The New 52: Futures End #22 Review
By Steve Lam
Writers: Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire
Artists: Patrick Zircher, Hi-Fi, Ryan Sook
Futures End #21 Recap
On Green Arrow’s secret island, Red Arrow explains to Big Barda all the events leading up to the present day: Apokolips was brought to Earth while chasing the inhabitants of Earth 2 and a long and devastating war ensued, with all of Earth and Earth 2 heroes going up against Apokolips. After the war, Earth created the Global Peace Agency (GPA) — an organization whose real goal was to register and keep track of Earth 2 citizens. Oliver Queen knew the GPA’s agenda and sought to expose them, but he made another startling discovery — Cadmus was collecting Earth 2 superhumans so as to perform experiments on them. In order to perform his investigation in stealth, Oliver faked his own death and discovered that Cadmus had an island. Oliver then goes forward with a plan to recruit other superhumans for the purposes of invading Cadmus Island and freeing its prisoners.
Spoiler-Free Reaction
Futures End #22 contained some interesting developments, but sections of muddled storytelling ruined what would’ve been a good issue. The real takeaway from #22 should be the ending, which will whet the appetite of many DC fans.
Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!
New York City, Columbia University: Jason Rusch runs into a protesting Madison Payne, who’s fighting for the rights of Earth 2 citizens. In a short conversation between the two, we learn that Madison has quit her job at the Wounded Duck Bar. At Dr. Yamazake’s lab, Jason continues to hear the rants of Dr. Yamazake — due to the revelation of Shazam as Superman, Yamazake has accelerated his timetable in getting the transporter completed. Yamazake sees this as just another lie perpetrated by the heroes.
Wounded Duck Bar: Ronnie Raymond shows up to apologize for his behavior to Cal (Tim Drake) and Madison on a previous occasion.
Las Vegas: Mercy, Voodoo, Banger, and Mash have infiltrated a high-rise building and killed most of the assailants. A man in the shadows watches their progress because this is all a test. He finally communicates to them when the four are in the elevator. In another part of the city, Justin is safely tucked away in a cheap motel. He ponders if it’s even a good idea to be associating himself with Voodoo, and wonders why Grifter has put him in this situation.
New York City: Terry McGinnis reveals future events to Plastique, and Brother Eye’s plans — in its quest to rid the world of differences, it saw humanity as the ultimate threat and, therefore, aimed to eradicate humans. Plastique, concerned that her future cyborg-self is her fate, offers her help to Terry. As Terry puts A.L.F.R.E.D. on speaker, they learn that Brother Eye’s intelligence has left the satellite and is now on Cadmus Island.
Somewhere in Deep Space: Frankenstein, Amethyst, and Hawkman awaken from stasis. As Frankenstein falls sick, the Engineer (Angie) states that Frankenstein is “changing.” Demanding that they see who is controlling the Engineer, they are shown a giant monstrous Brainiac who welcomes them to the Blood Moon. Suddenly, Black Adam flies towards them — apparently to rescue them.
Wrapping It Up
Futures End #22 suffers from some confusing sections, but it does give some interesting developments. In the final pages, we learn that a giant Brainiac has been in control of the Engineer. And to the surprise of many, Black Adam comes to the rescue of Frankenstein, Amethyst, and Hawkman. In doing some more research, I discovered that these final events have an even bigger impact than previously thought. Due to the concluding events of Superman: Doomed #2, there have been rumors of a new Crisis storyline developing at DC. For this latest issue, fans have been pointing at the red skies motif on the last pages of #22 and the cover of #23 — which all points to DC’s Blood Moon event — falling on the 30th anniversary of Crisis on Infinite Earths. I think it’s safe to say that we can gear up for another multiverse rehash.