The New 52: Futures End #47 Review

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

Artists: Allan Goldman, Andy MacDonald, Alberto Ponticelli, Dan Green, Hi-Fi, Ryan Sook

Futures End #46 Recap

At Terrifitech, Batman, the Atom, and Mr. Terrific discover that Brother Eye has bypassed all fail-safes and is now impossible to shut down. In Upstate New York, Lana Lang pays General Rock a visit and uses her — unknown up to this point — hidden powers in warning Rock not to follow her or her friends. Meeting with Cole Cash and Justin, Fifty Sue reveals what she did to the DNA vault: shrunk it to a miniature size. Back at Terrifitech, Coil goes after the uSphere-controlled cyborgs after the cyborgs abduct Key. Terry McGinnis reunites with Plastique while all of them are pursued by Brother Eye’s cyborg army. Tim Drake volunteers to act as a decoy so Terry can fly Plastique to safety. However, they’re quickly intercepted by the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg. Though Terry succeeds in battle, he’s critically injured. As Tim finally understands that his nonexistence in the future means that he has the ability to finish the mission, Terry dies.

Spoiler-Free Reaction

Futures End #47 concludes the Brother Eye storyline with a very anti-climactic battle and ends on a cliffhanger.

Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!

More from Comics

Around the World: Brother Eye has revealed himself to everyone, asserting control over everything.

Terrifitech: Batman, the Atom, and Mr. Terrific continue their attempts to shut down Brother Eye with no success. Blowing through the doors and escaping, the three run into Brother Eye’s cyborg army. However, the three are quickly saved by Batman Beyond — who turns out to be Tim Drake.

As Tim lifts them to safety, he inquires about the time band. Batman tells Tim that it’s still being prepared, but even when it’s ready, Tim will not be the one traveling. As the two argue, A.L.F.R.E.D. introduces himself and reasons to Batman that the time band has been specifically calibrated to Terry McGinnis’s weight — which is approximate to Tim’s.

When Firestorm arrives to charge the battery on the time band, Tim realizes that it’s Madison Payne. The two reunite and quickly catch up. Madison implores Tim not to travel, but Tim makes it clear that he can’t escape his calling as a hero.

As Brother Eye’s cyborg army gains on the team, the team staves them off so that Mr. Terrific can prepare Firestorm’s charging of the time band’s battery. Unable to keep the cyborg army back, Batman has Tim make the jump before the battery is fully charged.

Earth’s Orbit — 5 Years Earlier: Tim arrives inside the Brother Eye satellite, right before Earth 2’s refugees are detected. Planting bombs to destroy Brother Eye, Tim is blasted by one of the satellite’s defense systems. Brother Eye communicates with Tim and refuses to believe that he will hurt humanity because it was programmed to protect the planet. A.L.F.R.E.D. suggests to Tim that if Brother Eye understands its involvement in the apocalypse, it will defeat itself.

Tim reveals to Brother Eye that if it guides Earth 2’s refugees to Earth, Darkseid’s parademons would follow and lay devastation to the planet. Brother Eye finally understands and initiates a self-destruct sequence so that it will remain undetected. However, Brother Eye promises to save Tim and powers up his time band. At the moment of Brother Eye’s self-destruction, Tim is sent hurtling through time. Making a hard landing in the middle of a forest, Tim looks up and sees something surprising.

Wrapping It Up

Futures End #47 wraps up the Brother Eye storyline with a very small battle that doesn’t seem well-suited for such a big event. I was expecting a lot more in this penultimate issue of Futures End, and perhaps my expectations were actually too high. The last few issues have seen the overall Futures End series fizzle out. I think the writers were trying to perform some character development with side conversations, but they only ended up slowing the story down. Case in point, the strange pause in action when Tim talked to Madison in this issue. Brother Eye’s cyborg army is attacking, yet Tim does a “Zack Morris” timeout and talks about his feelings with his girlfriend. It’s things like this that have made Futures End an awkward read at times. One redeeming quality about Futures End #47 is that it leaves on a cliffhanger, which will most likely be how this series melds into Convergence. So see you guys next week when we review the final issue: Futures End #48

Next: Miss the last issue? Catch up with a review of Futures End #46

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