Future State: The Next Batman #4

7.5

Critic Rating

17 Reviews
5.7

User Rating

45 Reviews
Writer Vita Ayala, John Ridley, Paula Sevenbergen
Artist Aneke, Laura Braga, Emanuela Lupacchino
Cover Price $7.99

The next Batman goes head-to-head with the Magistrate's shock troops to protect the...guilty?! It's a savage running battle across Gotham City, and it will have the next Dark Knight fighting overwhelming odds to prove that justice still lives in the heart of a broken city.
In the finale of "Batgirls," after discovering the person locked in the high-security cell is the one who's been sending out "Batman Lives" signals to the Resistance, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain must work together to make sure they take that person when they escape their prison!
Plus, in the conclusion of "Gotham City Sirens," Catwoman and the new more

Reviews (17) User Reviews (45) Rate / Write A Review

CRITIC REVIEWS Back to Top

  • 9.6

    Forces Of Geek - Lenny Schwartz

    Feb 17, 2021

    Sadly, the two of them aren't very good. The "Batgirls" story is pretty forgettable. Then there is the "Gotham City Sirens" story that just did not work for me at all. The lead story is great though and the book is worth it because of that. Read Full Review

  • 9.2

    Comic Watch - Ariel Bee

    Feb 16, 2021

    A goodbye that feels like a promise for more, and I'm here for it. Future State has been pretty interesting all around - I've enjoyed nearly everything I've read across the entire line so far, and I'm glad that many these characters and storylines will be continue in some form. Read Full Review

  • 9.0

    AIPT - Dan Spinelli

    Feb 16, 2021

    It's "Closing Time" in Gotham as The Next Batman, Batgirls, and Gotham City Sirens all reach their conclusion. Read Full Review

  • 9.0

    GWW - Nick Friar

    Feb 17, 2021

    I stand by what I said in my Future State: The Next Batman #2 review: Batgirls is outstanding. Definitely one of the best sub stories Future State has produced. Read Full Review

  • 9.0

    DC Comics News - Derek McNeil

    Feb 18, 2021

    Future State: The Next Batman #4 is the end of this miniseries, but not the end of the Future State Gotham story. This series has done an outstanding job in introducing Jace Fox as a new Batman and the dystopian future he lives in. I look forward to seeing the story continuing is the months ahead. Read Full Review

  • 8.5

    The Super Powered Fancast - Timala Elliott

    Feb 16, 2021

    John Ridley does a good job of showing Tim Kane's struggle to take on the mantle of Batman. The emotional turmoil he goes through is heartbreaking. It leads one to wonder: Is the cost of saving a life too great a price for losing your own? Read Full Review

  • 8.0

    Lyles Movie Files - Jeffrey Lyles

    Feb 16, 2021

    The Next Batman was a decent re-introduction to Jace Fox, a character poised to make big moves in DCs future and this was a solid if not remarkable run to show his potential. Read Full Review

  • 8.0

    Geek Dad - Ray Goldfield

    Feb 16, 2021

    The conclusion of the first four-part story in Future State really emphasizes the main issue here"this is a character-driven and decompressed story that would work well as the first chapter of an extended run, but not as a stand-alone miniseries. Read Full Review

  • 8.0

    But Why Tho? - Collier "CJ" Jennings

    Feb 16, 2021

    Future State: The Next Batman #4 is both a solid ending for the main story and a perfect set up for future stories in this universe. Even if the backup stories were hit and miss, I plan to read Second Son and hope that Ridley has many more stories to tell with this Dark Knight. Read Full Review

  • 8.0

    ComicBook.com - Nicole Drum

    Feb 17, 2021

    They only "bad" thing I have to say about Future State: The Next Batman #4 is that it's the last one and with the quality of this book"specifically this issue and the little series overall"that's just wrong. Read Full Review

  • 7.5

    Comic Book Revolution - Kevin Lainez

    Feb 17, 2021

    John Ridley, Laura Braga, and Nick Derington did a good job completing the 'Year One' tone that was taken with Jace Fox rise as the new Batman. A strong foundation was built to create even more engaging stories with Jace in and out of the Batman cowl. The back-up stories for The Next Batman #4 added further value to this series. Vita Ayala and Aneke's Batgirls story did a fantastic job creating greater intrigue for the conflict between the Batman Family Resistance and Magistrate. The developments in that story made me even more excited to read all the Future State Batman Family titles together in one sitting. Read Full Review

