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Scarecrow’s plans for Gotham City kicks into high gear during Fear State, but what made the supervillain want to launch his most ambitious plot yet?
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman: Fear State – Alpha #1, on sale now from DC.
Ever since Future State, it’s been teased that Gotham City will transform into a cyberpunk police state, with a dictator known as the Magistrate presiding over the city and outlawing any superhero activity. Following this glimpse into a possible future for the DC Universe, the Infinite Frontier era saw many of the omens foreshadowed by Future State come to pass as Scarecrow steadily rose to power while Batman and his allies are forced to go on the run from the law. And as the crossover event “Fear State” sweeps across the Bat Family, Scarecrow reveals his grand plan for Gotham and how he stepped up to become the most terrifying villain in the DCU.
A flashback to months before the start of the Infinite Frontier era has Jonathan Crane once again locked away in Arkham Asylum for the crimes he regularly inflicts on the people of Gotham. Crane is approached in private by Simon Saint, a successful businessman renowned for his company’s work in advanced robotics, boasting psychology-informed behavioral programming. With Crane’s numerous experiments on the human psyche attracting interest among Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Saint approaches Crane with a job offer. And in Batman: Fear State – Alpha #1 — by James Tynion IV, Riccardo Federici, Chris Sotomayor and Clayton Cowles — Crane reveals why he accepts and what his long-term goals are in his cushy, corporate position.
Crane shares his Fear State Theory that he developed in graduate school, which suggests that by instilling deep, primal fears into a society, the people become more malleable and easier to control. Crane warns Saint that while making such a change is possible, what becomes of a society that endures such a traumatic, shared experience may not leave much left for them to control in the immediate aftermath. That said, Crane is certainly intrigued by the offer and accepts, provided Saint is able to pay him a multimillion-dollar fee and fake his death to facilitate his escape from Arkham.
More than just a hefty payday and a clean slate for a fresh start, Crane is driven by one thing that has eluded him ever since he became a supervillain: Due recognition for his infamy. Crane is sick of being regarded as a one-note villain dismissed among Batman’s extensive rogues’ gallery that relies entirely on his straw-based and fear-fueled gimmicks. The opportunity and resources Saint is providing gives Scarecrow a shot at the big time. Now, he has carefully planned out his moves as he takes on Gotham and the Bat-Family for an epic showdown.
Scarecrow has already taken advantage of Saint’s vast resources, pulling strings to obtain Mad Hatter’s telepathic technology rather than relying on his usual cocktail of chemicals to induce fear into his victims. Batman has found himself on the receiving end of this change in tactics while Scarecrow tightens his grip on Gotham to launch the Fear State initiative of his dreams and steer the course of the city’s societal evolution. And with the Bat Family one step behind the maniacal villain and already on the defensive, the Scarecrow is well on his way towards gaining the notoriety he thinks he deserves.
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