It’s an explosive week in Gotham City (which is a bad pun, since there are a lot of bombs going off, but we’re standing by it). Bruce Wayne faces down Magistrate-1 and Red Hood is on the run in Future State: Dark Detective #4, featuring:
“Dark Detective,” written by Mariko Tamaki, drawn by Dan Mora, colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Aditya Bidikar
“Red Hood,” written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Giannis Milonogiannis, colored by Bellaire and lettered by Troy Peteri
And in another version of Gotham, Harley Quinn is getting closer to wrapping up the case of the Producer and Starlet, and all it might cost her are those she loves in Batman: White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #5 from Sean Murphy, Katana Collins, Matteo Scalera, Dave Stewart and AndWorld Design.
Matt Lazorwitz: And so “Future State” as a weekly concern wraps up. If only the Murphyverse would end as easily. But at least it never fails to give us something to talk about.
Will Nevin: One of my favorite Twitter accounts is @dick_nixon, the in-character analysis of political affairs and events of the world as written by the 37th president of the United States. Whenever he’s exasperated or exhausted by the absurdity or stupidity or whatever else of the world (usually this is Marco Rubio-related), he asks, “Do you ever think of death?” I buy Sean Gordon Murphy’s books. Those sales encourage him and DC to make more of those books. They will never be good. They will never be pleasant reads. But they will continue.
That makes me think of death.
Dark Detective #4
ML: I’m happy with how Dark Detective wrapped up. The final explosion that seems to take out both Bruce Wayne and Peacekeeper-1 is obviously not actually killing either of them, but that’s the cost of continuing narrative. Still, this issue is Batman doing what Batman does best: Back against the wall, he comes up with a way to beat the bad guy because he’s smarter than they are and more dedicated to his cause than even the biggest fanatic on the other side is.
WN: It was a nice wrap-up that made sense, but I am a little disappointed that Peacekeeper-1 appears to be Just a Guy. Guess I deserve that for wasting brain power on thinking about different candidates there. I’ll also say the idea that the random tenement dweller Bruce stumbles into living with has a daughter who became crucial to the plot was more than a little contrived.
ML: Yes, the twist with the daughter was a bit much. A couple of lines earlier on, about Bruce investigating her, finding out about her father and then deciding to get into her life through him would have made me feel a lot better about that, and it’s a totally Batman thing to do.
As for Peacekeeper-1, I actually have a thought about the way they revealed him. OK, so (obviously) this is set in the future. And next month, when we get back to the present, at least some of the narrative is going to be leading up to a Magistrate-infested Gotham. So, what if this is actually a sort of reverse reveal? We are introduced to a guy who is nobody to us now and then…
WN: Ahhh … but in the next ‘Tec, we meet someone who’s like, “Hey, I’m Mayor Nakano’s super special security adviser!”
ML: Exactly! It’s like Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. Part of what you’re getting there is the anticipation of the reveal and transformation into Two-Face. Here it’s, “OK, we’re going to slowly watch him transform into this major villain from a background/supporting character.”
WN: This has nothing to do with Dark Dick, but hey, Billy Dee Williams Two-Face is coming. That’s exciting as fuck.
ML: The whole Batman ’89 comic concept is exciting as fuck to me. It’s a parallel Earth that, as long as it sticks to the source material, is going to be balls-to-the-wall weird and noir-y, and that’s a Batman I can get behind. Curious for your opinion on this question, by the way. Superior film: Batman ’89 or Batman Returns?
WN: Oof. Ask me which of my cat children I love the most, why don’t you? I think it comes down to the supporting characters: Are you a Jack Nicholson guy, or are you a DeVito/Walken guy?
ML: Yeah. Returns is more of a Burton film, granted; he goes buck wild in that one. And depending on my mood, I might want the extra weirdness of the Red Triangle Circus Gang or prefer the more understated mob guys and leather jackets of Joker’s goons. And that is the only instance where the mob guys and leather-clad Joker goons can be addressed as understated.
WN: I’ve probably seen ’89 more than I have Returns — could probably stand to rewatch the latter. I’ll give you this spicy take, and then we can somehow get back to the books: I like them both more than I care for Dark Knight Rises, a movie that I might actually loathe.
Red Hood
ML: So, there was definitely more meat on the bones of the second part of this Red Hood story. We get an appearance by the White Rabbit, who is an odd choice for a big bad here, since despite being a Wonderland-themed villain, she was never a member of Mad Hatter’s Wonderland Gang and is only tangentially connected to him at best; that’s probably just an editorial oversight, since even I have a hard time keeping all the Lewis Carroll-themed villains in Gotham straight.
