Future State: Gotham #2 Review

 

Giving Manga a Bad Name

Writer: Dennis Culver, Joshua Williamson and John Ridley

Artist: Giannis Milonogiannis, Oliver Coipel, Deron Bennett, and ALWs Troy Peteri

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 8, 2021

I wasn't that fond of the first issue of Future State Gotham.  I didn't mind that art as much as some, but it felt like a half-assed attempt at grabbing that manga money.  Throw in a backup story from the 90s only there because it was by the creator of Akira, and it was underwhelming.  So, is this issue any better?  Let's find out...

The issue starts with some confusing flashbacks that lead to who Jason has been working with.  Surprise, it's Bruce Wayne.  Now, if Joshua Williamson happens to read this review, if you are going to go all manga for this story, do it right!  Use the panel convention of dark borders for flashback scenes and white for present scenes to help make sense of what's going on!  Try to do a little more than giving readers uncolored art here!

Overall, there is not much to the story going on here.  Jason is working for Batman in a way that feels like the King/Seely Grayson book from the DCYou, are reminded what the Bat-Family is about in Future State, and then end with a Red Hood/New Batman standoff into a team-up cliffhanger.

Things pick up a bit in the John Ridley written backup featuring the New Batman and his sister sidekick, Tiffany.  I've been a huge Tiff fan since the New 52 Batwing book, and seeing her acting like she did as the Futures End Batgirl was an excellent callback whether it was on purpose or not.  Even with better art by Olivier Coipel, though, all of this seems unnecessary by the end.  I can easily find something better to buy for $4 from DC these days, and this feels like it should have been a Digital title and nothing more.  Please excuse me while I go off and read some actual manga that no matter how bad, will be infinitely better than this bullshit knockoff.

Bits and Pieces:

Unless you need to get everything Future State, I wouldn't even think of buying this book.  Dipping back into an Event most readers have already left behind to do a lame manga ripoff is nothing I will ever recommend.  Maybe as a digital title, but even that would be pushing it!

3.5/10