Futures End #19 disucssion

[Sirzechs]

Do others think A.L.F.R.E.D. is under the control of Brainiac and/or Brother Eye? I thought he sounded kind of dodgy in this issue. if that's the case, though, maybe Terry has guessed it and is lying about his plan....

could be possible at the moment i dont trust anything tech related and i wonder if Cyborg's digital universe will be used again and grid.

[Mbml2104]

Loved this issue and things are moving along. Was surprised to see Lois reveal who was behind the mask but at the same time it got me thinking why did she not reveal that one of the Teen Titans was alive. Also curious to see what kind of impact this reveal will have on Tim.

[borntohula]

"Where's the fun in that?". Love that panel haha.

[misslane]

Painting the league in a bad light will only make things worst, There wasn't any real reason to reveal his identity as they were doing fine with Clark on a different part of the world what she did was plain selfish it wasn't hers to tell

I can respect that to be honest but the cons out weigh the pros of the reveal if you ask me especially after a big war and tension in the meta human community, but yea gotta get that truth out no matter who it hurts i guess. I'm not juding her as negative for it, but i thought she would at least owe supes the benefit of the doubt. Heck now the world will question supes integrity. It makes for good drama though so i can't complain.

Until I see more of the story, I still think Lois was right to do what she did. I certainly don't feel the charge of selfishness is fair when nothing in the issue suggested her motivations had anything to do with personal gain.

Anyway, if the idea is that the possibility of Superman still being out there to protect people was meant to bring people hope, that implies that Superman's reputation remained intact enough to be a source of light for people in a dark time. Based on the way the public's attitudes toward Superman has been characterized in the New 52 thus far, I find it somewhat difficult to believe that Superman is such an unquestioned source of hope -- someone people really trust and are happy to put their faith in -- that it would seem imperative to present a counterfeit. It boggles my mind that Superman can die in one of the biggest DC events ever, Death of Superman, yet the Justice League didn't engineer a lie to cope.

Frankly, I feel if no one is willing or able to confirm Superman's death, it's natural and responsible of Lois to question why such a source of protection and hope, Superman, is AWOL. It would have to be a good reason, and thus something the public deserves to know. I know I'm suspicious, because Superman seems to be under the impression that someone with his kind of powers needs to be in hiding. So, if there is someone like Billy, who is publicly using Superman's identity and displaying his powers, that person is only asking to be the target the real Superman fears becoming; yet Shazam's Superman has not been targeted as far as I can tell.

Also, if the reason Superman brings hope to people is that he's a guardian angel with superhuman powers, then Shazam could have filled that role just as well without the charade. However, if there is more to Superman's inspirational character than his super saves, like his trustworthiness, then Shazam cannot adequately fill Superman's shoes. Indeed, if the goal is to create calm and hope, the fact that people are aware of the change in Superman (the mask) and ponder his mystery, suggests that Shazam's Superman is already falling short.

Truth and trust are crucial with Superman, and should be for the Justice League as well. I don't like the notion that the rest of them are so inferior that they couldn't work hard to carry on Superman's legacy. They'd rather lie -- present a false god -- then to actually earn the public's trust. Maybe the League deserves to be scrutinized. Maybe Superman's integrity deserves to be questioned.

[sirjustin86]

I'm really enjoying the momentum this series is picking up now - all the loose threads are starting to point to something coherent now, even if Brainiac and Brother Eye were always the obvious villains (though I'm sure there's plenty more twists to come). I think Lois made the right call, even if it probably isn't what it seems - the JL can't decide what's best for the people: nobody elected them, etc. Also, the best panel of the week has to be this...
Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 09.41.21.jpg
I am really enjoying Plastique in this series - seeing yourself as a mangled monster like that... it was great to see Terry show compassion towards her.

[RobinFan4880]

It is amazing how fasg the plot threads are moving jow that the bulk of the world building has been completed.

I really like 50 Sue. She gives me a chuckle each week.

I think Lois had a choice - reveal Tim or reveal Shazam. In that case, exposing Shazam was the lesser of two evils. Sure mm it doesn't feel right but... It is what it is. Better to reveal Shazam as the hero the world needs, than Tim as the washed up old man that he has become.

[HsssH]

She also believes that there is more to Tim's story and wants to find out more. With Superman it was pretty clear that she couldn't get any more info so she ran the story.

As for Superman charade I think that league needs Superman more than regular people to preserve "business as usual" image. As Lois asks why the world needs Superman but not Shazam. I wouldn't really care if I was saved by Superman or Shazam.

[RobinFan4880]

The New 52 Superman really lacks the same cashe as older versions of the character had in their specific universes. part of the problem with asking why does the world need superman over shazam is that, in reality, we as readers do not know the answer. Especially now that Billy is not a kid. Superman is a symbol but the reason why people love and adore that symbol have all happened off camera.

[Sacred Knight]

This hasn't been brought up yet, at least not to my knowledge, but one of the most surprising thing to me about this tale and its tie-ins...is that this isn't that dark a future yet. In fact I think its a stretch to call it dark at all, outside of Cadmus and what they're doing to E2's. Its different, and in the aftermath of a war, but it sure as hell isn't even close to dystopian yet and the individual character stories have not entirely been tragic.
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[Silvanus]

It is amazing how fasg the plot threads are moving jow that the bulk of the world building has been completed.

I really like 50 Sue. She gives me a chuckle each week.

I think Lois had a choice - reveal Tim or reveal Shazam. In that case, exposing Shazam was the lesser of two evils. Sure mm it doesn't feel right but... It is what it is. Better to reveal Shazam as the hero the world needs, than Tim as the washed up old man that he has become.

Were those really her only two options? It seems to me that she could have revealed neither; there's got to be other news to report. I don't necessarily disagree with her decision--in fact, I doubt many journalists would think holding an important story back just so the world can feel good about its heroes is the most ethical choice; I'm just curious why you think she had no choice but to reveal one secret or the other.

[Mark]

This hasn't been brought up yet, at least not to my knowledge, but one of the most surprising thing to me about this tale and its tie-ins...is that this isn't that dark a future yet. In fact I think its a stretch to call it dark at all, outside of Cadmus and what they're doing to E2's. Its different, and in the aftermath of a war, but it sure as hell isn't even close to dystopian yet and the individual character stories have not entirely been tragic.
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There's a lot of mention of refugee camps so I think what we're seeing is only the beginning of the dark future. In my opinion though the series is really making the Earth 2 heroes out to be losers. Captured, experimented on, enslaved... Not doing much for the Earth 1 heroes either as they don't seem to mind.

[HsssH]

Not doing much for the Earth 1 heroes either as they don't seem to mind.

Green Arrow was first hero to find out about Cadmus island, others probably aware at all.

[Mark]

Green Arrow was first hero to find out about Cadmus island, others probably aware at all.

Aren't any of the curious enough to look? After all heroes from Earth 2 show up with Earth 2 population, the population is in camps, what happened to the heroes? Hopefully they'll be a good reason why no one seems to care either about the people in the camps or the missing heroes.

[HsssH]

You keep saying camps, but I don't remember, have we seen anything else asides of Cadmus island-prison that is completely cloaked from the outside world? I'm not saying that we didn't, but I'm just not remembering it.

[Mark]

You keep saying camps, but I don't remember, have we seen anything else asides of Cadmus island-prison that is completely cloaked from the outside world? I'm not saying that we didn't, but I'm just not remembering it.

Seen no, but it has been mentioned in some of the other titles.