Warning! Spoilers ahead for Future State: Robin Eternal #1
The worst of the many horrific tomorrows that could transpire for the heroes of today befall Gotham City in DC's Future State event. Spearheading the existential threat facing the Dark Knight's city is Future State: The Next Batman #1, which accomplishes so much more than just introduce, well, the next Batman. It transports readers into a Gotham no longer overrun by mobsters and masked villains, but one that's under the dominion of the Magistrate, a mysterious organization that seemingly took advantage of its partnership with Gotham by strong-arming Mayor Nakano into relinquishing all of his power.
The most prominent of the Magistrate's many laws is the mandate criminalizing all masks in Gotham, regardless of whether the wearer was once a vigilante or a criminal. But so much more than Gotham's finest enforce this law. A highly armed militia known as Peacekeepers respond to all sightings with deadly precision while an impressive air force brings the rain and serves as an extra pair of eyes should a vigilante try to foolishly elude justice. Complementing these influential militant branches are various individuals with whom the Magistrate made strategic partnerships, including the League of Assassins' cybernetic mercenary Kaliber in The Next Batman's secondary story.
Meanwhile, a seemingly reformed (and unmasked) Scarecrow in Future State: Harley Quinn #1 feels compelled to exercise his now-legitimate psychiatric practice by helping the Magistrate clean Gotham's streets of the few remaining masked villains. To carry out his plan, the Scarecrow forcibly recruits the unmasked Harley Quinn by utilizing her former clinical psychiatric skills to exploit their weaknesses. But in Future State: Robin Eternal #1 by writer Meghan Fitzmartin and artist Eddy Barrows, DC Comics reveals not only two new layers of the Magistrate's ongoing vendetta against masked heroes and villains, but that these efforts are escalating at an exponential rate.
The issue opens with Tim Drake, Future State's new Robin, barely surviving a confrontation against one of the Magistrate's so-called Cybers—cyborgs specially crafted to hunt down vigilantes. It's assumed that Robin would have most likely won against the metal giant if the Magistrate hadn't augmented the Cyber's powers with a new serum prototype. After throwing an electromagnetic pulse bomb at the cyborg, Robin is unpleasantly surprised when the Cyber emerges from the explosion unscathed. In fact, the only reason he walks away from the skirmish alive is because Spoiler luckily swoops in at the last minute.
It's especially unfortunate that Robin can't stand up against the enhancing effects of a mere prototype because the final design, a liquid referred to as Lazarus Resin that grants Cybers immortality through organic rejuvenation, is currently in transit to Gotham. Siphoned from the Lazarus Pit, this enhancement is just one of numerous experiments that the Magistrate has been funding from the revenue it earns from occupying Gotham.
Not wanting to face a Cyber juiced up on Lazarus Resin, Robin quickly infiltrates a convoy carrying the enhancement with Darcy and Spoiler. Unfortunately, Robin not only faces a Cyber that has been enhanced with the perfected formula, but later finds himself face down in the resin itself. The fact that the next issue of Future State: Robin Eternal teases that coming in contact with the resin imbues Tim Drake with powers brings up many questions. Is this an isolated incident? Or will the Magistrate be able to use the Lazarus Resin on other humans, such as the Peacekeepers and Kaliber, in addition to the Cybers as was their initial intent? What other experiments is the Magistrate funding and will they be successful? Lastly, is the Magistrate's main goal to kill masked heroes and villains or are these efforts, including the experiments, all part of a much larger, sinister plot?