The New 52: Futures End #31 Review
By Steve Lam
Writers: Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire
Artists: Jesus Merino, Dan Green, Hi-Fi, Ryan Sook
Futures End #30 Recap
On Cadmus Island, Lois Lane meets her doppelganger — Earth 2’s Red Tornado. Meanwhile, Green Arrow and his Outsiders start their assault on the island. With their initial plan failing, Green Arrow defaults to plan B — Big Barda will manually shut down Brother Eye with brute force. An attacking Deathstroke is killed when he has his head torn off by Fury. Making their way inside of Brother Eye’s central systems building, Green Arrow and Big Barda are attacked by Power Girl. Green Arrow is able to destroy Brother Eye’s red orb, releasing his control of Earth 2’s heroes. Big Barda holds Power Girl back as Green Arrow and the rest of the team escape. Back outside, Red Tornado implores Lois to leave, so she can expose Cadmus Island to the world. As Green Arrow and the team make it to the ship, the compound explodes. The final scene is Lois’s cell phone having Brother Eye’s intelligence downloaded into it.
Spoiler-Free Reaction
Futures End #31 goes back to the multi-plot format of past issues, but still preserves the momentum. We have a call-to-action and a heartfelt goodbye. This is an issue still worth reading, as the story is lean and flies by quickly.
Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!
The Queen Foundation, Seattle: At a press conference, Lois Lane goes public with the news that Cadmus Island has been doing illegal experimentation on Earth 2 superhumans. She also announces the current casualties of their war: Big Barda, Power Girl, Red Tornado, and Green Arrow (who is still faking his own death for the purposes of clandestine operations).
Green Arrow Island: Oliver Queen welcomes Animal Man and his family to the island. Oliver’s plans are to let Emiko take over the mantle of Green Arrow.
Siberia: Superman and Constantine arrive in the middle of a forest. Midge appears in only her underwear and mocks both Superman and Constantine. Suddenly, a large Brainiac-controlled bear skeleton strikes down in an explosion. Midge seems to be under its control. Superman goes on the offensive so that Constantine and Midge can escape. The bear skeleton starts to heat up, becoming volatile. As it explodes, Superman rushes to Constantine and Midge, and flies them out of danger.
Cadmus Island: King Faraday beams onto the island. Investigating the destruction, he finds that the DNA storage vault has been destroyed and lost in the ocean .
Pittsburgh: Madison Payne, as Firestorm, finds out from Jason Rusch, who’s now in her mind, that when Yamazake’s transporter exploded, it retriggered the conditions that made Ronnie Raymond and Jason into Firestorm. Both Madison and Jason desperately attempt to separate, but they’re unsuccessful. Arriving at Ronnie’s funeral, Madison and Jason say goodbye to their friend. Jason tells Madison that she needs to speak to Cal Corcoran (Tim Drake) and let him know that she’s not dead. Madison is against that action because of her current predicament. She also feels that their relationship will be difficult to repair regardless of her current situation.
Wrapping It Up
Though Futures End #31 goes back to it’s multi-plot scheme, the story doesn’t lose momentum. An exposure of Cadmus Island’s activities by Lois was basically a declaration of war, which means things are going to be heating up fast. Besides, we’re already thirty-one issues in of a forty-eight issue storyarc. It’s time to start looking at the final battle. It also seems that most of the drama is centered around Firestorm. No matter who becomes Firestorm, the curse seems to be an emotional one — first, the Ronnie and Jason issue; now, Madison and Tim. The biggest mystery in this issue is the one in Siberia. What is the significance of Superman “going home”, and why was Brainiac controlling both a bear skeleton and a half-naked Midge? Maybe these will be answered in #32. Here’s to the start of an epic finale.