The Next Batman: Second Son

Writer John Ridley’s first stab at establishing a new Caped Crusader was just alright.  The execution was solid, but it didn’t feel like we were getting anything new with his take on the character.  One of the problems was that we didn’t know a whole lot about Next Batman Tim “Jace” Fox besides the fact that he was Batman now.  Ridley takes some significant steps toward fixing that with this volume as we learn how he went from being a spoiled rich kid, to a military academy, and then to taking out a rotten one-percenter in the wilds of Vietnam when the volume opens.  He doesn’t stay there for long as he’s summoned back to Gotham to deal with past crimes and help the Fox family as they work to make the most of the Wayne fortune that is now theirs.

Ridley’s social conscience is on full display here as the main reason Jace’s life took the turn it did was because of an accident he was involved in that his father helped spin in a favorable manner.  So is it justice if an African-American family is able to use their influence to make the system work for them when it otherwise would not?  Or is it just the same old cycle of inequality grinding down another unfortunate family when they’re the victims of a crime committed against them by the rich?  The debating about that in this miniseries worked for me, and I was also intrigued by the other subplots which ran the gamut from family drama, to Bat-related plot threads being picked up from previous events.

What didn’t work for me is the fact that Ridley has set “Second Son” in the current DCU continuity instead of the “Future State” alternate future.  This effectively means that Jace will never become “The Next Batman” unless we get a clear break with continuity in the next miniseries.  There’s also the fact that while the execution remains solid, there’s still no fresh new idea to make me really want to see Jace as the title character.  Not helping is the art from Travel Foreman and Tony Akins, which is roundly fine with the dubious distinction of seeing the former’s idiosyncratic style blended out for this story.  I’ll continue to read about Jace’s future outings because I’m still curious to see where Ridley is going with this, but I’m not really feeling like this is the future of “Batman.”