I started into the DC’s New 52 Futures End Month full throttle choosing five issues that I wanted to give a try during the week of the initial releases on 09-03-2014. Unfortunately, I was not as pleased as I would like to have been for such an “Event” and for such sweet, sweet 3D moving covers. Covers get an A+. The five that I read… not so much. But I did read one really good Futures End #1 out of my five. That one in particular happened to be Green Lantern Futures End #1. It was excellent as we got two baddies for the price of one in the Black Lantern Corps and Relic with whom Hal Jordan has to cooperate with in order to put an end to the Black Lanterns. The dialogue was good, the art awesome, and the story itself was wonderful, especially from the perspective of a comic fan who has not followed this title in a while. I fell right back into the story like on old comfortable shoe and this one was well worth the buy.
Score: 5/5
As for the rest…
Batman: Detective Comics Futures End #1: Not bad. Bats partnering with the Riddler to get through the defenses of Arkham was fairly enjoyable and well-played.
Score: 4/5
Green Arrow Futures End #1: Still my favorite cover. I couldn’t really get into it though. Like Green Lantern, Green Arrow is a title that I haven’t read in a while. I found myself being a little confused with events where I believe that I needed to catch up with other issues as we have a new Green Arrow. The story itself was ok, but the confusion made it less satisfying.
Score: 3/5
Swamp Thing Futures End #1: Horribly disappointed in this one. I usually sing Charles Soule’s praises, but this issue felt almost like a poorly written fan fiction tale. We have Swampy going to different kingdoms (Fungus, The Red, Metal) in order to face an old foe that has apparently retaken control of the Rot. They did my bad guy no justice here and the whole story felt way too rushed and just wrapped up way too easy. Not a great issue and probably the worst of the New 52 Swamp Things that I have read. Very sad about that.
Score: 2/5
Earth 2 Futures End #1: God Awful! Earth 2 has been my favorite DC title and this shit bomb did nothing but stink, badly. It was choppy, had no flow and was just plain bad. Where Swamp Thing’s offering made me sad, Earth 2’s actually pissed me off. I absolutely hated it.
Score: 1/5
So that was the week that was 9/3/14. We have now entered week 9/10/14 and DC has new promise with more Futures End offerings. They succeeded in 2 out of the 5 that I read last week and failed miserably in two with one being average. I am desperately hoping for better outcomes this time around. Here goes my 5 for this week…
Batgirl Futures End #1
I was never a huge fan of Gail Simone in the past, but she has drawn me in with her fantastic work on Red Sonja for Dynamite. I have heard that her Batgirl has been good and reading the blurb sounds intriguing as we have Barbara Gordon becoming Bete Noir (or The Black Beast) who is a mixture of the powers of Batman and Bane. She has assembled a squad of female agents and she is leading them through the Gotham Underground. This sounds like good writing potential and some serious ass kicking too. I’m all over it and am ready to see Mrs. Simone potentially blow up this one.
Constantine Futures End #1
So sue me? I have always dug on DC’s darker offerings. Swamp Thing and Constantine are two New 52s that I have been following religiously. I have been real pleased with Constantine’s movements and seeing him five years later apparently will not disappoint (hopefully not anyway) as John has acquired the mighty Helmet of Fate. The Helmet has been a fun element in the early Earth 2 issues and I can only imagine what Constantine will do with it. The premise sounds awesome with an outcome that can go in about any direction, good or bad. I am ready and quite excited about this one.
New Suicide Squad Futures End #1
New Suicide Squad has been a real fun offering with DC that I have enjoyed reading. It really brought about getting Harley Quinn her own independent title with her interactions here in this series. Something about bad people doing good, but still being bad always gets my attention. With the Futures End 5 year jump, our band of misfits find themselves at…The White House. Hail to the Thief! This might be a good issue if it keeps to the spirit and nature of the New Suicide Squad.
Birds of Prey Futures End #1
These Birds of Prey are some very bad assed ladies that should make DC proud as one of the better depictions of super heroines. With this particular Futures End installment, The Black Canary has finally broken free of Ra’s al Ghul’s control and she is going to take her place as the rightful leader of the League of Assassins. I am assuming that the task is easier said than done and I am looking forward to checking it out. Plus, I have not read a lot from Christy Marx, so this issue looks like a good opportunity to give it a try.
Infinity Man and the Forever People Futures End #1
Now this one has to be the longest title of any of the Futures End Month’s offerings. But it is my sincere hope that maybe, just maybe the title will not be the only thing being talked about after its release. Infinity Man is old school, created by the great Jack Kirby and his power is pretty impressive as his history has evolved. With this issue, we see that the New Gods are missing and Infinity Man is trapped on Earth. What the hell is going on? I have absolutely no idea. But I’m willing to give this one a go and see where it leads me. And this is another one where the cover really pops.
Well that’s it for this week. These are just the five I am selecting. There may be others that are much better and that is great. Feel free to check these or others out. Comment, Tweet, Google Plus, Facebook, or whatever it is that you do. I would love to hear how your experiences are going with this the latest DC “Event”. Here’s to hoping that this week can be better than the last. Happy reading everybody.