For the first time in over 80 years, the Big Apple will be under the protection of Batman.
Jace Fox, the eldest son of Wayne Industries CEO Lucius Fox and the newest vigilante to take up the cowl of Batman, will be moving to New York City in the pages of "Empire State of Mind," the story of I Am Batman #6, written by Academy Award winner John Ridley. Accompanying him will be the rest of the Fox family, including his younger brother Luke, better known as the hero Batwing.
Batman worked out of New York City in his earliest stories, but this came to an end in 1941 when Gotham City was introduced in Batman #4. Gotham -- typically depicted as somewhere in New Jersey -- has been the Caped Crusader's base of operations ever since.
The Fox family's exodus to New York comes in the aftermath of "Fear State," the current event gripping the Batman books. Thanks to the machinations of the Scarecrow, Gotham has slowly transformed into a police state under the control of tech magnate Simon Saint's Magistrate troops. Crimefighting superheroes -- dubbed as "masks" -- are considered public menaces, and Batman and his allies have been racing to expose Scarecrow's plot before the city turns into the cyberpunk dystopia of Future State, a possible future for the DC Universe that debuted earlier this year following the company's "Death Metal" event.
"I’m incredibly excited about charting this new direction for Jace and the Fox family," Ridley said. "This new setting is a great opportunity to do some really creative world building and give Jace his own allies, adversaries, and challenges that will continue to shape and define him as his own character under the cape and cowl."
The in-continuity version of Jace, who took up the Batman identity after Bruce Wayne was presumed dead, developed over the course of The Next Batman: Second Son, a miniseries that delved into his estrangement from the Fox family, covert ops work abroad and return to Gotham City. The series concluded with Jace discovering Wayne Enterprises' connection with Batman and led into I Am Batman, Jace's current book which sees him taking to the streets in his own version of the Dark Knight's costume.
Ironically, the main Batman, Bruce Wayne, will also depart Gotham in the aftermath of "Fear State," which concludes with the Nov. 30 one-shot Batman: Fear State: Omega. Leaving the city in the hands of the Bat Family, Bruce is set to travel abroad and handle business previously associated with Batman Incorporated, the international crimefighting team he established during Grant Morrison's Batman Inc. series.
I Am Batman #6 is written by Ridley and illustrated by Ken Lashley. It goes on sale Feb. 8.
Source: DC