DC Comics: Future State

Comics are an escape like no other. Bringing the combination of imagery and words together to tell the most amazing stories across so many infinite earths is amazing. DC Future State is the latest example of attempting to create a massive world wide shockwave and take a leap into the future.

There are a lot of titles in this run and most of the heavy hitters have been given a future story. Some have more than one title while others are limited to quick 2 issue runs with. Such is the deal with Future State Swamp Thing written by Ram V and art by Mike Perkins. This one was great. Fantastic setup in issue 1 for a thrilling follow up that stayed true to years long respect to the character and his legacy.

Ram V also had two other runs during Future State with Justice League Dark and Catwoman. Both of which captured the essence of all the characters in smaller more compact stories. The thing about V is he does everything possible to tell amazing stories but he knows the line and just pushes to it. Hes a brilliant writer who fundamentally understands where these characters have been and what the one possible variant future may hold for them.

Teen Titans was another title that I was immediately intrigued by, however this one was a bit of a let down in many ways. Teasing the return of Red X we never really got any answers. There was a fairly epic battle near the end of the second issue and more answers will come in the form of the new ongoing series Teen Titans Academy which comes in March. There were a couple of cool aspects such as Beast Boy/Cyborg fusion known as CyBeast and the Red X return was an immaculate piece of artwork on the final page of issue 1. However this very limited series should have offered some conclusion and not just set up hope that maybe the new series will one day answer all the questions we have.

Aquaman was probably the title that caught me by the most surprise. It was likable and the character of Andy Curry was well written and set apart from her parents fairly early on. Hyde was a brilliant use of a secondary character to catapult towards the thrilling second part. It ends on a high note about lost time, acceptance and moving forward with the lessons one has been faced with. It's a really good look at loyalty and perseverance through a difficult time. Something the world needs to hear right now. It was brilliant. I couldn't stop turning the pages. The colors were vibrant and the dialogue engaging and simple enough for the story it was telling.

One of the titles I was expecting big things from given the fact he can already manipulate time was the Flash. It was anything but a fun read. It took elements from almost all other stories and combined them to make Wally West the villain once again because they basically have zero ID how to run two amazing speedsters concurrently within the DC comics universe. Wally did not deserve to be that choice over a two issue arc and just serves him up as yet another throwaway character which he is not. He is the fastest man alive. Thats been proven.

All in all Future State was a fun glimpse on what may happen down the road. It's one of many possibilities and I for one enjoyed the bold ability to jump into a future without much context or history there to help tell these stories. Nothing is ever perfect in story telling especially when there are this many stories to be told. Sometimes all you need is to step outside that comfort zone and DC really went for it with Future State. For that two thumbs up and the recommendation for more chances like this in the future so that we the fans no we are not being limited to the same two recycled plotlines for these timeless heroes.