The New 52: Futures End #2 Review – A Dysfunctional Goodbye
By Steve Lam
Writers: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Artist: Dan Green, Jesús Merino
Recap
In Futures End #1, Batman Beyond arrived from the future seven years too late due to the time-band being calibrated to Bruce Wayne’s body-mass. As Batman Beyond kills a cyborg that followed him through the time portal, an unknown man is shown recording the events of the fight. In the Huron System, Brother Eye disintegrates Apollo and destroys The Carrier — killing everyone inside. In North Carolina, Grifter annihilates three Daemonites posing as a family. Finally, we see the death of Oliver Queen in Seattle when Firestorm arrives too late to help him. We saw four seemingly unconnected plots that were blatant setups for future events.
Spoiler-Free Reaction
After all the blood and violence from the last two issues, this one certainly dialed it back. I guess we can’t have every issue be like Barney Stinson’s “Get Psyched” mix — all rise, baby! What does have a lot of “rise” in this issue are attitudes and arguments.
Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!
We open with Firestorm heading to Oliver Queen’s (Green Arrow) funeral. In flight, Jason is ripping into Raymond and blaming him for the death of Oliver Queen. At the funeral, Mr. Terrific arrives and we get a taste of his arrogance. He uses this day of mourning as a chance for PR. Confronted by Aquaman, we find out that Mr. Terrific brushed off the Justice League’s invitation to join them. Mr. Terrific thinks joining the League would stifle his potential because he would have to “take a backseat” to himself. As their confrontation escalates, Mr. Terrific makes the observation that if he himself were a villain, this event would be an opportunity to take everyone out in one shot.
In New York City, Batman Beyond is right outside Terrifitech. A.L.F.R.E.D. analyzes the building’s security and notes that it’s primitive. With Brother Eye still dark, but in orbit, we have no idea what Batman Beyond’s plans are for permanently disabling Brother Eye.
Back at Ollie’s funeral, all the heroes have arrived en masse. Animal Man gives a heartfelt eulogy recollecting past adventures with Oliver and the sacrifices Oliver made for the city.
Skipping to a North Carolina police station, an F.B.I. agent looks into the Grifter’s killing spree from issue #1. The agent turns out to be King Faraday. He’s here to destroy evidence on Grifter. Accomplishing his goal in destroying the files, King Faraday beams out of the station and into a public park. Outside, he communicates to someone in a remote location and asks for the whereabouts of Grifter.
Angered that Firestorm is a pallbearer for Ollie’s casket, Arsenal confronts him. The situation quickly becomes heated. As Firestorm tries to defend himself with lies, The Flash steps in and confirms that their tracking data proved that Ronnie and Jason didn’t merge until an hour later. This angers Arsenal even more. Jason begs Ronnie to unmerge them so that he can apologize. Ronnie refuses. At the climax of the situation, Firestorm hits Arsenal and flies off with Jason still begging to be unmerged.
In her apartment, Lois writes a final piece on Ollie. A mysterious knock interrupts her. Answering the door, she finds a parcel with her name on it. Opening the parcel, she discovers an arrowhead, a matchbook, a green pyramid, and a note that reads: 423816, 1052010, LOIS, GO ALONE, TRUST NO ONE ELSE.
Wrapping It Up
From the start, we have heroes acting like they’re at a really bad Thanksgiving shindig. What’s up with Mr. Terrific’s attitude? I know you’re the smartest dude in the world, but come on. Firestorm’s bratty attitude is also starting to get on my nerves. I was really hoping Arsenal would clock him, but the opposite happened. I’m happy, though, that this issue ended on a mystery. Is Ollie alive? Was his death staged? Here’s hoping that the next issue gets back to some cohesive action that starts to answer some mysteries.