Future State was meant to be the set-up for a new status quo. Possibly part of the aborted 5G. I don't know.

What I do know, is I'm not averse to a DC Universe that has books across universes and timelines. Overall, provided there's a clear delineation to what happens when (something that's been neglected through this event), it wouldn't be confusing to have a book set in the 2050s, World War II, or Earth-3. Just as it's not confusing that the Legion of Super-Heroes is set in the 31st Century.

Future State: I Left My Girl Back Home, I Don't Love Her No More

I may be one of the few that have really enjoyed the “Last Lanterns” story from Future State - Green Lantern #1. I haven't perused reactions to the second issue, as I liked to get my thoughts down first so as to not be influenced by anything else, but I quite like what Geoffrey Thorne, Tom Raney, Mike Atiyeh, and AndWorld Design did with John Stewart and the rest. This conclusion is somewhat grim, especially for established faces, but there's still a good deal of hope, a lot of willpower, and an interesting use of the backdrop of DCU cosmic sandbox.

I quite like the tone and atmosphere that Thorne, Raney, Atiyeh, and AndWorld Design cultivate. It's a kind of sci-fi that wouldn't feel out of place in something like 2000 AD, but if we take a more local look, it's kind of an Omega Men feel. I like that approach, and it feels like something different to me for the Lanterns. Likewise, we get to find out who the God in Red is in this issue, and it’s a bit of a surprise. A welcome surprise.

What does make me scratch my head a bit is that this isn't an ending. Sure, the immediate threat is dealt with and the surface plot is closed, but this is a set-up for more stories. It's a beginning, which makes me wonder what the original intent was for this new status quo, and where we're going to lead to growing out of Infinite Frontier.

This is true also of the back-ups, which similar to the end of “Last Lanterns” and the back-ups from the first issue, aren't really discrete, done-in-one stories; no, they're all set-ups for more stories. This doesn't diminish how good any of them are, just that it makes you wonder if we're going to be left hanging by all of these, or if there's a plan to revisit where the characters are left. I'll get back to that latter point in a minute.

The first back-up, from Josie Campbell, Andie Tong, Wil Quintana, and Dave Sharpe, features Teen Lantern, Keli Quintela. The Guardians send her off with Mogo to find out where the gauntlet originated, hoping to gain more of an idea of her powers. In order to do so, they have to travel through the Bootes Void and, of course, that's when the Power Battery on Oa goes out, bringing Mogo to a complete halt. It's a decent set-up, but it leaves Quintela and Mogo out there in the void, all alone in the dark — pretty much literally leaving them hanging. It's still a good story, with beautiful artwork from Tong and Quintana, but it's a hook, with no conclusion.

The same is true of the Hal Jordan back-up from Robert Venditti, Dexter Soy, Alex Sinclair, and Steve Wands. Hal is traveling to Oa to find out why the Green Lantern Corps has apparently gone dark, and, yes, he finds the aforementioned Power Battery destroyed, Oa in ruins, and an angry Jo Mullein wondering where Hal was when everything fell to pieces. That's the story in this back-up. There's a note that it will be continued in Green Lantern in 2021, but we're still left wondering where.

Especially since the forthcoming Green Lantern series we've seen so far is focused on John Stewart, perhaps meaning this plot thread will be picked up somewhere in another back-up tale. Sadly, this one also seems to feed into the Flash/Titans/Shazam! narrative, which isn't something I really want the DC Universe as a whole to be working towards, not even a little bit. But we’ll get back to that corner of the universe more below.

Future State: Green Lantern #2
“Last Lanterns”
Writer: Geoffrey Thorne
Artist: Tom Raney
Colorist: Mike Atiyeh
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Outnumbered but never outwitted or outfought, John Stewart leads the last of the Green Lanterns against insurmountable odds. Facing a bloodthirsty Khund cult dedicated to the “God in Red,” the onetime Green Lantern shows that even without a ring or the Corps to back him up, he’s still a force to be reckoned with!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Green Lantern #2

