(CBR) When Free Comic Book Day hits in May, 2014, DC Comics will take advantage of the industry’s annual celebration to launch readers of its New 52 titles five years into the future.
“The New 52: Futures End” is a weekly series written by Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, Brian Azzarello and Dan Jurgens. According to Lemire, the title, which launches with a Zero issue on FCBD with a #1 arriving in stores later in the month, will explore not only the future of the DCU, but its past and present as well.
“Really, what we’re trying to do with this book is to explore the nature of what a hero is and we’re doing that, obviously by playing with the future of the New 52 timeline,” Lemire told the AP News. “Past present and future all colliding in this story line.”
DC has been dropping hints of its “Five Years Later” plan for several months now, the most blatant being a shot of co-Publisher Dan DiDio’s whiteboard in an episode of DC All Access, featuring a look at several logo treatments. The whiteboard also featured what appeared to be a sketch of the Batman Beyond version of the Dark Knight. With today’s announcement, we see that it was part of Ryan Sook’s cover art for the Zero issue.
Artists on the weekly series will include Ethan Van Sciver, who kicks things off with the Zero issue, Jesus Merino, Aaron Lopresti and Jurgens, with more artists coming and going as the series progresses.