The New 52: Futures End

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The New 52: Futures End
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Cover of The New 52: Futures End #0 (May 2014 DC Comics). Art by Ryan Sook.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
Schedule Weekly
Format Limited series
Genre <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Publication date May 2014 – April 2015
Number of issues 48, plus a 0 issue
Main character(s) Frankenstein
Firestorm
Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
Batman (Terry McGinnis)
Lois Lane
Creative team
Writer(s) Issues 0–30: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Artist(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>

The New 52: Futures End is an eleven-month weekly comic book miniseries, published by DC Comics, that began in May 2014 and ran through April 2015.[1] The series is set five years in The New 52's future, and is written by Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, and Jeff Lemire. Covers for the series are drawn by Ryan Sook.

Publication history

In December 2013, DC Comics announced the series would launch in May 2014, with Keith Giffen, Brian Azzarello, Dan Jurgens, and Jeff Lemire writing. The series would start with a #0 issue, released on Free Comic Book Day on May 3, 2014, with issue 1 releasing later in the month. Artists on the series include Ethan Van Sciver, drawing the zero issue, along with Jesus Merino, Aaron Lopresti and Jurgens, as well as others who will be added as the series goes from one issue to the next. Lemire stated the series is "an exploration of DC's past, present and its future," with the writers trying "to explore the nature of what a hero is."[2] It was also revealed that Ryan Sook would provide the covers, as well as character designs, for the series.[3]

In January 2014, the writers revealed the concept for the story began to come together around June 2013. Griffen stated that each writer has a voice in each issue, and the four "have conference calls wherein we explain what we're hoping to do in the next issue, and then we parse out the pages – 'I'll trade you one for two' – and figure out who's doing what, and what order they're in." Jurgens added that each writer will concentrate on certain characters, saying "They'll encounter each from time to time, and then we start to work that wider scope thing, and then pull back and let them have their own adventures for a bit."[4] Later in the month, Newsarama commented on the styling of the title as Futures End opposed to Future's End, speculating that the series may have an impact on multiple futures seen in The New 52 since its launch.[5] DC co-publisher Dan DiDio responded to this by saying, "what you're going to see is the potential of where the futures can be going" as well as the "direct impact it has on stories set in the current timeline in the DCU."[6] In February 2014, with the May 2014 solicitations, it was revealed that the first issue would release on May 7, 2014, four days after the zero issue on Free Comic Book Day.[7]

In April 2014, a teaser image by Mikel Janin, captioned "When Futures End... Blood Moon Shall Rise!", was released via the "Channel 52" back up in all comics. The image, in the style of M. C. Escher's Relativity, highlighted characters of the series,[8] as well as red skies, which Newsarama noted might be a tease to an eventual crisis.[9]

Premise

Starting 35 years into the future of the DC Universe, before moving to five years in the future,[6] Prime Earth is feeling the after effects of a war across the multiverse. As a new threat approaches the vulnerable Earth, Batman Beyond travels back in time to help the heroes of Prime Earth fend off the impending apocalypse.[7]

Characters

With the series announcement, Lemire noted that The New 52: Futures End would mainly focus on Frankenstein, Firestorm and Batman Beyond, who will make his in-continuity debut in the series[2] and was later confirmed by Azzarello to be Terry McGinnis.[4] Lemire added that "The cast is quite large," and the writers will try "to create new characters and new concepts that will hopefully have a life beyond the series."[2]

With the May 2014 solicit preview summaries in February 2014, it was revealed that former WildStorm properties Grifter and Stormwatch would play a role in the series. Their inclusion suggests a larger presence of WildStorm characters, who have generally been limited to solo titles since the start of The New 52.[7][10] Later in the month, DiDio stated that the creative team were the ones to choose to use WildStorm characters, and stated DC has "a lot of faith in them. That's why they were in the initial launch. And from our standpoint, this gives us another opportunity to show why we included them in the beginning, and why feel that they're part of our pantheon now."[6]

As well, the April 2014 teaser image by Janin showcased previously unknown characters for the series, such as Mister Terrific, Lois Lane, Robin, Hawkman, Apollo, Booster Gold and Amethyst, along with Frankenstein, Firestorm, Batman Beyond and Grifter.[8]

