Batman Futures End #1 Review: Taking The Neverending Battle Literally

For the second straight September, it’s been tough to know which of DC’s one-shots to buy. My impulse last year during Villains Month was just to get the ones for the series I normally read anyway, and I’ve stuck with that plan so far for the Futures End tie-ins as well.

More from Comics

Overall, I’ve found the 2014 issues slightly more informative than the wildly mixed bag we got last year, because the ones I’ve read actually do explain something significant about the characters they feature in the gap between the present day and the possible future depicted in the New 52 Futures End weekly series. Batman Futures End #1 definitely falls into that category, with Bruce Wayne willing to risk everything in order to ensure the legacy of the Batman continues.

Ray Fawkes (with a story assist from regular series writer Scott Snyder) weaves a fairly effective yarn about the lengths Batman is willing to go to in order to accomplish something he feels needs to be done. Even though his thinking is questionable, it’s no more so than decisions we’ve seen him make in pre-New 52 comics (Brother Eye, keeping files on how to defeat all of his Justice League teammates, etc.). It’s also a good showcase for Alfred, who voices his numerous objections but still faithfully assists Bruce to the best of his abilities.

The only thing I wasn’t really feeling in this issue was the art by ACO. The style is distinctive, so no problems there, but it’s just too muddy for some of the action sequences, when I honestly couldn’t tell what was going on in some panels.

Whether you care for the battle of wits at the heart of the action really depends on how you feel about storylines in current DC comics set in the present, especially Justice League. We can discuss that further after the …

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

Batman knows the end is near. Thanks to a broken back, his crimefighting career is on borrowed time. Alfred suggests the Batman family is large enough to carry on in his stead, but he wants to make one final attempt to raid the only lab that has the technology (invented by Niles Caulder of Doom Patrol fame) to pull off whatever mad scheme he has in mind.

Long story short, it’s a lab owned by Lex Luthor that needs to be broken into, and the technology in question is being used to attempt cloning Superman, because apparently Lex just can’t let that plan go. It’s like the Empire’s fixation with building a Death Star even after the first one was blown up.

Bizarro gets involved, since there’s a rule that any failed or incomplete Superman clone ends up as Bizarro. Bruce beats the odds and survives, getting what he needs in the process. Oh, and in case you haven’t figured it out already, Batman thinks the best way to ensure Gotham City is always protected going forward is to clone himself repeatedly. Seems like he still has some trust issues with people other than himself and Alfred.

I do enjoy the intellectual sparring between Batman and Luthor, but it makes you wonder why/how it would still be going on five years later. It also foreshadows Lex eventually turning back to the dark side, though I don’t know if that really qualifies as a shocker.

As an overall story, this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but it’s not bad, and it rings true to how Batman has been portrayed for the last 10 years or so of DC Comics whether you like it or not. Not a can’t miss issue by any means, but perfectly serviceable.

Favorite moment: Luthor’s automated recording knows what’s going on once the inner part of the lab is breached: “Hmm. Resourceful, brilliant and tragically misguided. I’m going to guess you’re Batman. Am I right?”

Final thought: Advanced technology has long been a feature of super hero comics, but the overall tech level of the DC Earth gets a lot crazier in the next five years, from the looks of it.

Home/Comics