The New 52: Futures End #10 Review
By Steve Lam
Writers: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Artists: Aaron Lopresti, Art Thibert, Hi-Fi
Futures End #9 Recap
On Cadmus Island, Grifter is shown the reason for his employment — he is to detect deception and help Slade Wilson capture superhumans. At the Metropolis Armory Ward, Rampage breaks out a prisoner named Ethan Boyer. A masked Superman arrives to stop the breakout, but Rampage causes a distraction which preoccupies Superman. In New York, Terry McGinnis plans to join up with Coil, Plastique, and Key for a second attempt at breaking into Terrifitech. In the Huron System, Hawkman, thought to be dead, comes back to life and gives the S.H.A.D.E. team a recount of what happened to Stormwatch. At S.H.A.D.E. Headquarters, Father Time has been secretly monitoring the remote S.H.A.D.E. team’s progress. It’s finally revealed that Father Time knows what type of threat the team is up against.
Spoiler-Free Reaction
Futures End #10 continues with the fast pace and expands the story with more characters.
Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!
Metropolis: A masked Superman breaks into Ethan Boyer’s old lab looking for him. Lois appears and questions why Superman would be looking for Boyer at this location because Boyer had abandoned it a long time ago. Their conversation is abrupt as Superman flies off to continue his search of Boyer.
New York City: At the Wounded Duck, Coil, Plastique, and Key argue about their plan to break into Terrifitech, they’re interrupted by Terry McGinnis. Revealing himself to be the homeless man in the park, Terry also reveals that he’s been inside Terrifitech. Terry quickly makes the Batsuit glove appear on his hand and proceeds to project a map onto the table. Tim Drake, unbeknownst to them, eavesdrops on the conversation. Key doesn’t believe Terry and initiates a fight, but Terry quickly strikes a pressure-point on Key and knocks him out cold. As Terry goes to the bar to get a towel, Tim confronts Terry and tells him that he knows the man who developed the deathless Tonga Death Strike, which is what Terry employed on Key. Tim wants to know if this man (most likely Bruce) ever mentioned him. Terry brushes Tim off and leaves the bar with Coil, Key, and Plastique. Later, Tim finds Madison in their apartment going through his things. He gives Madison a necklace as a gift.
The Huron System: From the Nth metal’s abilities, Hawkman’s arm has started to regenerate. As Amethyst tries to tell Hawkman that the death of Stormwatch was not his fault, Hawkman misconstrues the gesture as an evaluation of his character — a person that sits around feeling sorry for himself. This quickly escalates to an argument with Amethyst drawing her sword. At that moment, Hawkman’s Stormwatch Emergency Communicator starts to beep. The communicator is used as a backup system in case Stormwatch’s telepathic uplink failed. Hawkman sees the beacon going off as hope that someone else from Stormwatch has also survived.
Cadmus Island: Cole is attacked by a cloaked being in his quarters. Thrown through a wall and beaten to a pulp, Fifty Sue appears. She tells him that it was an OMAC. She then mysteriously alludes to Cole having the chance to impress her. As she leaves to get medical attention for a confused Cole, Fifty Sue makes a reference to Cole becoming “interesting.”
Vancouver, Canada: An extremely tall woman named Jane Kirby serves food in a homeless shelter. Leaving work, Jane senses that she’s being followed. Jane ambushes the person and demands to know if the individual works for the Global Peace Agency. The individual reveals herself to be Emiko, who doesn’t work for the agency. Emiko needs Jane’s help, but not as Jane Kirby — as her real identity — Big Barda.
Wrapping It Up
I was hoping this issue would reveal why Superman is wearing a mask, but I guess we’ll have to wait on that. I’m getting the suspicious feeling that it may not even be Superman under there. Another suspicion I have is the gift Tim gave to Madison. I’m willing to bet that the necklace is a tracking device or camera. It also seems that we have another character, or even two characters, to add to the Futures End mix — Big Barda and Emiko.