Warning: spoilers ahead for Batman: Fear State Omega #1!
In a new preview for DC Comics' Batman: Fear State Omega #1, it's teased that the Scarecrow isn't as finished as Batman might currently believe. While the recent Batman #117 seemingly saw the end of Jonathan Crane's Fear State, which plunged Gotham City into new levels of trauma and terror, it appears as though Scarecrow has a few more tricks up his sleeve despite his recent arrest. Now, this new preview will see Scarecrow making his final moves in the upcoming epilogue.
During DC's Fear State, the entirety of Gotham City was under siege thanks to Scarecrow's plan, with which he took advantage of the lasting trauma created by major crises such as "City of Bane" and the Joker War. Combined with Gotham's lack of faith in Batman and his family of vigilantes, it was relatively easy for Crane to stoke the flames of fear as he sought to push the city to a hypothesized point of clarity where he believed they'd become stronger (while risking a collapse into chaos). However, Crane was eventually defeated as the Bat-Family proved themselves to Gotham's citizens, who in turn chose to renew their faith and hope in their heroes once more.
That being said, it appears as though Jonathan Crane's Scarecrow is not yet done despite his arrest by the GCPD. In the new preview for Batman: Fear State Omega #1 from writer James Tynion IV and artist Riccardo Federici, Crane reveals that he still has a contingency plan despite being trapped in a prison truck. Enjoy the preview pages and synopsis for the upcoming issue:
Gotham's Fear State comes to a close, a new day dawns on the city... one without Batman. But the Dark Knight's absence does not mean the city is without heroes. Join James Tynion IV and Riccardo Federici as they bring "Fear State" to its conclusion and introduce a new status quo that will reverberate throughout the DCU for years to come.
Not only do the preview pages reveal that Crane has a new squad of followers he's experimented on to break him out of the truck, but he also alludes to the fact that he still has plans for the city that Batman himself isn't aware of. Likewise, the synopsis teases that Batman will mysteriously be gone, though the reasons why are as of yet unclear, though it likely has to do with Crane's new contingency plan.
What makes Scarecrow's escape and Batman's absence so interesting is that Fear State was very much wrapped up with Batman #117. Crane's attempt to fill Gotham with widespread fear was well and truly thwarted, so what else could Crane have planned? Furthermore, how and why will Batman go missing? Fans will have to wait and see when the full Batman: Fear State Omega #1 releases on November 30.