Futures End #44 review

We're getting to the end of Futures End and things really hot up here. Brainiac has detached New York, enclosed it in a dome and is taking it somewhere. Can Superman and a ragtag Justice League somehow save the day?

That would be telling - this comic is set five years in the future, so anything can happen, especially as we now know it's going to segue into the Convergence event starting next month. As Convergence stems from DC Comics moving from the Big Apple to Burbank, this panel seems highly appropriate. 

Unlike most issues of Futures End, we're not shifting between multiple storylines; it's all about the fight against Brainiac. That doesn't mean there's not room for little snippets of characterisation or revelations, mind. 

Well, I think that's a revelation - we know New 52 Tim Drake is an alias, who's to say the family name isn't McGinnis?

Given the world-ending possibilities of this issue, it's appropriate that DC's biggest character gets to show just why he's an icon - not just power, but enormous courage and will. Last time he saved the Earth, five years previously, he came out of it so badly that he retreated for half a decade. Still, he faces this mega-Brainiac, ready to accept the consequences. It's what he does. 

This is a splendid issue from writers Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire. Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen, and it's just a shame every instalment hasn't been this good. Far too much time has been given to the confusing kid that is Fifty Sue and her boring babysitter, Grifter. Both are absent this issue, and the book is the better for it. Without them, there's even room for a good gag at the expense of Apple acolytes. 

Patrick Zircher's intense artwork is perfect for this chapter's big moments between Superman and Brainiac - his apocalyptic scenes convince, Brainiac has never looked so scary and the determination on the heroes' faces is exactly what's needed to sell the script. Look at the way he composes this spread, the quick-cutting downward shard panels against a background of chaos combining in a montage emphasising the urgency of the situation. It's brilliant work from the artist. 

I don't know where he's going after this series ends, but I hope Zircher takes a regular gig.

The same goes for Andy MacDonald, an illustrator I didn't know at all prior to Futures End. He's provided art that manage to be dramatic while a little quirky, benefiting the Batman Beyond/Plastique moments enormously. 

Hi-Fi colours the whole shebang, using a bright, wild palette that ups the drama, while Corey Breen - a new byline to me - gets the script down with aplomb. As for Ryan Sook's cover, it's one for the ages. Kudos, too, to editors David Pīna and Joey Cavalieri for putting the team together and running the show. After this excellent issue, I can't wait to see how Futures End.