Batman: Fear State Announced

The Scarecrow makes his play for Gotham city in the upcoming Batman event “Fear State.” DC Comics unveiled details about the horror-themed event on Wednesday, suggesting it will tie together plot threads first seeded during the Future State series, which have continued throughout the current line of Batman comics and DC’s Infinite Frontier. The event ties together Scarecrow’s plans to control Gotham City With fear and Mayor Christopher Nakano’s attempts to make the city safe by striking a deal with The Magistrate. “Fear State” will be the launchpad for several new Batman Family series and plots leading to a new status quo in 2022.

“Fear State” begins in August. The story is found in the following titles, per a DC Comics press release:

I Am Batman #0 – The age of a new Dark Knight begins! On August 10, picking up immediately from the events of The Next Batman: Second Son, Jace Fox begins the march toward his destiny when he fights to protect Alleytown against the oppressive forces of the Magistrate, using Batman armor and tech he’s found in Bruce Wayne’s old base of operations, the Hibernaculum!

• Written by John Ridley
• Art and Main Cover by Travel Foreman
• Card Stock Variant cover by Dave Wilkins
• Card Stock Variant cover by Derrick Chew
• Card Stock 1:25 Variant cover by Riccardo Federici
• 40 Pages; $4.99 ($5.99 card stock variant cover)
• On Sale Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Catwoman #34 – Then on August 17, Alleytown continues to be the hotspot in Gotham City, with Selina Kyle’s quest to keep her home safe beset on all sides, not only by law enforcement gone bad, but a potential invasion by the city’s villains as well. And if those problems aren’t enough, Batman makes the scene, breaking his and Selina’s vow to give each other another one-year break.

• Written by Ram V
• Art by Fernando Blanco
• Main cover by Matteo Scalera
• Card stock variant by Jenny Frison
• 32 Pages; $3.99 ($4.99 card stock variant)
• On Sale Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Harley Quinn #6 – What would any crisis that threatens all of Gotham City be without Harley Quinn? Boring, that’s what! The mistress of mischief and mayhem teams up with Catwoman to kick the Magistrate out of Alleytown for good!

• Written by Stephanie Phillips
• Art by Laura Braga
• Main cover by Riley Rossmo
• Card stock variant by Derrick Chew
• 32 Pages; $3.99 ($4.99 card stock variant cover)
• On Sale Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Batman: Fear State Alpha #1 –   The event over a year in the making begins…Fear State settles upon Gotham City, and no one is safe! Overwhelmed by the dual threat of the Scarecrow and Peacekeeper-01, Batman and his allies have been one step behind since the events of Infinite Frontier #0…and with the arrival of a mysterious anti-Oracle and the return of Poison Ivy…Batman might have more than he can handle! 

• Written by James Tynion IV
• Art by Riccardo Federici
• Main cover by Ben Oliver
• Variant cover by Dylan Teague
• 1:25 ratio variant cover by Jorge Jimenez
• 1:50 ratio variant cover by Francesco Mattina
• 40 Pages; $4.99 ($5.99 card stock variant cover)
• On Sale Tuesday, August 31, 2021

The ongoing Batman series will feature the “Fear State” story from Batman #112 through Batman #117. You can see the complete image formed by Jorge Molina’s connecting variant covers for those issues above.

Are you excited about “Fear State”? Let us know in the comments. “Fear State” kicks off from DC Comics in August.