Gotham City has changed. The once crime-ridden Urban Hellscape has radically transformed into a Cyberpunk Police State under the watchful eye of the Magistrate, a privatized law enforcement organization which has effectively supplanted the GCPD and rules the city with an iron fist. All costumed vigilantes have been outlawed under their authoritarian regime, with roaming death squads cracking down on any fugitive superheroes still operating in Gotham. And Bruce Wayne, the billionaire philanthropist who secretly moonlighted as a certain caped crusader, is now presumed to be dead after a disastrous confrontation with the Magistrate's Peacekeepers. Fortunately, a mysterious new Batman has arisen in the aftermath of Wayne's demise, and has been fighting alongside the growing resistance against the Magistrate's regime ever since.
Jason Todd, formerly known as the Red Hood, has become a Magistrate sanctioned Bounty Hunter in a desperate attempt to infiltrate the organization's ranks at the cost of his own reputation. But while assisting his boss Peacekeeper-03 in apprehending a rampaging supervillain, Gotham's Narrows are suddenly destroyed in a devastating explosion, instantly killing hundreds of thousands of people while leaving behind only a giant bat-shaped crater in its wake.
With a media blitz painting the new Dark Knight as the culprit responsible, the Peacekeepers have officially tasked Jason with a single mission: Bring in Batman, dead or alive...
The book acts as an Alternate Timeline to the events of Batman (James Tynion IV). But if so, what the hell happened that Gotham managed to get into this state?
Future State: Gotham contains examples of:
- Animesque: This series is unapologetically influenced by both Anime and the Cyberpunk genre in general.
- Gotham's iconic Dark Deco architecture has been effectively overtaken by the neon-lit brutalist buildings and narrow rainy streets you'd see in Ghost in the Shell or Bubblegum Crisis.
- Jason's Cool Bike is a blatant Shout-Out to Shotaro Kaneda's red motorcycle in AKIRA and later has the ability to transform into Powered Armor akin to Genesis Climber MOSPEADA.
- Several heroes have also taken to using exotic Stock Ninja Weaponry or giant swords typical to the Shōnen Demographic.
- Bittersweet Ending: Hush is defeated by the combined efforts of the Bat Family while Damian Wayne is successfully freed of his demonic possession and reconciles with both of his parents. Jason Todd effectively becomes the new James Gordon after his heroics over the course of the series earns him a surge of public approval. And Bruce Wayne officially passes the cowl down to Jace Fox, who continues the good fight against the Magistrate alongside Jason and Hunter Panic. But Dick Grayson had to give his life in order to save Damian from his possession, with his hardliner behavior turning out to be a Zero-Approval Gambit he needed to fulfill in order to ensure this exact outcome.
- Continuity Nod: The series acknowledges several major plot-points that occurred across the previous Future State titles, especially the ones set within Gotham City.
- Astrid Arkham obtained the Mad Hatter technology she uses to help keep her Knights mentally stable from White Rabbit, who killed Jarvis and improved upon his designs to sell to the Magistrate back in Future State: Dark Detective.
- Duke Thomas wields the new Soultaker Sword he got from Katana in the Future State: Outsiders backup issues, which still harbors the energized soul of Black Lightning.
- Tim Drake now possesses a healing factor as a result of being exposed to the Lazarus Resin back in Future State: Robin.
- The real Bruce Wayne narrowly survived his battle with Peacekeeper-01 back in Dark Detective but was arrested by Magistrate forces afterwards. Thankfully, both Talia and Selina would go to rescue Bruce from Magistrate captivity, which was showcased in the end of Future State: Catwoman.
- The final issue ends with Jace Fox upgrading to the black and gold batsuit he's seen wearing in Future State: Justice League.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The entire series is intentionally depicted in a black and white Animesque art style meant to invoke the feeling of reading a Manga. It also makes the Splash of Color moment in issue #11 all the more visually striking.
- The Dreaded: The Next Joker is utterly feared by civilians and career criminals alike due to him being just as insane as his predecessor with the added threat of having actual superpowers and a taste for human flesh. Punchline is especially scared shitless of this guy because she's the one who inadvertently created him after sabotaging his attempt to recreate the Joker Toxin and knows that he'll murder her or worse as retribution if she doesn't get out of Gotham ASAP.
- Fantastic Drug: "Brane" is a new Venom derived narcotic that has popped up in Gotham which temporarily grants users enhanced psychic capabilities. Nightwing has been micro-dosing himself with the drug to stay one step ahead of the Magistrate. But in order to learn Damian's whereabouts, Talia convinces Nightwing to take a full dosage of the drug hoping that in concert with his detective skills will reveal some potential leads.
