"Heroes in Crisis (2018 Mini-Series)" Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

There’s a new kind of crisis threatening the heroes of the DC Universe, ripped from real-world headlines by C.I.A.-operative-turned-comics-writer Tom King: How does a superhero handle PTSD?

HEROES IN CRISIS #1

Art by: Clay Mann
Written by: Tom King

Welcome to Sanctuary, an ultra-secret hospital for superheroes who’ve been traumatized by crime-fighting and cosmic combat. But something goes inexplicably wrong when many patients wind up dead, with two well-known operators as the prime suspects: Harley Quinn and Booster Gold! It’s up to the DC Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to investigate—but can they get the job done in the face of overwhelming opposition?

Discuss this new DC Comics event!

 

[Spider-Man]

The art looked really nice. I really like King's work but I'm not sure I am on board for this. It just seems like Identity Crisis 2 and the return of needless grim/dark stuff to the DCU. Given that Rebirth was about bringing back hope to the universe I would hate to see that wiped away again with books like this. All this pointless shock deaths is also really tiring at this point but one of the deaths is especially cruel (we all know who I mean).

 

[SourSweetGone]

Some of the characters won't really even be dead, that's a given. But the one that are legit KIA I feel sorry for cause killing off characters for shock value is always a bad/stupid decision.

 

[Spider-Man]

I stuck through this series hoping that there would be a twist or something to put everything into context and to actually be about what it promised to be: heroes dealing with PTSD. But the latest issue (#8) is possibly the worst possible outcome for the book. So not only did Wally West actually kill a bunch of people including his best friend but then he tried to frame two people to take the blame. He then runs five days into the future to kill his future self and bring the body back. This was also a huge slap in the face and an awful treatment of people living with mental illness. I get what King is trying to say here but the execution is downright insulting. Maybe even the worst I've ever seen. I love Tom King's work. His Vision and Mr. Miracle runs are modern classics and his Batman run while flawed has been great. This is something else entirely. This might be worse than Cry for Justice. And while Identity Crisis had a few issues to deal with at least it had a solid mystery. This is something else. Maybe the last issue will fix things but this book has once again destroyed Wally West and maybe for the last time. He was shown to be a symbol of hope when Rebirth happened and then now they just destroy him. Awful. Absolutely awful.