The Next Batman: Second Son by John Ridley collects the twelve-issue digital first series into four physical issues bound together. This read will be confusing for readers that have not read the current Batman run by James Tynion as well as parts of Future State by John Ridley that dealt with the Bat family set five years into a possible future within in the DC universe. The Next Batman: Second Son after the events of Joker War and A-Day, Lucius Fox has become the head of Wayne Enterprises and is now the proud owner of most of Bruce Wayne’s money. Lucius Fox is suffering from the effects of being tortured by Joker’s new girlfriend, Punchline, and is not adjusting well to being the richest person in Gotham. Lucius wants his family together to deal with the changes in his life now and he forces his adult son, Tim Fox, who these days by “Jace” to come home to Gotham and face their past together. Jace Fox has no desire to be back in Gotham or part of the family again. He left everything and everyone behind for reasons that are explained in this read.
For those who do not know, Jace is supposed to become the
next Batman in a possible future. This is his origin story on why he chose to become
the Batman.
This book is part action, part thriller, and part family
drama. The Fox family is a highly dysfunctional group of individuals where no
one has dealt with their own personal past nor have they dealt with any of the
issues between each other. Each one is very broken by his or her past. This is
a story about power, privilege, and ignoring your responsibilities. Jace and
the rest of the Fox family will need to grow up and come to terms with their
own individual demons as well as relationship issues if they truly want to fix
things and be a family again.
The Next Batman: Second Son by John
Ridley is good as long as you can deal with
the fact that pretty much everyone involved in the book thinks they are the good
guy and is totally wrong about that fact. This read is pretty hard to follow if
you are not caught up with the DC Universe and the current status quo of Batman
right now. This origin story is billed as a complete story and it is not.
Actually, this just part one and ends with a cliffhanger. The second part is
from the same author and currently is just available in yet another digital
first series. That series is called I Am Batman and will be
collected into a physical book at some point.
The Next Batman: Second Son by John
Ridley is an interesting read despite those
two caveats.
The Next Batman: Second Son
John Ridley
https://www.dccomics.com/talent/john-ridley
DC Comics
https://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/the-next-batman-second-son
ISBN# 1779513607
September 2021
Hardback (also available in digital format)
128 Pages
Material came by way of the Forest Green Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2021
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