Plot

Thirty-five years into the future, Brother Eye has managed to transform the majority of superheroes into cyborg bugs. As the last remaining heroes launch one final attack on Brother Eye’s power source, Bruce Wayne creates a time machine in an attempt to prevent Brother Eye’s ascension and this future. Before Bruce is able to use the time machine, he gets ambushed by cyborg bugs, forcing Batman (Terry McGinnis) to travel through time instead. Arriving in the past, Terry realizes that he has arrived five years too late, with what he was trying to prevent already in play.[11] Terry is then attacked by the cyborg bug of Plastique, which he subsequently dismantles. Deciding to break into the Terrifitech Tower to keep Brother Eye deactivated, Mr. Terrific's building design begins to lock in, forcing Terry out. Retreating and disguising himself as a homeless man, Terry places the cyborg in a shopping cart and begins to slum outside of the Terrifitech Tower. Also in the present, Stormwatch is attacked and destroyed, the majority of the team killed. Cole Cash meanwhile has returned to his role as Grifter, while the fractured team of Firestorm arrives too late to stop the death of Green Arrow.

After the funeral of Green Arrow, King Faraday begins to track Grifter and Ronnie keeps Jason trapped in the Firestorm Matrix, Lois Lane on the other hand starts to investigate a mysterious package. Mr. Terrific then began to grow paranoid and worry how to take care of his new Batman-figure.While Frankenstein found himself hounded by SHADE, Lois discovered a lowly bartender Cal Corcoran to be Tim Drake in hiding. Frankenstein then agreed to join SHADE agents Ray Palmer and Amethyst to investigate the Stormwatch wreckage. Cal, with his girlfriend Madison, viewed a video of the new Batman while Key, Coil and Plastique began to plan to rob the uSphere, which Terrific unveils after Faraday forces Grifter into his employ. Eventually, Ronnie frees Jason just as Constantine begins to investigate Brainiac. Terry later learns of Key and Plastique's plans and in the Phantom Zone, the agents of SHADE fight Black Adam before making it to the wreckage of Stormwatch. During all this, Lois tries to get Cal to admit to having once been Tim Drake. Eventually Terry fights Terrific, allowing the latter to get the Plastique-cyborg. On Cadmus Island, Grifter is partnered with Deathstroke and Fifty Sue while on the Carrier, Atom implants Hawkman's arm onto Frankenstein. Back on Earth, a Brainiac probe awakens and begins its massacre. Grifter soon realizes Cadmus Island is an internment camp for the wonders of Earth 2 and Kitty Faulkner as Rampage breaks a geneticist, Ethan Boyer, out of prison. The Plastique-cyborg confounds Terrific to the degree that he becomes unaware that he is communicating with Brainiac to solve its mystery, while Terry forms a heist team with Key, Coil and Plastique. As Cadmus Island begins to show glitches, the Nth Metal revives Hawkman, allowing him to join Atom's crew. Emiko Queen then recruits Big Barda to the Green Arrow army, secretly operated by her still alive brother as Brainiac captures all of Atom's crew but Atom himself. Terrific, meanwhile, claims the new Batman to be an Earth 2 alien, despite his morals telling him otherwise, and broadcasts a video of Terry's first attempt to break into Terrific's headquarters. Meanwhile, the mysterious robot is found drifting aboard the now empty boat. When the rescue boat shines the light on the empty boat, the robot reveals itself and viciously murders everyone on board. Key, Cole, and Plastique meet up and talk about their plan to infiltrate their headquarters. Key sees Terry on the news and when Terry comes to talk to them, knocks him unconscious. After coming to, Terry has a brief fight with Key and Coil before Plastique threatens to kill them all with her powers, unless they can work together to infiltrate the HQ.

Grifter is attacked by a cloaked figure and with the help of Fifty Sue, stumbles into a laboratory in Cadmus Island, where Lana Lang confirms their suspicions that there may exist a stealth OMAC. Meanwhile, a green crystal sent in the package shows Lois a vision of captive Earth 2's heroes. Faraday assigns Slade, Lana, Grifter and Fifty Sue to track down the stealth OMAC's as well as figure out the reason behind certain disturbances, which suggest that the island's systems may have become compromised. A fight with Rampage reveals the masked Superman's identity as Shazam to Lois Lane. At the same time, John Constantine tracks down the real Superman to Africa, where a mysterious, murderous alien being is also tracking him. Lois decides to reveal the truth about Shazam's masquerade to the world. Meanwhile, things escalate on Cadmus Island and Brother Eye is revealed to be behind the disturbances, assimilating the Earth 2 heroes such as Power Girl. Slade, Lang and the others try to escape for their lives whereas Fifty Sue appears to bargain with Eye. Terry and his team attempt to break into Terrific's headquarters again, but the plan fails. Plastique sees her assimilated cyborg body from the future and it traumatizes her. Terry comforts and escapes with her.[12]

