Nothing says “masterful storytelling” than having piles of contrivance everywhere. Masks are outlawed, just ‘cos, and Batman’s swooping around battling crimz and cops alike, as he normally does. Brilliant.īruce Wayne’s dead, just ‘cos, Tim Fox is now Batman, just ‘cos, Gotham’s a police state, just ‘cos, and is ruled over by a corrupt private police army, just ‘cos. Oh yeah and Tim is also sometimes called “Jace” for no reason. Why have Tim here at all - why not just have Luke be the new Batman?! It’s so unnecessarily complicated and confusing. So Luke Fox was Batwing but isn’t anymore and doesn’t seem to be Batman, and Tim Fox is Luke’s brother and seems to be the new Batman. Here’s the first stumbling block in Ridley’s Batman: who is this Batman? I thought it was Luke Fox, Lucius’ son, but Ridley introduces another character, Tim Fox, who looks exactly like Luke, except for a bit of scruff on his chin, who seems to be the new Batman. Apparently this is the result of Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo’s Death Metal rubbish - alternate timeline, something happened to Bruce Wayne so now there’s a new Batman in town. The bulk of the book is made up of the four-issue Future State: The Next Batman miniseries. And, like Coates’ Black Panther, Ridley’s Batman is also awful! Lucius Fox is still dealing with being tortured by the Joker as his family tries to decide what to do with Bruce Wayne's money.ģ Minutes previously unpublished by John Ridley and Dustin NguyenĪ retcon of how long Lucius Fox has known who Batman was, showing him starting out as Batman and Robin's armorer back in the Dick Grayson days.īatman By John Ridley: The Deluxe Edition (a redundant label as there aren’t any other editions available!) collects the few Batman comics John Ridley’s written for DC so far (though these are rapidly growing).ĭC’s following Marvel’s lead, who hired a successful black writer from other literary mediums, Ta-Nehisi Coates, to write their Black Panther line, by hiring the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave to write a version of their highest-profile character.

Tim Fox's Robin arrives to save The Next Batman from a beating.įamily Ties from The Joker War Zone by John Ridley and Olivier Coipel The Cavalry from Batman: Black and White #1 by John Ridley and Olivier Coipel

The story felt very small and too much time was spent with Fox family drama which never came to fruition. Tim Fox (who hasn't been around since the 70's) is the new Batman. The Next Batman by John Ridley, Laura Braga, and Nick Derington There's also The Next Batman: Second Son which just finished its 4 issue run at the same time this was released. The odd thing is this doesn't even collect all of John Ridley's Batman stories. Only the 2 stories Olivier Coipel draws and the Dustin Nguyen 6 page story are new. 90% of this is also in Future State: The Next Batman.

MARVEL'S VOICES by John Ridley