Hi. Jesse here for your weekly Futures End review/recap. These days in Futures End we’re getting to see all sorts of romantic story lines being addressed. What I’m viewing as Act II of the series invites us to see romantic walks in the city, couples pretending to be married, husbands avenging dead wives, girlfriends trying to get back to estranged lovers, heroes making out in the back of space ships, oh, and Godzilla.
As most of us know, this entire review deserves a giant SPOILER ALERT in the truest of terms. Each section is so small it is nearly impossible to discuss the contents without revealing what little happens.
- New York City — This section has two plots sort of intertwined. Terry and Plastique are walking about the city. He’s trying pizza for the first time. You can hear Harry Connick Jr’s “When Harry Met Sally” soundtrack playing in the background. Bless Terry, he gets pizza on his face. Plastique, still in her domino mask makeup, wipes it off for him. Aww. This has been brewing for several issues so no one should be shocked.While our weird time travel couple is gallivanting around New York, Mister Terrific is having his meeting with Bruce who does not want Terrific to release the uSphere. Terrific goes ahead with the launch though. It’s interesting seeing their interactions. I love to read dialog between these two and I wish we had more of that and less of Harry meeting Sally.
- Oakland, California — Lana Lang and Cole Cash become Lana Lang and Cole Lang. He’s now an E2 as far as his identity goes. And they are “married”. It’s a playful section and Scot Eaton’s pencils are pretty good here. It’s nothing fancy but there’s one panel where Scot nails the playful look on Lana’s face that sold this section for me.
- Cadmus Island — Fifty Sue looks pretty badass here. She’s mourning what I thought was going to be the loss of Deathstroke but wound up to be the loss of the ability to kill Deathstroke. It’s very Fifty Sue-ish and the character has actually grown on me. I want to see her in full-on rage mode. Also, she clearly cuts holes in Deathstroke’s mask so her pig tails will poke out, but will she cut out that sewn-up eye hole that Slade had no use for?
- New York City, again — Dr. Yamazake ain’t dead. He’s done went inter-dimensional-Magneto after the lab explosion and he’s still bitter as ever about his wife being dead. Thanks to his 3D printer, he creates himself a suit of tangibility. It’s colorful and really, just, in my opinion, kind of lame looking. He’s on the cover. I’m terrified. Oh, also yeah, he’s going back to the scene of the explosion. That’s thrown in there like a last minute effort to force a confrontation in coming issues.Firestorm is still struggling to separate. Madison, who I have very little faith in as a character, can’t seem to figure out what to do for her and Jason to become human again. So what does Jason suggest? Let’s go back to the exploded lab so we can fight the newly formed baddie, Dr. Yamagnetozake.
- Earth Orbit — The new Stormwatch Crew has made it back to Earth’s orbit. Even as Frankenstein, Black Adam, and Lady Amethyst are fighting off Brainiac’s drones, Engineer and Hawkman are in the back making out. Good job guys. Anyway, upon their arrival, SHADE diverts them onto their enlarged Ant Farm SHADE base. Father Time (in the form of a black haired, sailor suited Fifty Sue) says the returning crew can’t leave unless they hand over Angie, the Engineer who they believe is the weapon SHADE needs to fight Brainiac when he comes. Of course there is resistance, but Father Time will have none of that. He threatens to use every single “secret horror that’s threatened the Earth” against them if they don’t hand over Angie. For effect, he allows Godzilla and a giant beetle monster to be revealed. End comic.
Visually, I thought Scot Eaton, Scott Hanna and Hi-Fi did a fairly good job. Sure, there were some faces that seemed weird every now and again, but the story that was told wasn’t hindered by the art at all, which is more than I can say for past issues. I’m not digging all the blatant romantic ties sprinkled about. I’m not against romance, but here it feels a little cheap. I’m ready to see Firestorm, particularly Madison, progress as a character. There is gold hiding behind the Terrific/Bruce combo that I’m dying to see, and Fifty Sue (with all her craziness) has potential as well.
Recommended if:
- You need some romance in your pull list.
- Invisible Magneto is your favorite nonexistent DC character.
- …I’m struggling here.
Overall:
While it doesn’t move mountains, well, it doesn’t move sand castles either. If you’re curious about what’s gonna happen in Futures End, by all means pick this up. You won’t want to miss it. But also, if you don’t really care about it, maybe don’t waste your money.
SCORE: 5/10
