Earth 2 World’s End #3

Writer – Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson
Artist – Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferriera, Tyler Kirkham, Joe Weems, Eduardo Pansica, Jaime Mendoza, Paolo Siqueira, Cam Smith, Jorge Jiminez
Colors – Gabe Eltaeb

Superman and Batman are on the ropes as they face off against Huntress, Power Girl and Red Tornado.  Thankfully, Red Tornado is able to reset her memory and is able to help free her compatriots of their mind control.  But facing off against the minions of Apokolips is not the worst of it though as the infernal planet has entered the solar system and is on a collision course with the Earth.  The third issue of the book continues the non-stop action and suspense, the pace never slowing down for even a moment as the men and women of Earth 2 look for a way to deal with everything that is going on.  There are many exciting moments to be had within the book, thought the most striking image is the end page with Aquawoman returning to Atlantis and finding the horror that awaits her there.  The story so far has been fascinating as finally seeing what has happened on this Earth, that warranted them migrating to the regular DC Universe, is coming to pass.  The writing is tight and Wilson, Bennett and Johnson have a good handle on our characters, and surprisingly, the artwork has been good too, even with the inordinate number of people working on it.  As of this point, things are going all right for DC’s third weekly title.  Hopefully they keep up the good work.

3.5 out of 5

The New 52 Futures End #25

Writer – Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Artist – Patrick Zircher, Jesus Merino
Inker – Patrick Zircher, Dan Green
Colours – Hi-Fi

Futures End keeps chugging along with another so-so issue with the only excitement coming from Frankenstein and his crew out in deep space battling Brainiac and his minions.  The rest of the book is its almost usual, tedious self, spinning wheels with the crew on Cadmus Island doing nothing but chatting, Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch doing a little of the same while out in Africa, Superman battles the alien being as Constantine chats with him.  This series is a strange one as it started out with a mystery and a goal of preventing the disastrous future that awaits the world.  It would be nice if the book could regain its focus and go back to what it set out to do without all of the little side plots and storylines.  While some of them are interesting and even engaging at times, a few of them feel like they are just present to pad out the story instead of advancing the one it is trying to tell.  It is a frustrating title as some issues can be quite good and others quite weak.  It would be nice to see things improve.

3 out of 5