Back in February DC Comics announced Future State: Gotham, a new ongoing series that will continue the story of Red Hood Jason Todd set in the timeline of their Future State event. Today the publisher released details and an unlettered interior preview of the first issue of the series co-written by Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver and illustrated in full black-and-white by Giannis Milonogiannis. DC also announced that the first issue of the series will include a reprint of a Batman: Black & White story by legendary Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo.

Future State Gotham #1 Cover

Here’s how DC describes the story of Future State: Gotham, which it also calls a “manga-influenced” series:

Forsaking his friends, Red Hood is now a gun-for-hire for The Magistrate, using his role as a costumed vigilante to hunt down other heroes as part of Gotham City mayor Christopher Nakano’s “zero tolerance” policy on masked heroes. Red Hood continues his hero hunting at the top of the food chain, with Tim (Jace) Fox, The Next Batman, in his crosshairs!

Future State: Gotham is unique among the DC line as the first ongoing series presented fully in black and white. The publisher has dabbled with the format in limited series like Batman: Black & White, but bringing it to an ongoing is an interesting move. On the one hand, it’s a clear cost-cutting strategy; on the other, it instantly sets the series apart from the rest of the line visually, which, given its setting in the potential Future State timeline, makes a lot of sense. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see if DC continues further experimentation with black and white comics, particularly if Future State: Gotham is a success.

Future State Gotham #1 Variant Cover

Regardless of why the choice was made, the visuals of the series as shown in the preview are definitely striking, and unlike anything else DC is currently publishing. Check out the unlettered six-page preview featuring Milonogiannis’s artwork, as well as a preview of the reprinted Otomo story, below. Future State: Gotham #1 goes on sale on May 11th.