Best Shots review - Future State: Dark Detective #4 unmissable

Mariko Tamaki ends Bruce Wayne's Future State adventures with an explosive finality in Future State: Dark Detective #4, while Joshua Williamson promises future intrigue and adventure in its Red Hood back-up feature.

Future State: Dark Detective #4 credits

Written by Mariko Tamaki and Joshua Williamson
Art by Dan Mora, Jordie Bellaire and Gianno Milonogiannis
Lettering by Aditya Bidikar and Troy Peteri
Published by DC
'Rama Rating: 9 out of 10

Tamaki shows off the Magistrate's frightening efficiency as they react to Bruce's guerrilla attack. She weaves in some of the smaller moments as well: a struggle to swallow a key fob at an incredibly important time is an unexpectedly human element that cracks a smile in an otherwise unrelentingly dark story. Of course, it's all about the conclusion here. Tamaki's violently abrupt ending is going to spur some debate, and she pulls zero punches in its execution.

Bruce's fatigue is clear in Mora's haggard and unshaven portrait, and he brings the struggle between Bruce Wayne and Peacekeeper 01 to an epic conclusion in a pair of window-shattering splashes. The neon yellow of the Bat-signal pops under Bellaire's palette, dark moody tones accented with explosions of wild color.

On the 'Red Hood' story, artist Giannis Milonogiannnis shows off his knack for fashion with a memorable White Rabbit. Overall, he continues his high standard of clear and expressive artwork; his use of hatched textures speak to an artist very comfortable in monochrome, which Bellaire matches with a considerably lighter palette than her work with Mora.

Writer Joshua Williamson matches the lightness of Milonogiannis and Bellaire's work with a flirty and punchy script that climaxes with a curveball to set up the incoming Future State: Gotham title.

Future State: Dark Detective #4 shows two sides of Future State Gotham, offering both an absolute end and a conspiratorial cliffhanger in its two excellent stories. Both unmissable in their own unique ways, Dark Detective #4 is the cream of the Future State crop.

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Oscar Maltby has been writing about comics since 2015. He has also written comic book scripts for the British small press and short fiction for Ahoy Comics. He resides on the South Coast of England but lives in the longbox.