  • 7.0

    Newsarama - Pierce Lydon

    Feb 18, 2021

    Future State: The Next Batman #4 sees a bevy of creators doing some really fun things with the new status quos set up in 'Future State.' Read Full Review

  • 6.0

    Dark Knight News - Eric Lee

    Feb 18, 2021

    The whole story structure is a mess. It is only saved by the pretty and bright art by Emanuela Luppachino. Read Full Review

  • 6.0

    Henchman-4-Hire - Sean Ian Mills

    Feb 20, 2021

    This perfectly adequate Batman story now has a perfectly adequate ending. Read Full Review

  • 5.1

    Weird Science - Dan Mayhoff

    Feb 17, 2021

    The Future State book for Batman comes to an unsatisfying conclusion as major story points that were focused upon during previous issues fall to the waist side as we focus on a long action scene instead of tying up any loose ends. I assume that the creative team was asked to leave things open so that the company can make an ongoing series if the books are popular enough, but ultimately it does a disservice to this book which has been pretty good up to this point. Unfortunately, this ending is incredibly unsatisfying. Read Full Review

  • 5.0

    The Batman Universe - Theodis Wright

    Feb 16, 2021

    What a way to end this story. While the previous installments of Future State: The Next Batman all had their fair share of weak stories, it was typically limited to one and the others held them up. This is the first issue where all of the stories were weak. At this rate, I really wish we would have gotten the full 5G event. Read Full Review

  • 4.5

    Batman-News - Nicholas Finch

    Feb 17, 2021

    It's a genuine shame to say this " especially when there are merits to each story here " but I'm very happy to be done with reviewing The Next Batman. Read Full Review

USER REVIEWS Back to Top

  • 8.5

    Todd A. Lonn

    Feb 18, 2021

    I liked everything except for the GOTHAM SIRENS story

  • 8.0

    Spacey Medicine

    Jun 05, 2021

    I didn't read the backups. ¤ï¸

    + Like Comment
  • 7.5

    EDiakota

    Feb 23, 2021

    " Love you, Sara will love you always." - ERIC

  • 7.5

    F.T. Wolf

    Mar 05, 2021

    I thougoghly enjoyed bot the Batman & Red Hood (with my girl Ravager) stories. They had good writing, good ar and good characterizations. However, is this really the end of the Future State Batman Family of stories? Because if it is, it's a really unsatisfying one.

  • 7.5

    Swift Planet

    Mar 30, 2021

    The backups are pretty mediocre in these even issues.

    + Like Comment
  • 5.5

    Merlyn

    Feb 16, 2021

    This was probably the best "Next Batman" story so far. Not that Tim is a compelling character or anything but the interactions between characters were pretty good and the art was very dynamic. Unfortunately, the backup stories were pure shit, especially Vita Ayala's. She's just not a good writer, I don't think I've read anything from her that I liked. I'd say I don't know why she keeps getting these gigs but I do know, unfortunately. Overall I can't say I'm looking forward to the Next Batman's story but it's not as bad as other Future State stories. He still isn't Batman for me but at least he acts in character close enough that I'm not feeling a huge difference in attitude between him and Bruce. Whether that's a flaw or a good thing is deb more

  • 5.5

    mrDovydas

    Mar 21, 2021

    The next Batman story was ok at best, even if I did enjoy some of the bits there. The backups felt like a chore to read. I still believe that Ridley's Batman will definitely have better stories than this one, it's a shame that the character got introduced like this though.

  • 5.0

    axdn

    Feb 26, 2021

    I think the main story was really boring, I don't really see the appealing or need of the new Batman.

  • 4.5

    Onomatopoeia

    Feb 16, 2021

    Batman has gone from taking down secret societies, running a team composed of literal gods, and even defeating the mother of the multiverse, only to become a hack who can't even turn in two criminals to the police. This is just sad and a waste of potential. The Magistrate is a boring villain and the fact that DC has tried to convince me otherwise is insulting.

    + Like Comments (4)
  • 4.5

    Psycamorean

    Feb 17, 2021

    I liked The Next Batman story. I don't really get the dislike of that story in particular. The Batgirls and Gotham City Sirens stories were so bad. I almost couldn't get through them.

