The New 52: Futures End #5

By Brian Azzarello, Keith Griffin, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire, Dan Green &  Jesús Merino

In a series that has been slowly building to the world shown in #0, Brian Azzarello uses this issue to tie up some loose ends. Firestorm’s personal drama is brought back into the story, but doesn’t quite seem to provoke the anger you’d expect between Jason and Ronnie, especially after so much hostility was growing in issues prior. The show must go on, however, and we’re reminded of a couple other characters mentioned so far in the story, while given another fan favorite come the story’s end.

Action doesn’t seem to be this issues’ motive as we’re instead reminded of what Mr. Terrific is doing to change the world (for the worse) and what Grifter has been up to (or hasn’t been up to) since the end of last issue. Artwork by penciller Jesús Merino and inker Dan Green along with colors from Hi-Fi bring what you’ve come to expect from this series, as well as break away and deliver some interesting scenes too. A scene taking place in “the matrix” features a very alone Jason drifting along in the hellish looking abyss as he tries to find peace/himself. This scene uses a mixture of black, orange, and yellow very well as the panels get brighter the closer you get to Jason’s face.

With four writers essentially on duty it’s good to see the story pushing along and holding onto essential characters each week. Grifter’s inclusion has been interesting and it’s good to see him still very much a part of the story. This time around, we’re not given the usual treatment, but still get to see the man behind the cloth and are even enticed with an interesting concept brewing for next week’s issue.

Each week this series strives to bring new characters from the DC universe into the fold. This issue keeps up with that notion and serves to raise even more questions. The casualty of this issue is its necessity to cater to the many side stories brewing that it doesn’t seem to find its spark until a zippo does so at the end.