“Teen Lantern”
Writer: Josie Campbell
Artist: Andie Tong
Colorist: Wil Quintana
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Outnumbered but never outwitted or outfought, John Stewart leads the last of the Green Lanterns against insurmountable odds. Facing a bloodthirsty Khund cult dedicated to the “God in Red,” the onetime Green Lantern shows that even without a ring or the Corps to back him up, he’s still a force to be reckoned with!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Green Lantern #2

“Hal Jordan”
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Dexter Soy
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $5.99
Outnumbered but never outwitted or outfought, John Stewart leads the last of the Green Lanterns against insurmountable odds. Facing a bloodthirsty Khund cult dedicated to the “God in Red,” the onetime Green Lantern shows that even without a ring or the Corps to back him up, he’s still a force to be reckoned with!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Green Lantern #2

Look at All This Cash

Although the details of the Magistrate are still spotty — and the overall narrative is spinning its wheels —possibly because the complete story of who and what sets up the Magistrate is being saved for something coming out of Infinite Frontier or elsewhere — I think as a whole Gotham's corner of the Future State event is the strongest shared setting. It’s the most consistent when it comes to the various moving parts. There are many questions still left out there, but it looks like the story beats for it are going to keep going, with a pair of forthcoming comics — The Next Batman: Second Son and Future State: Gotham. Same with what's going to feed into it, with many of the creators on the Future State books taking over when the present day resumes.

Chief among those are the new Detective Comics creative team of Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora, whose “Dark Detective” lead story in this series (with Jordie Bellaire and Aditya Bidikar), has been getting better and better. Tamaki's voice for Bruce Wayne's narration is great, and the art from Mora and Bellaire is phenomenal. The feel of this book goes hard into the retro neon future aesthetic, enhancing the noir and mystery elements.

I think it's interesting how the supporting cast has been built through this story, including a conspiracy nut doomsday paranoiac who turns out to be right, because in Gotham they really are listening to everything. Makes me wonder if we're going to see younger versions of these characters when we go back to the present, so strongly do they feel like characters who should live on. I'm also left wondering how any of this is going to wrap up in just one more issue, because that doesn't rightly feel possible with how this has been paced. Even so, it’s still highly entertaining.

The conclusion of the “Grifters” co-feature from Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Antonio Fabela, and AndWorld Design is also very well done. There's a betrayal that you don't see coming (and I won't spoil that), which takes this mad-dash rush out of Gotham from Grifter, Luke Fox, and Huntress to the next level. It's a story filled with great action and humor, all told with some amazing artwork from Di Giandomenico and Fabela.

It raises questions as to how many vigilantes that you might ordinarily consider “good guys” are working with the Magistrate, while also questioning why they might do so. It's funny that despite the Magistrate seeming omnipresent — with eyes, agents, drones, and Cybers everywhere — it still needs its own masks and Peacekeepers. They also seem to be very, very bad at doing anything about the crime in Gotham.

I get that being in opposition to the Bat family would likely be a full-time gig, but the size of their army seems to overshadow its accomplishments. It makes you wonder if something else is going on.

In the end, I was really satisfied with some of the storytelling here. Moving forward, I'm going to be really excited to ultimately see what Matthew Rosenberg and Ryan Benjamin do with Grifter in the present day.

Future State: Dark Detective #3
“Dark Detective”
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
In this issue, Bruce Wayne meets the next Batman! As the dark detective makes his move to put an end to the villainous Magistrate once and for all, the man who once wore the cowl encounters the next Batman-and these two have some questions for each other! Fists will fly as this explosive meeting erupts in the skies over Gotham...but with the clock ticking, can Bruce finish what he started and unlock the secrets of the fascist surveillance that plagues his city?
Read It Digitally: Future State - Dark Detective #3

“Grifters”
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $5.99
And in “Grifters” part two, the lucky streak that Cole Cash and Luke Fox have enjoyed just hit a brick wall in the form of the Huntress! The over-the-top adventure in the gutters of Gotham City concludes in the most bone-crushing fashion possible!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Dark Detective #3

Bring the Drugs, Baby, I Could Bring My Pain

The conclusion to Future State: Robin Eternal #2 by Meghan Fitzmartin, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, and Pat Brosseau is relatively satisfying, tying up this series’ plot of stopping the Cybers from becoming functionally immortal. It even gives a bit of context to when this happens, showing that it leads into the “Batgirls” back-up that we saw in The Next Batman.

