The New 52: Futures End #40 Review

Writers: Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire

Artists: Stephen Thompson, Patrick Zircher, Hi-Fi, Ryan Sook

Futures End #39 Recap

At Justice League Defense Station Omega, Doctor Polaris is allowed to analyze the inner workings of the transporters. In Las Vegas, Nevada, when King Faraday gives the order to execute Justin, Fifty Sue teleports him to their location. In Smallville, Superman and Constantine battle small mutant corn beings, and Midge is impaled by a cornstalk. In Castle Frankenstein, Frankenstein refuses a new body from Victor in exchange for becoming his servant — prompting Amethyst to behead Victor. Back at Justice League Defense Station Omega, a large entity approaches.

Spoiler-Free Reaction

Futures End #40 finally picks up on the storytelling and action. With a heroic ending, this issue is what readers have been waiting for in this series.

Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!

Smallville, Kansas: Clark speeds into his Kent Farm home and retrieves his proto-Superman costume. Constantine paints Midge’s blood on his forehead and summons a ferocious wild boar, which attacks the tiny mutant corn-beings controlled by Brainiac.

23,000 Miles Above Earth: Heroes on Justice League Defense Station Omega detect an anomaly. They soon find out that it’s Stormwatch approaching. The Atom tells the Justice League that Brainiac is coming and he was the one who tripped their alarms. At that moment, the Engineer is taken over by Brainiac and she attacks the Atom. Cyborg sends Wildfire and Equinox to help defend Stormwatch.

New York City’s First River: Objects start to rain from the sky, causing massive damage.

Batman, Plastique, and Tim Drake continue their efforts to infiltrate Terrifitech. Entering the building, they find a scene of destruction and murder. A lone figure with a glowing red eye watches them from the shadows.

23,000 Miles Above Earth / New York City: The Brainiac-controlled Engineer continues her destruction of the Carrier. She finally breaks it open and makes her escape. Wildfire and Equinox arrive, sealing the hull breach as fast as they can.

Wonder Woman alerts the team to Manhattan’s situation. To cover everything, Cyborg splits the team: Wonder Woman, Stormguard, the Flash, and Vostok will go to New York; Shazam and Firestorm will watch Doctor Polaris; Dawnstar will follow the Engineer; and Cyborg and the rest of the team will figure out what Brainiac’s ship wants.

Flying towards Brainiac’s ship, the Justice League sees Brainiac’s signature giant tentacled skull emerge. Listening closely, they hear the screams of thousands within it.

Lois Lane is on the ground and unable to get a signal to call in a story.

Firestorm discovers that Brainiac’s spheres are actually burrowing deep into Manhattan, cutting the city off from the rest of the world.

As Lois runs towards the United Nations building, the ground breaks open — revealing a giant structure that transforms into Brainiac. As fighter jets fly in to intercept Brainiac, a blue and red streak speeds past them — it’s Superman.

Wrapping It Up

This is the issue readers have been waiting for. Like previous Futures End stories, the plot is spread across various locations. However, they’re converging because the threats are all rooted from one source — Brainiac. Futures End #40 starts with action and ends with action — it’s a reward for what we had to sit through in the past few issues. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that this series will end on an action-packed high note.

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