The developments in Gotham City with the Magistrate completely taking control of the city under its oppressive regime has been the most fascinating stories to see develop under Future State. Each series and story involving the Magistrate has added new layers to the story. One of the standouts in the first month of Batman Family titles was Future State: Nightwing #1. Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott took how Nightwing has been established as the Batman Family Resistance leader and provided a spotlight on what the character has been up to in this new role. The meeting with Jace Fox’s Batman added to how now things will be getting even more intense as Nightwing sets his sights for a major showdown with the Magistrate at the ruins of Arkham Asylum. Let’s not waste anymore time and get right into Future State: Nightwing #2.
Writer: Andrew Constant
Artist: Nicola Scott
Colorist: Ivan Plascencia
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Outside the ruins of Arkham Asylum, Peacekeeper-06 gives an interview with a news station talking about how the Magistrate will be taking down the leader of the Resistance: Nightwing.
Inside Arkham Asylum, Nightwing and Batman watch the interview, with Batman mentioning how the Magistrate control all the media in Gotham City. Prepared for the Magistrate’s appearance Nightwing sets off a massive EMP Blast that takes out all the Cybers and other Magistrate tech that Peacekeeper-06 brought for the operation.
As he gets ready to take on the Magistrate, Nightwing tells Batman to leave before they find him. Batman says he is not going to let Nightwing face the Magistrate alone. After some back-and-forth Batman and Nightwing agree to fight Peacekeeper-06 and the Magistrate together.
The Magistrate soldiers appear inside Arkham Asylum. Batman and Nightwing swiftly take out all the Magistrate soldiers who entered.
Hearing what is going on inside Peacekeeper-06 orders the Magistrate tanks to fire a barrage at the Arkham Asylum building. The barrage causes the building to explode and be engulfed in flames.
Suddenly, Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Batwoman, Huntress, Talia Al Ghul, Two-Face, and Man-Bat appear and take on Peacekeeper-06 and the Magistrate.
Inside the ruins of Arkham Asylum, Nightwing is stunned to see the rest of the Batman Family there. Batman reveals he called them for back-up because he believes while Gotham City may need Batman the heroes need Nightwing.
Back outside the Batman Family are efficiently working together to take out the Magistrate. This pisses Peacekeeper-06 off. Oracle tells Peacekeeper-06 that she just provided the Batman Family greater motivation to take the Magistrate down by attacking the Resistance leader.
Nightwing then appears with Batman driving his new car. Nightwing uses his car’s weapons to take out all the Magistrate tanks before driving away. This also gives the Batman Family Resistance the opening to leave without being noticed by the Magistrate.
While driving to a safehouse in Bludhaven, Batman apologizes for calling the others without telling Nightwing. Nightwing says that Batman made the right call.
Nightwing’s car is suddenly struck by Peacekeeper-06 tumbler vehicle and sent flying into a construction site.
As soon as they get out of the car Batman and Nightwing get into a fight with Peacekeeper-06. Peacekeeper-06 is able to pin Batman down. Before she can kill him Nightwing uses his electric batons to stun Peacekeeper-06.
Nightwing then reveals he knows about Peacekeeper-06 past that includes her parents being killed by Joker, which is what drove her to join the Magistrate and hate all villains, heroes, and vigilantes.
Peacekeeper-06 charges at Nightwing but misses as Nightwing dodges her attacks. Batman soon recovers and helps knock Peacekeeper-06 down.
With Peacekeeper-06 down Nightwing reveals that he has recorded all the events from tonight using special drones equipped with cameras. Nightwing goes on to say he will be releasing the full unedited footage online much to Peacekeeper-06 shock and anger.
As they walk away Nightwing reveals that his plan the entire time involve releasing the footage and he made sure to wipe all info from his Arkham Asylum base ahead of time. Batman compliments Nightwing on how thorough was. They then walk together into the city as the sun rises. End of issue.
The Good: Finishing Future State: Nightwing #2 felt like a culmination of all the Batman Family stories under the Future State banner. That is not to say that this completes the story of putting an end to the Magistrate. Rather, Future State: Nightwing #2 takes all the developments in all the Future State Batman Family stories to provide a glimpse of things now turning around.
