Whereas I found the "Detective Comics" and "Earth 2" versions of the "Futures End" event to be almost unreadable, this one actually isn't all that bad.
First, King expands upon the plot briefly detailed in the "Earth 2" issue, making it clear that not only did the inhabitants of Earth 2 come to Earth, but their appearance led to a war between the two people. Moreover, parademons were involved, possibly on the side of the Earth 2 forces. In other words, this issue oddly clarified a lot more about Earth 2's future than the "Earth 2" issue did.
Second, King uses the war and its aftermath as a backdrop to explore Dick's relationship with Helena. The story is told with each page bringing us earlier and earlier into Dick's history. If you're not paying attention, it's easy to miss the "trick" that explains the first page; if you are, then you definitely feel rewarded at the end of the issue.
Moreover, the issue isn't just about the trick. King doesn't have time to explain everything that we need to know about Dick's relationship with Helena, like if she ever discovers that he was working for Batman the entire time that he was with Spyral, or, conversely, if she actually gets him not to work for Bruce any longer. But, it actually does for this issue what the other two "Futures End" issues didn't do, namely made me excited to read a story in the present that unfolded along the lines of the one that we see here.
The problem, of course -- though I'm not holding it against King -- is that this entire "Futures End" exercise is telling stories that are unlikely to unfold this way. The idea that we're going to watch Russia take over Eurasia in the wake of a war between Earth and Earth 2 seems pretty unlikely. Even if I wouldn't mind Seeley exploring the relationship between Dick and Helena in future issues, it seems unlikely to happen the way that it does here. As such, no matter how good this issue is, it still feels manipulative, like we're being promised something that DC can't deliver.
In other words, it might be a relative win, but it's a win nonetheless.
*** (three of five stars)
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