12 major Marvel and DC comic book moments fans should know about (March)
By Mark Lynch
7. The Magistrate begins
Comic book: Batman No. 106
One of the most compelling areas of DC Future State may have been the issues in Gotham City. A group called the Magistrate became the peacekeepers of Gotham. The Gotham Police Department still existed, but they were outranked. The Magistrate came in, caused havoc, and didn’t care about the people caught in the crossfire. One of them actually said, “We get paid to take out masks. Collateral damage is for the rest of you.”
This is an alternate reality. As grim as Gotham City is, you’d think that this was going too far. Even if Batman/Bruce Wayne were thought to be dead, someone would stop them. Unfortunately, we don’t know. This is a possible future. In Batman No. 106, we see that this future is more likely than we know.
Why is this important?
It’s doubtful that the complete Future State timeline will take place in DC Comics’ prime reality. There will be some things that pop up. Among them will be the Magistrate and the Peacekeeper armor. It’s just one more obstacle for Batman to overcome. We already know that other things like Red Hood: Future State will have an ongoing series. Who knows. Maybe Batman’s doomed to live out the Future State reality.