Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Futures End: Grayson #1
DC Comics
King, Seeley & Mooney
The 3D covers are back! This year's line-wide gimmick involves DC's Futures End. These comics all feature a 3D cover and a fast-forward of five years for the involved character. DC tried this some years back with "One Year Later" and those books were rather oddly fit into the continuity because they spanned multiple issues. This is a bit more focused with just one issue. Futures End Grayson is one of the more conflicting reads I've had in a long time. On the one hand I loved the idea and the execution of the idea. However, the book has some extraordinary holes in it that make the book a mess. Generally I can't recommend this comic but it was so close to greatness you probably should pick it up and judge for yourself.
The comic is constructed of one-page flashbacks. Each page turns the clock back some undefined amount of time. This is done brilliantly because lines of dialogue on one page are made clear in subsequent pages. The book takes the reader all the way back to the day that Grayson's parents were murdered. The first page and last page are done almost identically which is another stroke of genius. However, the praise ends abruptly there.
The first page (or end of the story) marks the end of the line for Grayson, seemingly at the hand of a character that loves him. This is never reconciled in the flashbacks. While some of the flashbacks have them passionately making out, their love never sees any sort of progression or definition. It comes across as sex being added to the book for other motives. Similarly, Grayson kills a character. This, while the flashback pages, take their time explaining why he would never kill. This is also never reconciled.
Instead the series of flashbacks provide other well thought out threads, such as the Cluemaster's code. However, those have no bearing on the story at all because we don't see them resolved. But they are cool concepts. The ideas are so close to being awesome it's scary.
The art is a problem with this comic book. There are too many panels that seem to struggle with anatomy. Head sizes, depth of characters, length of necks all seem to vary way too much. With the storytelling style there is also no flow to this book whatsoever. I did enjoy the panel design, especially for the first and last pages. Generally speaking the artwork just isn't up to specs for this comic book unfortunately.
This comic book is more than a gimmick or a cool cover. It's ambitious storytelling. With that comes a high price for a misstep. I read this book three times before deciding if I loved it or hated it. Just remember to reread the comic and always use the Cluemaster's code. You might find this comic to be brilliant. I think if they had one more page or spent a little more time explaining the change of heart Grayson has with regards to killing then this comic would be near perfect.
2 out of 5 Geek Goggles