- Fish out of Water: After escaping the depths of Hell with Grifter's help, Damian Wayne is completely lost in Gotham's new futuristic landscape and has genuinely no idea on how to even combat the Magistrate beyond attacking every cop he sees bearing their iconography. This leaves him emotionally vulnerable enough to be manipulated by Tommy Elliot into going to war with the other successors to the Bat-Mantle.
- Fugitive Arc: Picking up where the previous Future State stories left off, all costumed vigilantes have been outlawed under the Magistrate's regime with orders to shoot on sight upon encountering one. This inevitably forced every Gotham superhero to go into hiding if they haven't already been arrested or killed by the Peacekeepers and Bounty Hunters.
- Jace Fox however suffers the worst out of the lot. As the new Batman, he was already on the top of the Magistrate's kill list with a substantial detachment of their drones and armed patrols constantly surveilling the streets of Gotham for any sign of his presence. But after being framed as the terrorist responsible for the destruction of the Narrows, Jace basically became Public Enemy #1 with both Jason Todd and the Bat Family maneuvering to bring him in.
- Legacy Character:
- The new Batman is Jace Fox, the estranged first born son of Lucius Fox who has taken up the mantle in order to combat the Magistrate.
- Issue #8 introduces The Next Joker, a cannibalistic Lightning Bruiser with Technopathic abilities.
- This series also introduces Hunter Panic, a young woman named Jodi Edwards who apparently recovered the suit and gear of Violet Paige which she uses to operate in Gotham as a Magistrate sanctioned Bounty Hunter.
- The "Batmen at War" arc sets up three new contenders for the Bat-Mantle. The first is Dick Grayson, who after experiencing a Brane-induced vision of the future, immediately proclaims himself as Batman and threatens Jace's life if he continues wearing the cowl. The second is Tommy Elliot, who yet again seeks to steal Bruce's identity and legacy for himself. The third and final is Damian Wayne, who has reemerged from Hell as his Batman 666 persona and terrorizes the Magistrate to avenge his father.
- Mythology Gag: In the final issue, an aged Bruce Wayne who now needs to walk with a cane as a result of his injuries finally taking their toll on his body, looks over Gotham's futuristic skyline and muses that he'll now need to embrace a role beyond what he's used to after passing down his mantle to a younger successor.
- Noodle Incident: Jace and The Next Joker apparently brawled each other before in New York which resulted in the latter's apparent death. Joker is still bitter about losing that fight and is eager to settle the score in Gotham.
- Psycho Prototype: Warmonger, the terrorist truly behind the bombing of the Gotham City Narrows, is revealed to be an early candidate of the Magistrate's Peacekeeper Program. While he possesses all the power and skill of a well-trained Super-Soldier, Warmonger is a pure combat junkie who ironically despised the very idea of peace and was instead obsessed with waging war. Astrid Arkham rescued Warmonger from a secret Magistrate cold storage facility not knowing who he really was, resulting in him repaying her kindness by slaughtering her civilian support network before hijacking the Mad Hatter technology she uses to help keep her Arkham Knights mentally stable to enact a grand plot to plunge Gotham City into a Forever War.
- Running Gag: Hunter Panic's Hoverbikes always end up getting destroyed while pursuing a suspect. Jodi loses her first one while she's attempting to apprehend Harley Quinn and Punchline. Then she lost a second one in a crash landing while helping Jason and Jace stop The Next Joker. Then she looses a third one after being shot out of the sky by the real Bruce Wayne.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: As a result of his increasing dependency on Brane, Nightwing has gone from being the beloved Rebel Leader of Gotham's surviving superhero community to a volatile Junkie Prophet who believes he has an Omniscient Morality License. After trying to violently rip the mantle away from Jace so he can proclaim himself as the one and only Batman in some brazen attempt to achieve an ideal outcome for Gotham's future, the entire Bat-Family steps in to try and force an intervention.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: After the two suddenly find themselves caught smack dead in the middle of a Prison Riot at Blackgate Penitentiary, Jace Fox and Jason Todd, a fugitive vigilante and a Peacekeeper respectively, are forced to work together to survive the horde of supervillain inmates now out for their blood. Thankfully, the unlikely duo become less hostile to one another after it becomes increasingly clear Jace wasn't responsible for nuking the Narrows and the true culprit is still at large.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Jason, Jace, and Jodi eventually become this trope after working together to take down The Next Joker. Using Jason's intel as a Peacekeeper to stay ahead of the Magistrate, the trio coordinates with one another to fight crime and corruption in Gotham while staying independent of Nightwing's resistance movement.