The twist at the end is probably not all that surprising, but I admit to being more surprised that Jason is a double agent for the good guys than I was that Spoiler was one. I don’t think I’m ever going to completely trust Jason Todd, but that’s probably because his face turn in the New 52 was one of convenience without motivation and the attempts to redeem him have often come after him going full villain again for some reason or another.
WN: I was disoriented from the jump on this one — I think the idea of serialization is super cool, but having to remember precisely where we were in the action from a month ago is tough. My kingdom for a Marvel-style recap here.
ML: DC’s aversion to recap pages boggles my mind. It was not the most memorable part one, definitely. Since the first arc of Future State: Gotham is following Jason, I think this feels more like a prologue than a full story, which is why this half is at least more story than the last half: That was a prelude to a prelude.
WN: It was super short on exposition, and that can be not-so-good (like in the beginning) and advantageous — that last page is a hell of a hook for the Gotham book. After two months of Future State and a few issues of that, maybe we’ll finally get some answers! Possibly!
Batman: White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #5
WN: So, a proposal for you, good sir: Rather than dissect the weirdness and failures of this whole effort (because there are myriad), let’s drill down on two: this universe’s strange use of Jason Todd and — relatedly — the bizarre narrative choices that lead Harley’s apartment to blow up, Bruce to escape from prison to aid her and everything to be still in tension (but ultimately OK) by the time he gets there.
ML: Woof, yes. I had a specific beat in that Bruce escape I wanted to talk about as it is, so this fits nicely with the parts of this issue I found most frustrating. So, it’s a strange counterpoint to every other portrayal of a post-Joker Jason Todd that here Jason is … a hardass lawful neutral prison guard versus his usual chaotic and unpredictable portrayal.
WN: It’s the Murphyverse at its dumbest: It’s just making a reference. This Todd has no depth, no meaning, no purpose aside from being a guy who Bruce beats. But he’s got that name that you, the reader, connect with while the creative team smiles because they were able to work it in.
ML: This is one of those, “I’m winking so hard at the camera my eye is going to start bleeding” things. I already stated I have a hard time with Jason, but at least as wildly inconsistent as the writing in the main DCU is for Jason, at least they try to make him a character and not R. Lee Ermey in Gotham City. “Drop and give me twenty, prisoner Wayne!” Oy, what a waste of a character.
WN: So what was the thing that bugged you so much about Bruce’s big breakout?
ML: This is the part of the Murphyverse that has bugged me from issue #1, and it’s another subtext (if you can call anything they do in these books subtext) made way too close to text thing: the (false) equivalency between Batman and Joker. Bruce breaks out of jail, thus committing a crime. And what does he don to do it? The Red Hood, of course. And why does he do it? Because he, like the Joker in this universe, is obsessed and in love with Harley Quinn, Even if it’s coming from a more healthy place than Joker at his worst, it’s playing this “Batman and Joker aren’t really that different” thing that I loathe with every fiber of my being.
WN: Sean Gordon Murphy is the sort of fellow who would unironically say, “I know writers who use subtext, and they’re all cowards.” But in a very weird way, I feel like it’s the opposite of what Scott Snyder does. In stuff like Metal or Last Knight on Earth, Synder is reaching for these big ideas and concepts and tapping into continuity in ways that often confuse the hell out of me. But Murphy? I know I’ll never not be smart enough to get one of his books. It’s The Big Bang Theory of comics.
ML: Harsh but more than fair. So much of this is paint-by-numbers. And here’s a mostly serious but at least slightly tongue-in-cheek question: Can you fridge a pet, or is that a different trope entirely?
WN: You know, I’m kinda torn on that final page. With Harley, you can believe that losing one of the hyenas would be a real emotional blow. It makes sense for that character to be unable to regulate her feelings and keep things in perspective. But framing that as a big emotional cliffhanger is too damn much.
ML: It feels like SGM watched the episode of Futurama “Jurassic Bark” and decided that sad pet endings really work.
WN: I know you didn’t just invoke the saddest thing to air on television this side of Henry Blake’s departure from M*A*S*H.
ML: Oh, the punch is nowhere near that, but it’s what SGM et al. are aspiring to in that moment. And, as ever, is failing.
WN: Now, I’m just going to think about Seymour and be sad. Thanks a whole fuckin’ lot, Matt.
Bat-miscellany
- The decision for more than one artist to debut as a writer in Batman: Black and White #3 was … an interesting one. Kelley Jones’ work, as in anything, was a highlight for Will.
- Yup, the Jones/Seeley was my favorite, too. Kelley Jones was born to draw Batman horror stories.
- Next issue of Black and White looks to be the big one for me. Riley Rossmo? Karl Kerschl doing a story with at least one of his Gotham Academy characters? Daniel Warren Johnson’s Batman debut??? I want this book now.
- The Next Batman: Second Son Ch. 1 > Future State: The Next Batman.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
