This week, Writer Dan Jurgens takes on art duties with help of finisher Mark Irwin in this issue of FUTURES END. Dan is once again joined by fellow writers Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, and Keith Geiffen as they unravel the latest chapter in the new 52’s second weekly title. This issue seems to set up a lot for the future, while also introducing a couple fan favorite characters.
Positives
We already begin to see some of the story lines overlap as Mister Terrific discovers Batman Beyond sneaking around his company. It’ll be interesting to see how these characters interact with one another in the future. Lois Lane also interacts with the mysterious bartender from last weeks issue. Lois Lane even goes as far as discovering the identity he’s been keeping secret from the world. I would spoil who he is but it definitely opens up some interesting possibilities.
This issue also introduces another fan favorite character in Frankenstein. While very little of him is seen in this issue, writer Jeff Lemire makes it very clear that big things will be happening with him as he searches for S.H.A.D.E. For fans of the canceled series FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OFÂ S.H.A.D.E, this opening scene will surely bring a smile to your face.
The internal conflict between Ronnie and Jason appears to really be heating up. With Ronnie forcing Jason to stay within the Firestorm matrix against his will, the two appear to be at each others’ throats more so than ever before. It will be extremely interesting to see how these character interact once they’re separated… if they’re ever separated.
Negatives
This issue doesn’t contain any action at all. Aside from a brief bar fight this issue is very dialogue heavy. At times I definitely found myself hoping there would be something on the next page that would really grab my attention but it never came. The story line involving Grifter didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose either.  It almost appeared to be filler in this issue which is unfortunate since he made such a bad ass entrance in issue 1.
It seems odd that two issues ago Batman Beyond claimed it would be easy to get passed Mister Terrific’s security and then in this issue it is completely contradicted. I understand that Mister Terrific is one of the planets smartest men, but how can he be smarter than someone who knows the future?
VerdictÂ
Overall this issue suffered from lack of excitement. While the other issues in this series have kept my attention the entire time, I found I was constantly wanting more in issue 3. While there were many cool interactions between characters, Â this issue found itself setting up a lot while not actually doing much to keep the reader engaged. Hopefully this just means that there are a lot of big moments to come later on in the series.
Rating
(3/5)