More than anything else, this story is a stunning showcase for the work of Barrows, Ferreira, Lucas, and Brosseau. The visuals within this story — from the normal action sequences through to the hallucinatory effects that Tim suffers after dying and being bathed in the Lazarus Resin — are worth the price of admission on their own. This is a great looking book, with creators operating at the top of their crafts. I particularly love the synergy of shape, shadow, color, and word balloons for the Shadow of the Bat hallucination that's trying to influence and manipulate Tim Drake. It’s stunning work all around from these creators.

The descent into madness that Fitzmartin presents through Tim's narration is also pretty fascinating, drawing parallels into rather insightful commentary on what it might be like to be Jason Todd as well. I find it kind of interesting that there's arguably more insight into Jason here in a throwaway line than we've seen in the books that actually star him for a decade.

Overall, Robin Eternal occupies a space similar to Harley Quinn, in that it's a perfectly enjoyable two-parter that advances a particular area within the overall Magistrate story-arc. It does give a new status quo for Tim, but I don't know if we're going to see him again in the Future State: Gotham series.

Future State: Robin Eternal #2
Writer: Meghan Fitzmartin
Penciller: Eddy Barrows
Inker: Eber Ferreira
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Tim Drake is dead at the hands of the Magistrate. Uh, so why is he getting back up again? With the dangerous and supercharged “Lazarus Resin” coursing through the veins of the hero once known as Robin, can Tim recover enough of his fragile psyche to finish the mission and blow the sky convoy? And can Spoiler and Darcy escape the clutches of Peacekeeper 03 in time to save their friend in the process? It all comes to a head in this cataclysmic finale!
Buy It Digitally: Future State - Robin Eternal #2

I Love to Watch You Dance

Future State Superman Wonder Woman Art 1.jpg

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #1 was one of my favorites of the event to this point. This conclusion from Dan Watters, Leila Del Duca, Nick Filardi, and Tom Napolitano keeps that lofty position with a solid ending for a fun two-part standalone tale. The new Superman and Wonder Woman gather themselves after the initial confrontations with their respective challengers, working out a plan to overcome them.

The character work that Watters does here for both Jonathan Kent and Yara Flor is impeccable. The development of each seems like it has been one of the driving factors throughout the various books featuring them, leading to stiff competition with Superman of Metropolis, Wonder Woman, and Justice League, but what we get here from Watters eclipses them. Here we get to see behind the curtain of both characters being heroes to what they're like when they're not in front of everyone. This is especially the case as we get a reveal as to why Jon's incredibly regimented in his time allocations. This is a very different friendship than Clark and Diana traditionally have, but it feels no less genuine.

This book once again features wonderful art from Leila Del Duca and Nick Filardi. There's an easiness and a brightness overall to this story that's perfectly expressed, even though there's a looming threat in Solaris. Basically, it's not dark and oppressive. With clean action and pacing — mixed with bright colors — it feels like a goodhearted superhero story. Plus, I still love the unique word balloons that Tom Napolitano uses for Solaris.

Future State Superman Wonder Woman #2.jpg

This isn't a story that's going to change your world, but it doesn't have to be. Not everything has to be world-shaking or laden with tragic character deaths to be fun and worthwhile. And seriously, what Watters, Del Duca, Filardi, and Napolitano do here with Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman is refreshing. It's a welcome tonic to all the grim dark you see elsewhere — just an all around fun superhero story.

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #2
Writer: Dan Watters
Artists: Leila Del Duca
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Our heroes have challenged the gods themselves to a test of bravery for the fate of the Earth. But gods are notorious cheaters, and with Superman’s powers in flux, it falls to Wonder Woman to face down the sun itself! A utopian future awaits-but only if a Kryptonian peacemaker and an Amazon warrior can put aside their differences to become the World’s Finest Heroes!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Superman/Wonder Woman #2

Take You Down Another Level and Get You Dancing With the Devil

Future State: Justice League #2 maintains the high level of quality from the previous issue, both in the lead story as well as in the Justice League Dark co-feature. The Justice League tale from Joshua Williamson, Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Romulo Fajardo, Jr., and Tom Napolitano concludes with the team essentially finding itself. Using a team of villains that is known but not otherwise utilized, like the Hyperclan, is a great way to link this book to past incarnations of the League, setting up a group of antagonists that have a history of already taking out the heavy hitters of the Big 7 era.

