The New 52: Futures End #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Art By: Patrick Zircher
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 11, 2014

Highway To The Phantom Zone

Well we have a mess of things already going on in Futures End and I don't want to take half the review catching you up to speed on all the stuff that doesn't matter, so you know what?  I won't.  I'll pull a "Dragnet" with just the facts and leave it at that.  Lois Lane received a mystery box full of clues after Green Arrow's funeral, which led her to a bar where presumed dead Tim Drake has taken on a new identity and has moved on with his life after the Titans.  While all that's going on Frankenstein was recruited back into S.H.A.D.E. to team up with Amethyst and Ray Palmer to find out what killed Storm Watch out in space.  So yeah we'll eventually get Frankenstein in space.  That's what I'm waiting for anyway.  Mister Terrific has created a twitter in your mind called the Usphere that Batman Beyond wants to get his hands on, and so do a trio of C level badguys, and the mysterious King Faraday recruited Grifter to go to Cadmus Island to do things.  Yeah things.  That's all we need to know right now, so let's dive into this week's Futures End and get our crazy time travelin' asses goin.

Explain It!:

Alright well Mister Terrific has announced his crazy brain twitter "Ushpere", but Key, Plastique, and Coil want to get it before it goes on the market so they can live like fat cats the rest of their lives from selling it.  Hey guess what.  Batman Beyond also wants to get the "Usphere", so it's a good thing that he (pretending he's a homeless man) overhears them talking about their plan.  But as we change scenery and head inside Terrifitech it looks like the world's smartest man has discovered that this mysterious new Batman could possibly be that loitering homeless guy out front.  So much for that disguise.

Let's shrink ourselves down and head straight up into S.H.A.D.E.'s HQ "The Ant Farm", where Ray Palmer is putting the final touches on his interstellar shrinking star ship, wait for it......... Nan Knight.  HA!  Oh Atom you poor nerdy bastard.  Anyway the plan is to open a portal to the Phantom Zone and use it as a subspace turnpike to get to the area of the universe where Storm Watch was murdered.  I guess there might be some kind of sciencey explanation, and I'm sure that Ray Palmer gave one, but it's all voodoo to me, so we'll just go with the whole fly through the Phantom Zone shortcut and not ask any questions.  Now as we all know there are a shit ton of big bads in the Phantom Zone, and the idea is to fly the "Nan Knight" *shakes head* into the Phantom Zone as a microscopic ship so none of the phantoms can see them.  That goes all well and fine until they are struck by an unknown energy that causes the ship to regain it's normal size.  Amethyst and Frankenstein fight off the phantoms, but it looks like they all ran away because Black Adam phantom is coming to play with our Agents of S.H.A.D.E.  Damn cliff hangers.  I WANT IT NOW!  Plus I didn't get to see Frankenstein in space yet!  BAH!  Okay I'm settled now.

In the end we see Tim Drake throw a very drunk Ronnie Raymond out of his bar.... on his ass, and apparently Lois Lane doesn't give a shit about secret identities or being discreet because she outs Tim Drake as the late Red Robin right in front of his girlfriend Madison.  Dick move Lois, dick move.  Lois leaves promising that the two will speak on the matter again, and we see King Faraday following her down the street speaking to some mystery person on his comm link.  Yeah it sucks because not only is it a mystery, but we can't even read what that person is saying either, so no wild or educated guesses going on here.  It seems that Faraday is interested in who left the mystery box at Lois's door, and what the contents are.  But in the future like the pre New 52 DCU, it looks like Superman stalks this intrepid reporter.  Superman pulls King Faraday into an alley and tells him that Lois is off limits.  Faraday complies and we're left wondering what he ultimately wants, who he's working with, and what the hell happened to Superman that he wears a motorcycle helmet looking deal on his head.  That's all I got this week, hopefully more is revealed next week so I can stop having heart palpitations from wondering what the holy fuck is going on.  So be sure to take the journey with me so I can hold your hand.  I get scared easy.

Bits and Pieces:

I was a bit let down and in turn a bit harsh on last week's Futures End, but all that changes here because man I enjoyed this issue.  The anticipation for wild shit to go down is killing me because it could happen at any moment, and I know it's going to catch me off guard.  Stop tormenting me DC!  Anyway I'm sweet on this series and have nothing bad to say about it this week, and guess what kids Patty Z is on art so WOO!  Yeah I call Patrick Zircher Patty Z, what of it?  While it's not a action packed thrill ride it will keep you deeply entertained and engrossed in the world of Five Years From Now.  So go check it out.  Why haven't you checked it out yet?

9/10