Futures End Teen Titans #1

By Will Pfeifer, Andy Smith and Matt Yackey

One of the noticeable components of the 5 year later story lines from DC is that the future is pretty gloomy. Character deaths are par for the course and we are left with D-list heroes to save the world. The future of the Teen Titans may be even worse than that because they don’t even make it that far.

Will Pfeifer was trying to tell a story that could have gone either way. He is writing a story about a possible future in Futures End Teen Titans, but they were nowhere in the book. Instead he uses some characters from Earth-2 in their place. While this could have come off as cool, it ultimately comes off as lame. The only taste we get of the title characters is that they’ve died and we are now left with characters that nobody really cares about. Pfeifer did bring in Heretic, but the story itself lacked any connection to these characters. In a future that is dark and filled with death, they try to rescue sharks and fight over pizza. While there is a bigger conspiracy going down, this issue just comes off as sub-par. The main antagonist is Archimedes grant, a very influential young man,but he’s just a lame duck really. If our heroes are defined by their villains, then these heroes are stink, just like their enemy. Grant has no real personality and just seems to throw money around and buy people and things. Pfeifer had an opportunity to do something cool here, but it just didn’t pan out.

The art is handled by Andy Smith, who does a decent job on the issue, but it won’t knock your socks off. Smith’s art is very clean and he does draw every character very well. His Heretic is the standout in the book, especially during the few action sequences. Like every artist, not every panel is great, but for the most part Smith does solid work. He is helped by the colors of Matt Yackey, who throws in some good shadows and glows here and there. Smith’s art is good, but there really won’t be a panel that will stick out to you, or that you’ll think about after you put the book down. The art is essentially business as usual.

Futures End Teen Titans had some potential, but a rough script crushed any potential for greatness. Andy Smith and Matt Yackey did a decent job on the art and colors, but it wasn’t enough for the price tag. Save your money for the regular series, this is just another book that didn’t live up to expectations.