There are more hints of events that may feed into the upcoming run from Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez, but the highlight here overall is the depth of characterization that Williamson does with these characters. While Jon and Yara have been fleshed out fairly well across the Future State event — and Green Lantern Jo Mullein can be followed in the absolutely excellent Far Sector — the other characters haven't had as much spotlight yet. This includes even Jace Fox, who I think gets more character development here than what we've seen in his own The Next Batman series. It makes me want to see more of this League, though I'm not sure where or if we will.

Same with the art from Rocha, Henriques, and Fajardo, Jr. I'm not sure if they've been announced on a new book — a scan of recent solicitations unfortunately doesn't yield anything other than collections of previous material — but after their performance on the recent run of Aquaman and now here in Future State: Justice League, I'm hoping for something high profile.

Because this is some great stuff.

The “Justice League Dark” co-feature from Ram V, Marcio Takara, Marcelo Maiolo, and Rob Leigh is crafty. Very crafty. The remaining magical heroes face off against Merlin's forces, with a reveal of a couple familiar faces among Merlin's lieutenants, and an internal struggle between Detective Chimp and the Demon.

This latter bit is just a brilliant character conflict, and in some ways a bit of misdirection.

The magical landscape that's painted by V, Takara, Maiolo, and Leigh is bleak, the outcome somewhat bittersweet, but this story does something very interesting in its conclusion as Doctor Fate makes his decision. This is but one possible world, in which they all but one seemingly have lost to Merlin's forces, but there's a nod that Etrigan might be able to make use of this information. It’s all really interesting.

That this flash forward is something that will be addressed when we get back to the present and hopefully this future can be avoided.

Justice League Dark is being folded into a back-up in Justice League when everything returns in Infinite Frontier, which I find unfortunate, but I hope that being alongside a story from Bendis and Marquez will bring these characters more eyes.

Ram V has been doing some wonderful work, and I also hope that he and Xermanico get the attention that they deserve.

Future State: Justice League #2
“Justice League”
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Penciller: Robson Rocha
Inker: Daniel Henriques
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Exiled to a distant planet, the Justice League suspects an impostor in their midst, but not even the next Batman or Green Lantern can find the clues they’re looking for. Meanwhile on Earth, the terrifying return of a classic Justice League villain may spell doom for the planet! Doppelgängers abound, paranoia runs rampant, and only the Justice League can save humanity-if they can ever find their way home.

Read It Digitally: Future State - Justice League #2

“Justice League Dark”
Writer: Ram V
Artist: Marcio Takara
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $5.99
Plus, all the world’s terrible truths are revealed as the Justice League Dark make their last stand. Hunted, beaten, and harvested for their magic, Zatanna, John Constantine, Detective Chimp, Ragman, Madame Xanadu, and Etrigan all unleash a desperate plan that could destroy them-but is it worth the cost to finish Mad Merlin and his mysterious Knights? Only Doctor Fate knows, and the truth may spell hope or doom!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Justice League #2

Oh, I've Got My Heart Right Here

Future State Kara Zor El Superwoman Art 1.jpg

Where the first issue of Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman was the introductory steps of the fable — introducing our princess and her crystal palace — the second issue has her face the dragon. Or shape-changing space eels, as it were. What Marguerite Bennett, Marguerite Sauvage, and Wes Abbott have done in this series is quite unlike anything else in Future State.

There's more overlap with her actions in the first issue of Superman of Metropolis and the outburst at Jon, but otherwise this series is largely removed from the overall event. It keeps a tight focus on Kara, Lynari, and Lynari's family. I'm still kind of split on my reaction to what moral lesson this story is trying to impart and whether or not it's effectively conveying it as being true to yourself, breaking any kind of outside imposition of destiny or expectations, and do your own thing. It's that it runs along with what I'm getting as a notion that servility is “giving up” that I'm having difficulty reconciling. But that could just be me reading something incorrectly.

