DC: A Member of the Batman Family Just Received a Powerful Upgrade in Future State

Future State has been pretty hard on the Bat-Family, with The Magistrate taking over Gotham with the help of the police and politicians, and masks targetted with shoot on sight orders as a result. They’re still fighting back though, and despite the challenges and the steep odds that they’ll succeed, they are still making the Magistrate’s life hell. The latest example of this occurs in The Next Batman #3, specifically in The Outsiders, where we see the odds evened out a bit thanks to the help of Jefferson Pierce, and as a result, one Batman character just got a huge upgrade that will only make him even more of a threat. Spoilers incoming for The Next Batman #3, so if you haven’t read the issue yet you’ve been warned.

So as we covered a few weeks ago, Black Lightning has been cursed somehow and is now without a physical form. He can tether himself though when holding Katana’s blade, which holds the soul of her husband. He notices here that the original Soultaker sword has been shattered, and uses his power to reforge it, though he also tethers himself to it permanently it seems.

We see this in action when he essentially fries Kaliber, who attempted to steal the sword and kill Katana with it. Jefferson stabs him through the chest with it, and that’s when Duke realizes Jefferson’s predicament.

We then see Duke wearing a slick new jacket and a sword in a sheath on his back. He then asks Katana “can you get by without the new soultaker?” She says “Jefferson took care of it”, and Duke responds “He always does, so now, it’s our turn. You cool back there, brother?”

Jefferson responds “Duke…I don’t know what to say, man”, and Duke tells him “nothing to say…I owe you everything.” He then vows to right this wrong that’s happened to Jefferson, and then we see Duke arrive at the Gotham City border.

The electricity crackles around the soultaker, and when the Magistrate soldiers threaten to shoot at Duke, he just walks up to them without batting and says “Shoot then.” We then see Jefferson appear right next to him, lending his power to Duke and his mission. It seems The Signal is as strong as ever.

Future State: The Next Batman #3 is written by John Ridley, Brandon Thomas, and Paul Jenkins, and is drawn by Laura Braga, Sumit Kumar, and Jack Herbert, and you can find the official description below.

“The adventures of the next Batman continue! Batman has captured a pair of murderous fugitives, but he faces a tough decision: leave them for the Magistrate troops, which means certain death, or risk his life and fight his way through Gotham City to deliver them to the GCPD for trial. He’s Batman…so there’s only one choice!

And in “Outsiders,” Katana has reunited with Black Lightning, but her old friend and ally has changed…big-time! Now composed of literal black lightning, Jefferson Pierce arrives with a dire warning about Duke Thomas and his mission to liberate Gotham from the oppression of the Magistrate. They’ll have to work together-and we really mean together-to have any hope of defeating the forces working against them!

Plus, in “Arkham Knights,” Astrid Arkham and her band of maniacal misfits have picked a fight with the Magistrate…and they’re not going to back down! On the eve of their mission into the heart of Gotham’s fascist occupiers, Croc, Zsasz, Phosphorus, Clayface, Harvey, and the rest steel themselves to try and shine a beacon of hope into the darkness-but not everyone will make it out alive!”

Future State: The Next Batman #3 is in comic stores now.

What did you think of Outsiders? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things comics with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!