Gotham City is like one big graveyard in DC Comics' Multiverse. The Batman is dead! Bruce Wayne also is dead, or at least that's what a grave stone in a cemetery is saying. Yet, Bruce Wayne is sneaking around the city penniless underneath a hoodie. The Son of Gotham was shot and killed last month in an alley. A morphine connection help the caped crusader pull through. Peacekeeper-01 is proud that Batman is gone! Apparently, Gotham City has struck up a partnership with the Magistrate, who appear to be running the city and have more pull than their own GCPD. The Magistrate has been built around the technology of Wayne Enterprises. Superheroes appear to be no longer wanted in this premier issue of Future State: Dark Detective. The writing of Marika Tamaki and the artwork of Dan Mora paint an even darker universe for Gotham City than any Dark Knight could imagine.
No Future / No Past Part 1 shares this issue as Matthew Rosenberg (writer) and Carmine Di Giandomenico (illustrator) presents The Grifter surviving under the same conditions as Bruce Wayne. After being accused of cheating during a card game, Cole Cash stabs Kristof and is confronted by people identifying themselves as GCPD. Being unable to detain him, the Magistrate steps in. Being secured in the back of a truck, Cash notices that Luke Fox, son of Lucius Fox, has also been caught. Not running around the city as Batwing for awhile, Fox feels that they want to use them to gain intel to help the Magistrate further their new world order.
Cash's problem seems to be that he owes a lot of people, if not money, then explanations. The Grifter isn't good at keeping promises, but he does orchestrate an escape which leads the two of them to have to deal with Veil and The Black Mask Syndicate. After escaping once again from serious danger, they end up at the home of The Queen of Clubs. The most interesting fact about The Grifter is his unsuccessful attempts at conning people. He crosses the line between being a villain and a hero. Another thing we know for sure is Bruce Wayne is putting his Batman costume on again because he is really fed up with this Future State! I am definitely interested in checking out the other issues of this series!