Review: ‘Future State: Batman/Superman’ #2 Is Not What You’d Expect

Future State: Batman/Superman was billed as the last story of the world’s finest. That might have carried some expectations and preconceived notions with it. However, this story is worth reading because all of that is wrong.

After a fairly classic team-up last issue, this conclusion was set up to be something worthwhile. However, there is much more to it than that, in this tale from Gene Luen Yang, Ben Oliver, Stephen Segovia, Scott McDaniel, Arif Prianto, and Tom Napolitano.

Superman is in the Magistrate’s clutches. His only hope is the Dark Knight. However, even if Batman can rescue his friend, will it be enough?

Yang tells another classic action story in this issue, but he hides a surprising emotional core within it. Yes, this is a story of how Superman and Batman would approach the same problem differently, and it’s also a story of how the two of them work together nearly perfectly in sync. 

It’s also about why this is the last Batman and Superman story. It highlights the brotherly love between these two characters. It shows us a Batman willing to sacrifice everything to protect the man who’s grown to become the closest person to him outside of his own actual family. It shows us a Superman who loves his brother enough to listen when he says to stay away. It’s a surprising emotional core to the story that’s worth checking out.

Oliver and Segovia do a fantastic job with the art. Oliver’s work has a surreal quality to it, with the monster designs that are scary and imposing as well. Segovia does a wonderful job of shifting his style to match Oliver, using a lighter line and slightly bulkier figures. They both are able to convey the emotional confrontation at the issue’s end, giving Yang’s script the visual weight it needs.

These two issues have been exciting to see what Yang and team has in store in the Infinite Frontier era. He gets his leads on a level they need to be understood for a team-up title like this to work. That means great things in store for readers.

Future State: Batman/Superman #2 is available now from DC Comics.