The New 52: Futures End #46 Review

By Steve Lam | Mar 22, 2015

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

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

Futures End #45 Recap

At Castle Frankenstein, Frankenstein, with his final dying breath, inspires Amethyst to reclaim Gemworld. In New York City, the Justice League lead a rescue and recovery mission after Brainiac’s attack. In Upstate New York, Voodoo has been guarding the entrance to a secret underground Cadmus station for King Faraday. After King Faraday enters the station, Mercy, Banger, Mash, and General Rock find that Voodoo has betrayed them. At Terrifitech, Batman Beyond, Plastique, Key and Coil are confronted by cyborg guards who have been resurrect by uSpheres controlled by Brother Eye.

Spoiler-Free Reaction

Futures End #46 initiates a pretty choppy conclusion to the story arc. With a spoiler that’s seen on the cover, this issue lacks a lot of surprises.

Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!

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New York City, Terrifitech: Batman, the Atom, and Mr. Terrific attempt to shut down Brother Eye, but the AI entity has bypassed all fail-safes. Batman Beyond crashes in and — against A.L.F.R.E.D.’s instructions — reveals his true identity to Batman.

As Tim Drake, Plastique, Key, and Coil attempt to hold back an army of cyborgs, Plastique uses her destructive powers. The explosion makes their situation worse when the door holding the cyborgs at bay is destroyed.

Upstate: General Rock awakens to find that he’s temporarily paralyzed. Lana stands over him and warns him to not come after her, Fifty Sue, and the rest of her friends. She also reveals that Cadmus made a mistake by only scanning for superhumans who currently have their abilities — they neglected to scan for potential superhumans of which she is. Lana has the ability to bond with insects and control them.

Lana and Fifty Sue transport to a nearby diner where Cole Cash and Justin wait. When Justin is curious about the whereabouts of the DNA vault, Fifty Sue reveals to everyone what she did with it: shrunk it to a miniature size.

Terrifitech: Terry has revealed everything about the future to Batman and about his arrival at the wrong point in time. As the Atom attempts to fix the time band, Terry leaves to assist his friends.

As the cyborgs close in on Tim, Key, Plastique, and Coil, Key is taken. Coil goes after Key believing that his magnetic powers will be able to stop the cyborgs.

Firestorm continues her rescue mission, but is quickly distracted when she sees the ruins of Tim’s bar. Reminiscing about her relationship with Tim, Firestorm is called to Terrifitech by the Justice League.

As Batman Beyond flies through Terrifitech hoping to find his friends, he’s accidentally hit by Plastique’s defensive blast. He finds Tim and Plastique battling an army of cyborgs. Tim volunteers to be a decoy as Batman Beyond flies Plastique to safety.

Batman Beyond is quickly intercepted by the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg. As the cyborg dangles Batman Beyond outside a window, Batman Beyond uses his thrusters to pull the cyborg out, leading to its death. Critically injured, Batman Beyond is helped back into the building by Tim. Understanding that he doesn’t exist in the future (hence his ability to help and not change it), Tim agrees to finish Terry’s mission. As Terry gazes into Plastique’s eyes, he collapses and dies.

Wrapping It Up

Futures End #46 has its moments in terms of action and good panels, but the positives are overshadowed by the choppy storytelling that has plagued this series. I was hoping that since this series was concluding, all the plot lines would meet together — creating a smooth flow. However, the biggest complaint I have is with this issue’s cover. Batman Beyond has been the main driving force of Futures End so you would think that his death should be left as a surprise. No. They give away the ending by placing it front and center. With only two issues to go, Futures End may just fizzle out. DC is probably putting all their eggs in their Convergence basket.

Next: Miss the last issue? Catch up with a review of Futures End #45

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