The New 52: Futures End #44

By Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen, Patrick Zircher, Andy MacDonald, Hi-Fi

“You really should get off the street. It’s not safe–”

“And give up my place in line? Ain’t happenin’ — I’ve been camped here for two weeks. The uSphere comes out today, and I’m gettin’ mine.”

The person waiting in line says this right after a huge chunk of debris falls right next to him, just missing him – now that’s dedication.

This series has had some ups and downs, but it’s all been culminating as of late to this moment (see the cover? Scroll down and look…soak it in…yeah, fantastic). It’s Superman VS. Brainiac — as New York City hangs in the balance.

Writer Brian Azzarello along with Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, and Keith Giffen have crafted a story this week that brings the action and some solid humor. There’s even a scene featuring everyone giving Plastique a blank stare, that even without words is just hilarious — ohhhhh, Plastique…yoooou. And as Superman brings the fight to Brainiac out in the streets Batman, Mr. Terrific, and The Atom do their own plotting…but will their plan work?

The artwork this week is…let’s just say…there are some scenes…that…umm…are the coolest scenes you’ve ever seen in a comic ever?! This is an issue that even if you haven’t been following this series you should pick up anyway just to stare at some of the panels featuring Superman fighting for New York City. This is one of those stories that defines who Superman is and why other heroes such as Batman are able to place so much faith in him.  In the words of Batman in regards to Superman, saving people is just “what he does.”

A great scene featuring Supes taking on Brainiac has the master villain slamming the hero with a huge purple beam, one that at first throws Superman backward, but not for long. Superman fights back and flies through the beam in order to deliver…some great artwork! Taking on artwork this week sees the duty split between Patrick Zircher and Andy MacDonald, with colors once again done by Hi-Fi. The scene just described has a page featuring at the top the devastated hero followed by a panel of the gigantic Brainiac shooting full blast, but as we can see towards the end Superman’s face turns to pure determination as he fights back, and is not about to give up.

This week brought some closure and some great action. Superman came back to save everyone…but was he successful?