Coming fresh of the heels of Dark Nights: Death Metal, DC Comics is beginning 2021 with a line-wide event, stretching from January through February: DC Future State.
Future State - presumably replacing DC's original 5G plans - will place the characters of the DC Universe into "futures both near and far", with a wide variety of new creators and characters to spearhead the initiative. This event will place all other DC titles on hold (for them to continue forward in March), and will involve a series of monthly titles and twice-monthly oversized anthologies; along with a monthly schedule of miniseries and one-shots. The list of new titles and creators is extensive, and features a range of new talent from television, film and animation. This, of course, includes the previously announced Batman title by John Ridley and Nick Derington!
In DC's official announcement, it appears to indicate that the story of Future Slate will be kicked into gear due to the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. DC Executive Editor Marie Javins had this to say about the project:
“The DC Universe has always been fertile ground for new and refreshing takes on our characters, and DC Future State definitely contributes to this legacy. When the event begins in January, some savvy readers will not only pick up on some of the breadcrumbs that have already been tossed out in our current titles, but they will also find new hints and clues of what’s to come in 2021.”
Included in the all-star selection of creators are several returning voices from within DC, such as Mariko Tamaki, Brian Michael Bendis, Gene Luen Yang, Joëlle Jones, Joshua Williamson, Nicola Scott, Cully Hamner and John Timms. In addition, you can expect comics from several new writers and artists, including award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years A Slave), Brandon Vietti (Young Justice), Meghan Fitzmartin (Supernatural, DC Super Hero Girls), Brandon Easton (Thundercats, Transformers: War for Cybertron), Alitha Martinez (REPRESENT! It’s A Bird!), L.L. McKinney (Nubia: Real One), Paula Sevenbergen (Stargirl) and Siya Oum (Lola XOXO), among others.
Attached is the full list of comics you can expect to find in the coming months:
Batman Family
In this future, Gotham City is controlled by the Magistrate. This villainous regime has taken control of the city, now under constant surveillance. All masked vigilantes have been outlawed and Batman has been killed. But led by an all-new Batman, a new assembly of Gotham’s guardians rise to give hope to all of those who lost it!
Oversized Comics:
- Future State: The Next Batman #1-4
- The Next Batman, by John Ridley, Nick Derington and Laura Braga
- Outsiders, by Brandon Thomas and Sumit Kumar
- Arkham Knights, by Paul Jenkins and Jack Herbert
- Batgirls, by Vita Ayala and Aneke
- Gotham City Sirens, by Paula Sevenbergen and Emanuela Lupacchino
- Future State: Dark Detective #1-4
- Dark Detective, by Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora
- Grifters, by Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine di Giandomenico
- Red Hood, by Joshua Williamson and Giannis Milonogiannis
Monthly Miniseries:
- Future State: Batman/Superman, by Gene Luen Yang and Ben Oliver
- Future State: Catwoman, by Ram V and Otto Schmidt
- Future State: Harley Quinn, by Stephanie Phillips and Simone Di Meo
- Future State: Nightwing, by Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott
- Future State: Robin Eternal, by Meghan Fitzmartin and Eddy Barrows
Superman Family
Due to his involvement in an international crisis happening in the near future, Clark Kent has been rejected by Earth, causing him to focus his lifesaving efforts outside his adopted home. He travels to Warworld to rise through the ranks of gladiatorial combat in order to defeat Mongul with the help of some unlikely heroes. Back in Metropolis, Clark’s son Jon has taken on the mantle of Superman. After seeing the horrors that befell Gotham, he bottles Metropolis in order to keep it safe, putting him at odds with Supergirl.
Connecting the two oversized Future State: Superman titles, Shilo Norman, the man known as Mister Miracle, finds himself caught between the city he grew up in and the battle-torn planet that could be his downfall.
Meanwhile in the Amazon rainforest, Yara Flor is chosen to be the new Wonder Woman. Years later, the new Superman and Wonder Woman join forces to save their cities in a new superhero team-up the likes of which the world has never seen.
Oversized Comics:
- Future State: Superman of Metropolis #1-2
- Superman of Metropolis, by Sean Lewis and John Timms
- The Guardian, by Sean Lewis and Cully Hamner
- Mister Miracle, by Brandon Easton and Valentine De Landro
- Future State: Superman: Worlds of War #1-4
- Superman: Worlds of War, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Mikel Janin
- Midnighter, by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad and Gleb Melnikov
- Black Racer, by Jeremy Adams and Siya Oum
- Mister Miracle, by Brandon Easton and Valentine De Landro
- Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #1-2
- Immortal Wonder Woman, by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad and Jen Bartel
- Nubia, by L.L. McKinney, Alitha E. Martinez and Mark Morales
Monthly Miniseries and One-Shots
- Future State: House of El, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski (one-shot on sale February)
- Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman, by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage
- Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes, by Brian Michael Bendis and Riley Rossmo
- Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman, by Dan Watters and Leila del Duca
- Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex, by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh (3-issue series ending March 2021)
- Future State: Wonder Woman, by Joëlle Jones
Justice League Family
A thread of great change runs through the Justice League heroes: a new League is built upon secret identities (even from each other), but an old and evolved enemy will use these secrets to try and overthrow the world. For the supernatural heroes of Justice League Dark, the very fabric of reality has shifted, and heroes are being hunted.
For Flash, Shazam, and the Teen Titans, it all begins when the four Riders of the Apocalypse unleash hell in a battle at Titans Academy, Barry Allen is cut off from the Speed Force, a Famine-controlled Wally West may be beyond saving, and Billy Batson makes a deal with the devil that will change Shazam forever. Off-world, John Stewart and the remaining Green Lanterns are stranded in the shadow of a dead power battery; Jackson Hyde and Andy Curry are separated across the galaxy; and Amanda Waller executes her ultimate plan with a new but terrifyingly familiar Suicide Squad on Earth-3.
At the end of time, Swamp Thing reveals its true intention, ruling supreme until a remnant of humanity launches a rebellion, and Black Adam looks to the past as the only way to save the future of the Multiverse.
Oversized Comics:
- Future State: Justice League #1-2
- Justice League, by Joshua Williamson and Robson Rocha
- Justice League Dark, by Ram V and Marcio Takara
- Future State: Green Lantern #1-2
- Last Lanterns, by Geoffrey Thorne and Tom Raney
- Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, by Josie Campbell, Ryan Cady and Ernie Altbacker, with Sami Basri and Clayton Henry
- Future State: Suicide Squad #1-2
- Suicide Squad, by Robbie Thompson and Javi Fernandez
- Black Adam, by Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin
Monthly Miniseries:
- Future State: Aquaman, by Brandon Thomas and Daniel Sampere
- Future State: The Flash, by Brandon Vietti and Dale Eaglesham
- Future State: Teen Titans, by Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval
- Future State: SHAZAM!, by Tim Sheridan and Eduardo Pansica
- Future State: Swamp Thing, by Ram V and Mike Perkins
DC is going in some interesting directions here, and it'll be exciting to see the fan reaction to these comics - as well as what ends up sticking as the DC Universe moves forward. For more updates on DC Future State - and reviews on many of these comics - be sure to check back in with Batman News!
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Author’s Twitter: @ObnoxiousFinch
