The day has arrived. It is Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) 2014 and DC Comics’ second year-long weekly series The New 52 Futures End officially kicks off with Futures End #0 despite technically already having started in a stealth way on the cliff-hanger page to Aquaman and the Others #1 in April.
To whet fan’s collective appetite DC has also released a teaser puzzle image for the maxi-series. Can you tell what’s coming up?
DC’s two other weekly series are Batman: Eternal and Earth 2: World’s End.
Before we get into my spoilers-filled review of DC Comics’ FCBD 2014 The New 52 Futures End #0, here’s what you may like to know heading into this free comic book kick-off:
- The original announcement revealed that the DC Comics New 52’s “Past, present and future all colliding in this story line.”
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The New 52 Futures End appears to have been seeded in cancelled series Legion of Super-Heroes and Legion Lost years before its launch. - DC Comics has a Top 10 high-profile time anomalies that cannot be coincidentally at play with Futures End set to launch.
- Wally West returns to DC Comics, but it appears that the blue-hued Flash is the Future Flash of the New 52 confirmed in DC’s May 2014 Flash solicitation.
- We learned that Forever Evil #7 appears to bridge to The New 52 Futures End despite Forever Evil #7 now being solicited the same month as the launch of Futures End.
- Futures End is so important to DC Comics that it will be the focus of September 2014’s 3D cover event.
- Lastly, the pre-Flashpoint timeline cop Booster Gold had a stealth return to the New 52 timeline after the end of JLI in a under-read series.
SPOILERS follow for DC Comics’ FCBD 2014 The New 52 Futures End #0:
The adventures starts 35 years in the future and OMAC’s Brother Eye is the techno-dictator of the world. He has transformed and enslaved the Justice League, but much of the Earth’s citizenry.
The last remnants of resistance are losing and that leaves Bruce Wayne to come out of retirement and head into the past to “our” time in 2014 to avert Brother Eye’s ascension. His protégé Terry McGinnis a.k.a. Batman Beyond looks on. However, the Batcave is infiltrated by OMAC’s Brother Eye Batman Inc. slaves and it looks like Bruce Wayne’s plans are thrown into chaos as his life hangs in the balance.
In his dying moments, Bruce Wayne tasks Terry McGinnis to head into the past in place to avert this future with Brother Eye in control. However, there is some interesting words of advice about “what not to do” with the modern DC New 52’s younger Bruce Wayne / Batman.
As you can see from the above, Batman Beyond travels to the past, but not as planned; not to where Bruce hoped he’d go. Oh, oh.
Overall, I enjoyed the issue. It sets up the New 52 Futures End “future” well. We see most of the series’ cast as we head into New 52 Futures End #1 next week.
Happy FCBD day everyone! Have some fun today.
Thanks for reading. All feedback welcome.
