Future State: Gotham Will See the Red Hood Rise to Hunt Batman

DC Comics has released a first look at Future State: Gotham #1 today and Jason Todd’s Red Hood is hunting heroes.

Though Christopher Nakano was first introduced as a mere former cop in DC’s Joker War event, when the character popped up in the pages of Future State: Batman, the company’s near-future series starring Tim Fox as the newest Batman, he’d made good on his promise to become Gotham’s new mayor in order to make real his vision for a stronger, safer, vigilante-free city.

Because of the role that costumed superheroes like Bruce Wayne’s Batman played in his own disfigurement and the deaths of his fellow cops, Nakano’s primary goal in The Next Batman has been ridding Gotham of figures like the new Dark Knight. Distasteful as Nakano finds vigilantes, the premise of co-writers Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver, and artist Giannis Milonogiannis’ Future State: Gotham makes clear that he’s not above working with at least one of them in order to get what he wants: Jason Todd’s Red Hood.

After hunting down a number of other Gotham heroes while working with a character known as the Magistrate, Jason sets his sights on Tim in Future State: Gotham #1. Naturally, Jason’s got a grudge with Tim Fox, who’s been secretly operating as the city’s most high-profile cape — bearing the moniker of someone Jason has more than a few issues with.

In a press release about the upcoming series, DC emphasised how Future State: Gotham’s black and white interior art and Milonogiannis’ manga-inspired aesthetics are both part of the series vision of a different future for Gotham city, one where there isn’t much time to debate whether it’s better to kill or be killed. Check out a few interior pieces from Milonogiannis below:

Jason’s storied past with the Bat Family would suggest that there’s more to his arc in Future State: Gotham than him simply electing to bag his fellow vigilantes for a pretty penny. With everything he’s been through, there’s also little doubt that when the new Batman and the old Red Hood meet up, they’ll have more than just pleasantries to exchange with one another.

Future State: Gotham hits stores on May 11, 2021.