The New 52: Futures End #42 Review

By Steve Lam | Feb 22, 2015

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

Artists: Scot Eaton, Scott Hanna, Hi-Fi, Ryan Sook

Futures End #41 Recap

In New York City, Mr. Terrific watches in horror as the events unfold. In one of Terrifitech’s elevator shafts, Tim Drake and Plastique are stalked by the future cyborg version of Plastique. Shazam, Doctor Polaris, and Firestorm beam to the surface and are confronted by a giant Brainiac. As the rest of the Justice League go after Brainiac’s ship, the Atom is disintegrated by one of the ship’s beams.

Spoiler-Free Reaction

Futures End #42 is non-stop action with the heroes almost at their best. You know they’re still a little rusty, but they’re giving everything they’ve got.

Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!

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Earth Orbit: Cyborg receives a report from Shazam that the beam from Brainiac’s ship is connected to Brainiac’s machine in Manhattan. As Wildfire makes an attempt to attack the ship, he’s struck by a blast. Equinox is also hit. Cyborg sends Dawnstar to retrieve both of them while he goes into action.

New York City: Billy Batson discovers that Superman is alive and well. Happy that the Man of Steel is back, Billy transforms into Shazam. The two fly towards Brainiac’s ship.

In Mr. Terrific’s office, Mr. Terrific proclaims that they’re witnessing God. Batman punches Mr. Terrific to knock some sense into him.

In an alleyway, Batman Beyond faces off with the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg. He calls out to A.L.F.R.E.D. for help in determining if the uSpheres are raining down in a pattern. With no answer from A.L.F.R.E.D., Batman Beyond resorts to insulting the AI. A.L.F.R.E.D. suddenly answers back and reassures Batman Beyond that he’s currently mapping the pattern.

Earth Orbit / New York City: Cyborg battles the ship with no success. In a big reveal, the Atom was never disintegrated — when the beam hit him, he shrank down to a subatomic size and entered past the Engineer’s defenses. The Atom goes through an immense network of memories — reminding him of the Bleed. As information flies by him at immense speed, the Atom tries to not black out.

Superman and Shazam continue to battle Brainiac. As Superman breaks through the uSpheres with his heat vision, Brainiac hits him with a powerful blast, knocking Superman out. The beam from Brainiac’s machine reaches it’s desired depth and starts to initiate a transference procedure.

The Atom reaches the Engineer and cuts her off from the ship. The tentacles, about to crush Cyborg, suddenly go slack.

Brainiac’s lifting of Manhattan is interrupted when the ship is disabled. Lois Lane discovers an unconscious Superman. Having not seen him for years, she’s shocked.

Batman Beyond tries to get through to the Batman half of the hybrid cyborg. A.L.F.R.E.D. completes his pattern mapping. A powerful blast from above destroys the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg, but Brother Eye suddenly appears on various screens across the city — it tells the citizens of Earth that it’s here to protect them.

Wrapping It Up

Futures End #42 sees all of the heroes united against one cause — protect New York City from Brainiac. The action is non-stop and it flows relatively smoothly from one battle to the next. The twist with the Atom being still alive was great. The brief triumph against Brainiac also brings the story out of its more morbid plotlines. At this point, I’m happy about how the series will be ending. With only six more issues to go, I’m also curious as to how Ollie and his gang are doing. Maybe they’ll do a surprise appearance at the last minute when the Justice League needs them the most. Knowing that Brother Eye isn’t even close to being defeated, we’ll just have to wait and see how it plans to assure that the apocalyptic future will stay intact.

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