The New 52: Futures End #43 Review

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

Artists: Andy MacDonald, Hi-Fi, Ryan Sook

Futures End #42 Recap

With converging plots taking place between Earth’s orbit and New York City, Cyborg aims to disable Brainiac’s ship after receiving a report from Shazam that the beam from the ship is connected to Brainiac’s machine in Manhattan. Billy Batson becomes Shazam again after learning that Superman is alive and well. At Terrifitech, Mr. Terrific proclaims to Batman that the current events are akin to witnessing God. In an alleyway, Batman Beyond faces off with the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg. It’s discovered that the Atom was never disintegrated — he merely shrank himself so he could pass by the Engineer’s defenses, where he now sees a network of memories from other universes. As the giant Brainiac initiates a transference procedure, the Atom reaches the mind of the Engineer and cuts her off from the ship. A powerful blast from above hits the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg, saving Batman Beyond. Brother Eye interrupts the events with a citywide announcement that it’s here to protect Earth.

Spoiler-Free Reaction

Futures End #43 takes a step back from the explosive action we’ve been getting from the past few issues, and gives some time to characters who have been slightly neglected.

Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!

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New York City: Superman awakens from being temporarily knocked out by Brainiac’s beam, and Lois Lane immediately goes into reporter mode. She hits a raw nerve when she mentions the Batman’s name — it’s supposedly one of the reasons why Superman went off the grid.

The giant Brainiac does a quick systems check on his machine. With the machine at full power, Brainiac switches it to manual mode and restarts the lifting of Manhattan.

As Batman Beyond flies above New York City, Brother Eye, appearing on multiple screens, tries to rouse the crowd into uniting.

At Terrifitech, Batman assess the damage to New York City. Mr. Terrific tries to convince Batman that they’re in the presence of greatness — giving himself praise in saving the city.

On the lower floors, Tim Drake and Plastique walk through the halls, which are littered with dead bodies. They accidentally run into Key and Coil, where Coil has fallen sick due to a disturbance of Earth’s magentic field from Brainiac’s machine. As the cyborg Plastique continues to stalk them, Coil tells them about her.

When the four aren’t paying attention, the cyborg Plastique strikes. Tim pushes Coil and Plastique into a room for safety. The cyborg Plastique scans Tim and confirms that he doesn’t exist in the future — which catches Tim’s attention. As Tim is about to be terminated, Batman Beyond crashes through the window and saves him. But Batman Beyond is quickly knocked out by the cyborg Plastique. Plastique frees herself from the room and jumps onto her cyborg counterpart. The cyborg is unable to terminate a past version of herself, which gives Plastique a chance to use her explosive powers. The cyborg falls through the window, seemingly taking Plastique along with her. To his surprise and delight, Batman Beyond finds Plastique hanging on a ledge and helps her back in.

Brainiac successfully lifts Manhattan from the ground and pilots it like a ship.

When Mr. Terrific witnesses the abduction of Manhattan by Brainiac, he realizes his error. He asks Batman for his help.

Wrapping It Up

I know the action-packed high-octane panels we’ve been getting in the past few issues wouldn’t last long, but this issue isn’t a slouch either. Futures End #43 mainly covers what’s been happening inside of Terrifitech. Mr. Terrific, still adamant that he’s brought greatness to Earth, is put in his place when he finally sees what he’s done. With Tim and Plastique running into Key and Coil, we get a bit of comedy relief from all the fighting and explosions. Speaking of Plastique, it seems that she’s the semi-star of this issue, as she saves the day by confronting and defeating her future self. Futures End #43 is a definite slowdown from what we’ve been recently getting, but it makes sense though. The different parties need to regather and formulate a plan for their final showdown.

Next: Miss the last issue? Catch up with a review of Futures End #42

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