This is still an entertaining tale, with some gorgeous artwork from Marguerite Sauvage. The intertwining of interesting and unique word balloons from Wes Abbot with Sauvage's soft, almost dreamlike artwork is really something. We do get a couple panels of that Superman/Girl/Woman trope of whenever they get angry, their heat vision leaks and their eyes glow red, but it's largely forgivable because it looks really cool here.

Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman #2
Writer: Marguerite Bennett
Artists: Marguerite Sauvage
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
The moon colony built around Superwoman’s Fortress of Solitude is under siege! Shape-shifting aliens have come to this place of peace in search of Lynari, a refugee from their homeworld. It’s a bad move on the part of these intergalactic bad guys: if Kara Zor-El offers you sanctuary, there’s no way she’s going to let anyone get their monstrous hands on you. Let’s just hope this gamble is worth it, because Lynari’s secret-the one that got her in trouble in the first place-could mean bad news for everybody!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Kara Zor-El Superwoman #2

So Tell Me You Love Me, Yeah. Even Though You Don't Love Me.

The crack of that THUD you hear is the sound of this narrative thread in DC's Future State, the one running through The Flash, Teen Titans, and Shazam!, going over like a lead balloon. While not quite as soul-crushing as Future State: The Flash, what we get in Future State: Teen Titans #2 from Tim Sheridan, Rafa Sandoval, Julio Ferreira, Alejandro Sanchez, and Rob Leigh, I can't really qualify as good either. The team mopes their way to a confrontation with the four riders of the apocalypse, Elton John's “Sacrifice” plays, and we're on to Future State: Shazam! where everything still sucks for everyone. Yay?

This isn't particularly good. I've compared this narrative before as being like reading random chapters in a book out of order, something that doesn't build tension, just confusion, and I'll take it one further in that it also feels like they've excised a large portion of justification for things that are going on and redacting the identity of some of the characters. Obfuscation isn't mystery. Making it feel like I've missed the first three quarters of a story while being deliberately coy about who the characters are doesn't make me want to go back and see what happened (largely because we can't, it doesn't exist), it only removes any possible emotional attachment and reward for the events in this story.

This, unfortunately, is not good storytelling. It's not even an enticing ad for Teen Titans Academy, which it seems to think it's operating as, because as a standalone story this fails. This future is unnecessarily depressing, with an added bomb dropped this issue that apparently half the world is dead. Grim dark, dreary futures are not my bag and this kills any interest for me on a new series that is purposely going to work toward that future.

At least the art is nice.

“Cold cold heart / Hard done by you / Some things look better, baby / Just passing through”

Future State: Teen Titans #2
Writer: Tim Sheridan
Penciller: Rafa Sandoval
Inker: Julio Ferreira
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Red X returns to the Teen Titans! The mysterious former Teen Titans Academy student joins the surviving Titans in a final fight to stop the threat unleashed by one of the school’s students. Nightwing, Raven, Crush, Shazam, Starfire, Cybeast, and Red Arrow face their demons as one of these heroes must make the ultimate sacrifice to save their world!
Read It Digitally: Future State - Teen Titans #2

I'm finding for the most part, the Future State books I enjoy have very little to do with anything else in the overall event. I’m talking about books like Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman, Superman/Wonder Woman, which are just kind of doing their own thing. I'm still impressed overall by how much of the series I lean positively towards, with certainly more good material than not, which I feel is a net win for DC as a whole.

Throughout these books I am seeing more and more that could be a convergence towards one particular narrative for the future, with references in Green Lantern and Justice League this week hinting towards it, and a reference in Teen Titans that hearkens back to the “Black Adam” co-feature in Suicide Squad and the Unkindness. That being the nasty, grim dark future that has been running through Flash, Teen Titans, and Shazam! That, I don't like, and definitely don't want to see the present day series moving toward. It's time we move past these everybody dies and everything is awful dystopian futures.

NEXT: The end for The Next Batman, Catwoman, Immortal Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Shazam!, and Superman: Worlds of War.

Read past installments of Future State Fridays!

d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.