That is really where Future State: Nightwing #2 shined. Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott told a story that stood on its own if you only read Future State: Nightwing. At the end of the day, this was very much a story of how Dick Grayson has stepped up to lead the Batman Family Resistance and why the Magistrate have placed such a big target on him. But you really do get so much more out of reading Future State: Nightwing #2 in particular if you have read what the rest of the Batman Family have been up to. With that context there is such a greater sense of hype as the issue progresses.
The growth in the relationship between Jace Fox and Dick Grayson as they began the road to being a new form of the Dynamic Duo as Batman and Nightwing, respectively, was cool to see. You get a sense of progression to how their dynamic evolved over the course of the issue. What I particularly liked was that at no point did Dick call out Jace for being Batman. There is an unspoken understanding that Jace can fill the role of being Batman, which is why Dick wanted Jace to initially escape to ensure Gotham City had its protector.
This made how Jace was able to prove himself as Batman throughout his interactions with Nightwing come across even better. It wasn’t something that Jace was saying out loud but you do get a sense if we got his inner monologue we would find out how this was a chance to further prove himself as Batman. This is something we saw John Ridley go in depth with in Future State: The Next Batman. By the end by forging a good foundation for a partnership with Nightwing you could sense that Jace was even more comfortable as Batman by the end.
Constant also did a fantastic job establishing what Nightwing’s plan was for what would’ve been a suicide mission. Learning that Nightwing was going to use this entire fight to gain proof of the Magistrate’s corrupt and oppressive regime to share with the public was a massive move. The way this was all handled put over why Nightwing was ready to die in this fight. Even if he falls Nightwing was fully confident his action on this night would turn things around for the Batman Family Resistance.
At the same time, Constant used this suicidal mission Nightwing set up for himself to emphasize why he is such a key player as the leader of the Batman Family Resistance. Both through Batman’s dialogue and the Batman Family’s appearance you can tell that Nightwing is seen as the glue holding everything together. There is an understanding that he has been the driving force as the leader of the Resistance that got them as far as they have gotten. Which further emphasizes how each member of the Batman Family is important to saving and bringing hope back to Gotham City, as Oracle spoke about in The Next Batman #4.
This all made the appearance of the Batman Family come across as a culmination of the stories we have seen take place in Future State. As soon as Oracle was first shown with the entire Batman Family as her back-up you understand that this was a major turning point. This is really the first time we saw them all together after the different things they’ve each done to combat the Magistrate up to this point. Constant and Scott did a great job in getting that feeling of unity with the Batman Family across that added to how big of a turning point Future State: Nightwing #2 felt.
Constant also did a very good job using Peacekeeper-06 backstory to add further depth as to how the Magistrate gained control over Gotham City. With the never-ending war between the Batman Family and all the criminals in Gotham City there were many who found themselves in the middle of all those conflicts. Because of that there are many people who likely lost family members and friends during those events. That being part of Peacekeeper-06 showed how the Magistrate were able to take all the pain to claim the power they have over Gotham City right in front of the Batman Family.
While this did make Peacekeeper-06 sympathetic Constant was careful in not having her completely turn into an anti-hero. This was done through what kind of person we see Peacekeeper-06 become and how she currently acts. There is no sympathy shown from Peacekeeper-06 over killing someone just because they interacted with Batman. That all drives how the Magistrate have been able to corrupt all those working for them to believe that oppressive means are the only way to ensure control.
Nicola Scott artwork was a major factor in the success of Future State: Nightwing #2. With how things turned out in this issue Scott’s artwork gave the entire story a big event feel. She captured the big moments such as Batman and Nightwing marching out to face the Magistrate and the Batman Family appearing together exceptionally well. There was a strong build to every moment that got you more excited to turn the page to find out what happens next. Which all worked to make the reveal of what Nightwing’s plan was an incredible character moment that spotlighted why Dick Grayson is a strong leader the Batman Family Resistance rally around.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: Future State: Nightwing #2 hit it out of the park as Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott make a strong case for this being the best Future State series. From beginning to end you are engaged in the events that unfold as Nightwing sets out to take down the Magistrate. The way the entire Batman Family got involved just added to the hype around this series concluded. This is definitely a series that fans should not miss out on reading.
To comment on this article and other Comic Book Revolution content visit our Facebook page, Twitter feed and Instagram. You can catch up with all of Kevin’s thoughts about comics, anime, TV shows, movies and more over on Twitter. You can also watch the fun and silly videos Kevin is making over on his TikTok.