The New 52 Futures End #35

Writer – Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Pencils – Jesus Merino, Stephen Thompson
Inker – Dan Green, Stephen Thompson
Colours – Hi-Fi

Futures End steps up to the plate this issue, being much stronger than the last few that have been published in the series as it sees some decent character development as well as some good action sequences.  Much of it comes in the first chapter of the book with the current incarnation of Firestorm fighting the terribly designed Doctor Polaris.  There was yet another section of the book devoted to Fifty Sue and surprisingly, it was not bad.  This was probably the only issue to feature her in any sort of interesting manner and it was good to see.  Our distinguished team of writers have also put Frankenstein on his death-bed though Amethyst refuses to give up and heads to Earth to see if she can find a cure for the big guy.  One thing that you never really thought about until Ray Palmer, The Atom, spells it out is that he is both the leader of S.H.A.D.E. and Stormwatch.  It is quite a bit of advancement for the guy who was just a plain old scientist not long ago.  The book also ended strong for once with a convergence of Bat-men, something that was a long time in the coming and worth the wait.  Now if our esteemed gaggle of writers can keep the ball rolling into the next issue with this particular story, all will be good.  One of the biggest problems in the book is the starting and abandonment of plot lines for multiple issues at a time.  Just when you start to feel invested in something it will disappear for four or five issues and tends to be a little frustrating.  Thankfully, the storylines that are featured in this particular book are some of the main ones that have been going for some time now.  While the issue is definitely better than the last bunch, it could still be a lot better.

3.5 out of 5

Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #8

Writer – Marc Andreyko
Artist – Piotr Kowalski, Emmanuel Xerx Javier
Colours – Juan Manuel Tumburus

Nightbreed continues to focus upon two different storylines with this issue, one about a writer and a critic named Otis and Clay who just happen to be two men in one body and the story of Boone’s past.  Both stories are good, but it was quite interesting to finally see Boone’s history come to light.  The writing was some of the strongest that Andreyko has delivered in the book and the artwork was as good as ever, and the book gave somewhat of a closure on both storylines which was great but the problem lies in the way the book ended, suggesting that we watch the new director’s cut of Nightbreed to continue the story.  Frankly, while it is always good to watch Nightbreed, watching the movie should not be an integral part of the reading experience.  Also, what about all of the other plotlines that were going on, when are they going to be continued?  Where is the priest that was killing and hunting down the monsters?  That was a big part of the book early on and almost seems to have been forgotten.  While this issue was one of the strongest of the series so far, it would be nice to see some movement on what has come before, whether to end it or at least to see it continue.  What is going to be intriguing is to see where Andreyko takes the book next issue.  It will more than likely be somewhere fantastic.  Finally, the director’s cut of Nightbreed is amazing – go see it.

3.5 out of 5