September 2014 event

<templatestyles src="Noitalic/styles.css"/>"The New 52: Futures End"
An example of "The New 52: Futures End" 3D lenticular covers, highlighting the change of image from present to future, with the cover of Action Comics: Futures End #1 (September 2014 DC Comics). Art by Lee L. Weeks.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
Format One-shots
Genre <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Publication date September 2014
Creative team
Writer(s) Multiple
Artist(s) Multiple

In February 2014, DC announced that as part of the celebration of The New 52's third anniversary, all ongoing titles published in September 2014 feature stories that tie in to The New 52: Futures End. DiDio stated "One of the things we wanted to do was not just look at it through the lens of the weekly series, but also take a month and flash forward, and see what the potential futures of all our characters might be in that month. So in that month, you'll get a chance to see where, in the next five years, our characters might finish up or might end up being." He added that like the "Villains Month" event in September 2013, these titles also feature 3D lenticular covers, in addition to the 2D ones, saying, "The covers now will also have the ability to have a 'flicker' effect. That means that the images change and show the transformation going on... There is a level of change that is taking place with our characters during the course of this story."[6]

Following the month of tie-ins, a third weekly title will launch in October 2014. This title will be set in the present DC Universe, while showcasing the events and circumstances that lead to the future depicted in Futures End.[6] In April 2014, the title was revealed to be Earth 2: World's End, indicating it would be focused on the Earth 2 universe.[13]

Titles were released as [Title]: Futures End #1. For example, Batman's issue released as Batman: Futures End #1.[14]

Reception

In February 2014, The New 52: Futures End, along with DC's first weekly title launching in 2014, Batman Eternal, were featured on IGN's "Most Anticipated Comics of 2014".[16] The first issue received mixed reviews. Richard Gray of Newsarama felt in the first issue, "The deliberately disjointed plot is designed to keep readers discombobulated and asking all the right questions, but mostly, 'why is this the new status quo?' Yet by leading with a group of characters not popular enough to sustain their own titles, The New 52: Futures End is missing the key hook of us being given new information about characters we’ve grown to care about," giving the issue a 6 out of 10.[17] IGN's Jesse Schedeen gave the issue a 7.0 out of 10, saying, "while everything is competently executed so far, the... vague allusions to wars and other dramatic developments in the more immediate future of the New 52, [makes the series read] like a very ambitious What If? comic."[18]

Sales

For May 2014, Diamond Comic Distributors announced that The New 52: Futures End issues 1–4 were the 9th, 19th, 26th and 28th best selling titles of the month, respectively.[19]

Collected editions

The storyline is collected in the following volumes:

  • The New 52: Future's End Vol. 1 (collects New 52 Future's End issues #0-17, 416 pages, softcover, December 3, 2014, ISBN 978-1401252441;[20] 416 pages, trade paperback[21])
  • The New 52: Future's End Vol. 2 (collects New 52 Future's End issues #18-30, 304 pages, softcover, July 21, 2015, ISBN 978-1401256029)
  • The New 52: Future's End Vol. 3 (collects New 52 Future's End issues #31-48, 408 pages, softcover, Sept. 8 2015, ISBN 978-1401258788)

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Azzarello, Brian, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen (w), Van Sciver, Ethan, Patrick Zircher, Aaron Lopresti, Art Thibert, Dan Jurgens, Mark Irwin, Jesus Merino, Dan Green (a), Hi-Fi (col), Mangual, Carlos (let). "Into The Future, On To The End" The New 52: Futures End 0 (June 2014), DC Comics
  12. ↑ Azzarello, Brian, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen (w), Jeanty, Georges, Cully Hammer, Aaron Lopresti, Scot Eaton (a), Hi-Fi (col), Mangual, Carlos (let). "Into The Future, On To The End" The New 52: Futures End v2, (July 2015), DC Comics
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Monthly Creative Team Solicitations
  • Issue 0: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 1–4: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 5–8: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 9–13: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 14–17: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 18–21: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 22–26: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 27–30: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 31–35: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Issues 36–39: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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