Futures End #0 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Why’s everyone so surprised that people are so hooked to technology in the future?

The Review: Of all the ways a publisher can use a Free Comic Book Day issue, I think this is one of the best ways: offering a prelude/prologue to one of your upcoming big series. The fact that the series in question will be released next week makes the choice even smarter.* The only question remaining is whether this issue makes Futures End seem like the must-read title DC desperately needs and wants it to be. In a few words: not really.

Let’s consider for a moment all of DC’s other weekly series: the acclaimed 52, the disastrous Countdown, and the tepid Trinity. What accounted for their respective successes and failures? A lot of factors, obviously, but the standout has to be the choice of writer(s). 52, the clear best of the group, had a powerhouse team behind it: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and Greg Rucka, each superstars, each at the peak of their powers, each with special talents that complemented the others’. Now, compare to the team in charge of Futures End: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen. That’s a decidedly less impressive roster, and this issue reflects that.**