    + Like Comments (5)
  • 4.5

    Bats44121

    Feb 17, 2021

    The New Batman "Crime is Mostly OK" issue number 4 decides portrays a bat family, with "justice" values to aid killers, give a killer a device used in suicide bombing, have several Magistrate figures killed and mutilated, and reject law enforcement punishment for hardened criminals. For a lot of fans, that will be worth $8. Unlike pro-crime figures in Crime Syndicate, we now have justification in persecuted revolutionaries in Future State Gotham. As to "The New Batman" Future State bat family, resistance is all, at any cost. And in issue 4, you should really like Homer, because you will be hearing Homer quoted a lot, and Delphic maxims of course. The New Batman (Part 4 finally). Rating: 4.5. Because there is a story, no matter how weak. more

    + Like Comments (1)
  • 4.0

    Nihilist

    Feb 16, 2021

    Here it is - a line ending the issue, but not really. It's there, we can't deny it, and it's there to make you believe it's an end for this series, but I can't say it does its job. Not when it's pretty much clear why it's there to begin with - and it's there because DC ditched the idea of Generation 5, turning it into a 2 month long event. Everything they've planned, all the long running new series, had to be cut short, and the result is this - an overall mediocre issue intended to be merely a chapter of something bigger, ending up being the finale. And honestly, the more I think about it, the more furious I am. Look - The Next Batman started out strong. It offered us a lot of background story arcs and complex relationships between chara more

    + Like Comments (11)
  • 4.0

    Quinn

    Feb 17, 2021

    The problem with the "New Batman" is that it doesn't tell us who these characters are. Granted the original Batman didn't get an origin until six months after the character was launched in 1939, but that two-page story told us what we needed to know - why a guy dresses up as a bat to fight crime. Given that this was a comic book in 1939, and people put on costumes as a matter of course to sell 10 cent books to nine-year-olds, that was all we needed. But it's 2021. Nine-year-olds don't read comics anymore. I suspect more people over the age of 15 read them than under the age of 15. That means you have to come up with good explanations as to why people dress as a bat to fight crime. The New Batman really doesn't tell us why young Fo more

    + Like Comments (2)
  • 3.0

    DDJamesB

    Feb 28, 2021

    It was a pretty crappy series overall. It started off ok but then didnt really follow up with anything worthwhile. The back up stories were not even something I wanted to read.

  • 2.0

    Emma

    Feb 16, 2021

    I don't like the substitution of the batfamily for this batman, a completely corrupt Lucios and they insist on this man. In the end the sales will speak. The backup story was the only thing I liked to read.

  • 10

    Bruno Mael

    Feb 23, 2021

  • 8.5

    KittyNone

    Feb 28, 2021

  • 8.0

    sebastianorellana95

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 8.0

    GeassScipio

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 8.0

    wesshamu

    Mar 11, 2021

  • 8.0

    Miguel Fernandes

    Jul 27, 2021

  • 7.5

    TheHyruleElf

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 7.5

    Josecab79

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 7.5

    tonpas1989

    Feb 18, 2021

  • 7.5

    Radar

    Feb 20, 2021

  • 7.5

    Pantheon36

    Feb 27, 2021

  • 7.0

    Julhin

    Apr 27, 2021

  • 6.5

    Bananaknight

    Feb 17, 2021

  • 6.5

    retcon_D

    Feb 17, 2021

  • 6.5

    TheKize

    Feb 22, 2021

  • 6.5

    Adsun22

    Sep 29, 2022

  • 6.0

    Urboibolaz

    Feb 17, 2021

  • 6.0

    ActionCity

    Feb 28, 2021

  • 6.0

    Jason The Dude

    Mar 04, 2021

  • 5.5

    Magik

    Feb 17, 2021

  • 5.0

    Klaushenna

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 5.0

    Mout

    Aug 13, 2021

  • 4.5

    Svarietyy

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 4.0

    fearUhavemeisenough

    Feb 16, 2021

  • 3.5

    Watchtower022

    Feb 17, 2021

  • 2.0

    TERT

    Mar 01, 2021

  • 2.0

    DoorMan

    Mar 19, 2021

  • 1.0

    TheBest

    Feb 17, 2021

  • 1.0

    Jurooo

    Feb 19, 2021

  • 1.0

    RKS

    Feb 19, 2021

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