Future State: Dark Detective #1
- WRITER
- Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg
- Artist
- Dan Mora, Carmine Di Giandomenico
- Letterer
- Aditya Bidikar, AndWorld Design
- Cover Artist
- Dan Mora, John Paul Leon, Stanley "Artgerm" Lau
- Publisher
- DC Comics
- Price
- 5.99
- Release Date
- 2021-01-12
- Colorist
- Antonio Fabela, Jordie Bellaire
With Future State entering its second week, DC's ambitious, linewide revamp of its main books continues to provide possible future timelines for its most iconic characters and locations, including Gotham City. The first week focused on the arrival of this generation's Dark Knight in Future State: The Next Batman while the latest title Future State: Dark Detective continues to expand on this dystopian vision of Gotham, expanding on other familiar faces as they find their hometown has turned against them with a vengeance in this gritty, cyberpunk exploration of the DC Universe.
The upcoming Detective Comics' creative team Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora, with colorist Jordie Bellaire, team up to show what exactly Bruce Wayne has been up to since, while teasing the original Caped Crusader's epic fall from grace before he attempts to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. The back-up story by Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine di Giandomenico and Antonio Fabela follows Grifter as the villainous Magistrate, the despot that now rules over Gotham with an iron fist, tightens his grip and targets anyone who dares to wear a mask and challenge his tyrannical authority as Cole Cash encounters some familiar faces while trying to stay alive.
There's almost a surreal quality to Tamaki and Mora's story juxtaposed to the grounded, gritty cyberpunk setting. The creative team's depiction of Bruce is a broken man, even before he endures bloody setback after bloody setback, but still one that never relents; especially as a virtual dead man walking. Mora and Bellaire blend ominous shadows, with each potentially concealing its own deadly threats, with rainy, neon-drenched city streets; the art team takes full advantage of this futuristic premise. There is a punk rock, splashy quality to Bellaire's color palette, especially coming to play whenever Bruce endures flashes of pain while Mora's line work has a clear sense of grit to it as Bruce hits rock bottom.
Rosenberg and di Giandomenico's tale is a bit more uneven though Rosenberg has a clear handle on Cole's voice, apparent right from the opening action set piece in a dive bar. Working with colorist Antonio Fabela, di Giandomenico has a real kinetic quality to the artwork, even the dialogue sequences, befitting his extensive work on The Flash throughout the DC Rebirth era. Fabela's color palette really pops, with even traditionally more dour settings bright and vibrantly colored, and he is a natural artistic collaborator with di Giandomenico. The big aspect of the back-up story that falters is the sheer amount of exposition; Rosenberg gets his characters, including his protagonist, and knows how to weave a running narrative -- literally -- but there's still quite a bit of dialogue even in the action set pieces that run the risk of distracting from the proceedings.
If this opening issue is any indicator, Detective Comics is in good hands with Tamaki and Mora when they jump on the title at the start of the upcoming Infinite Frontier era this March. Their approach to Bruce Wayne takes the Dark Knight, whose entire city has turned against him, and boils him down to his most essential elements through this cyberpunk crucible. Rosenberg and di Giandomenico's tale is entertaining overall, with the action sequences crafted by the art team as that story's particular strength. Future State's vision of Gotham and its fan-favorite characters really come off well as the creative teams have embraced the cyberpunk take on Gotham to great effect between this and The Next Batman. And with Future State's stories poised to reverberate across Infinite Frontier, this may be a strong sign of even greater things to come.