Batman: Future's End #1 - A Review

Five Years From Now, Bruce Wayne is a beaten and broken man. His spirit burns as bright as ever but though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. And though he has inspired scores of heroes to continue his war on crime, he feels that there must always be a Batman... and that it must be him. So begins a mission... his last mission... to raid the private lab of Lex Luthor and steal what he needs to create a perfect clone - a vessel for his memories that can be Batman eternal.


Once one gets past the outrageous premise and how horribly out of character it is for Bruce to deny his base mortality in this fashion, there is an enjoyable story at the heart of Batman: Future's End #1. That story - perhaps not coincidentally - exists independent of the Future's End setting and could have been told in a modern-day Batman story were the McGuffin to be changed. I speak of the scene in which Batman pits himself against Lex Luthor's security and we find that... well, the panel below says it all. Classic Luthor.


Unfortunately, this book is cursed with some of the worst artwork I've seen in a professional comic. Indeed, I had to look up the names of ACO and FCO Plascencia to find out why their artwork and their names seemed familiar. The good news is I figured it out - they were the same art team that drove me off of Constantine with their misshapen figures, poor visual storytelling and horrible coloring.

Enjoyable as it is watching Bruce and Lex match wits, it isn't worth suffering through this artwork.  Nothing is.  Skip this one, Bat-Fans.  There's nothing of value to be found here.

Constantine #8 - A Review

This issue is notable for several reasons.  It marks the end of the Constantine series' first story arc.  It marks the point where it finally catches up with the Forever Evil storyline it is meant to be tying into.  And it's also the last issue of this book I intend to buy for the foreseeable future, though the reasons for that have nothing to do with the endless tie-ins to crossovers I care nothing about.  


So why am I dropping it then?  Because I have certain expectations for what should and should not happen in a John Constantine story and Ray Fawkes has failed to meet them.  The moment John Constantine is cutting down his enemies with a soul-sucking sword is the moment he ceases to be John Constantine and starts being Elric.  And if I wanted to read Elric, I would do so.  


The artwork by Aco and Brad Anderson is another factor.  Simply put, this is some of the worst artwork I've ever seen in a book published by a professional company.  Aco's linework manages to be over-detailed yet indistinct.  The inking and the coloring are completely at odds with one another, creating panels that somehow manage to be drowned in shadows while still resembling a bright, over-saturated photograph.

This issue is an unsatisfying conclusion to a series that showed promise but ultimately proved disappointing in ways beyond what we Hellblazer fans feared.  John Constantine may still smoke, drink and cheat the devil but that's all he has in common with the man he once was.  This new Constantine is an honest power to be reckoned with rather than a jiujitsu master who knew how to use what little power he had t to turn other people's strength against themselves... and an honest power is the last thing John Constantine should ever be.