Heroes In Crisis #1

There's a lot to go over with this so be warned. I'm not just talking about the issue but also get into some of the recent darkness in DCU.

SPOILERS AHEAD

(Fair warning that I was able to see someone else's issue to read this and do not have one while writing this.)

The characterization and dialogue were really bad in places. Particularly when it came to Harley Quinn and making her unbelievably annoying. Booster was mostly there as a depressed person without much personality. He doesn't do much but apparently waits for the woman he believes murdered everyone to start attacking. I can't tell if anyone else at the diner left. The waitress doesn't even react when Booster tells her (likely in a tired tone) that there's going to be a fight.

The art was without a doubt the best thing about the issue but I would have liked to see detail in the background when the fight in the diner happens. I'm also not sure when Booster decided to pull up his visor between blasting her and standing.

Hotspot dies without Superman recalling his catchphrase but his death is disturbingly familiar to a particular real life death. (I heard the poses of two of the bodies mirror the scene of another.) I don't think that was intentional, at least I hope not. At least he shows some personality as Blue Jay basically lets us know his power is to be tiny so we can realize his body is being ripped apart by birds.

It was nice to see Superman shook up by finding the bodies of those killed but it would have been better for Diana and Bruce to show emotion too. Diana does show compassion in the art when she closes Wally's eyes but in the dialogue it looks like just another murder site. There could have been something small like a couple of silent panels when Bruce and her see the bodies and show emotion. Shutting their eyes, looking away, clenching their fists, something.

There's some debate on who is to blame for this: King or Didio. Many believe Didio is the one to point the finger at (or flip) since he's said to have talked King into making this event a murder mystery. Didio doesn't like legacy heroes and was behind some of the darker DC concepts. Like what happened to Sue in Identity Crisis. I think there's enough blame to go around because King doesn't bother to research characters or their history. For example:

Roy's reason for becoming a drug addict. King has Roy say he became addicted to pain killers then switch over to a different drug due to his kidneys being damaged. Why change what happened? Does King not know? Does he but he wanted to make Ollie look better? It's jarring and a lot of the confessionals are even though his is one of the ones that actually confesses anything that is being dealt with.

The deaths are all for pure shock value of course. The gory shot of Blue Jay being eaten up birds underlines that. I saw several of the bodies referred to as robots by other fans but I thought the masks/robes were worn by patients being treated. I'm pretty sure that was mentioned in interviews and/or DC Nation. Who are they? Minor heroes we never met? The ones that have appeared in other books are only present as a body count. Characters that aren't well known (with two exceptions) and were cut off from reaching their potential. Used for images of bodies including Roy and Wally who are used for their names. Once again a large percent of the victims were Titans.

Wally was a surprise for me because I didn't think DC would go there again. He hasn't been used well (for the most part) since he returned in Rebirth. The build up for him in Flash War did make me hopeful we'd see him reunite with his family soon. He died three or four times since he returned making it more than a little ridiculous. We don't even see his "confessional" leading many to believe it's a suspicious set up. I'm hoping Iris makes good on her threat and gives the Trinity hell for their idiotic set up.

I've said it before but I can't get over how badly thought out Sanctuary is. Holograms and robots are used in place of people...wouldn't that freak out patients if their trying to get over a trauma and the programing messes up? The masks and robes seem a little cult like. I think it was to hide their ID which only reinforces the belief they should be ashamed their there. Some aren't wearing them which I guess means they were scheduled to leave or ran out when they weren't wearing them? The confessionals were supposed to be done just before they leave according to an interview making Booster's "help me" really confusing.

There are no records which seems like a sure way to bite them in the rear later. How can the Trinity remember every person who went? What if they need medication? Who fills out prescriptions? There are no files making the ones in DC Nation more b.s. What if a patient has an episode and needs to be restrained? Clearly the robots don't cut it especially against strong metas. This information isn't well known in the superhero community if Green Arrow didn't even know what it was (as shown in Green Arrow.) I've already stated how messed up this makes Bruce's relationship with Jason if he never even offered to take him to Sanctuary for help. Especially since Poison Ivy and Harley got an invite.

Harley and Booster both accuse each other of being the murderer. I'm not as enraged as I would be if this was the last issue since it means Booster is likely a mislead. I do call bullshit on Harley being able to take on Booster. King does not seem to realize Booster's forcefield would easily overpower her. Not shocking though since she's said to take on the Trinity and do surprisingly well. I guess Artemis was lucky she didn't fight plot armor Harley. But didn't King also have Booster time travel a lot last time he used him? Why isn't that an option here? Everyone seems to be hoping Booster can undo the deaths and King didn't know how solid time worked. Time travel has only been taken away from speedsters at present.

What's being done with Batman, Nightwing and this series is unneeded lazy grim dark storytelling. The kind that takes short cuts to create hype and fast money. So far there's no sense of characters really feeling right. In the case of Nightwing this was supposedly a mandate and the fact Percy left before seeing it through only adds fuel to that fire. I'm not worried about RHATO, which both the editor and Dexter Soy have been positive about the new direction in their tweets. The editor even admitted their approach is more nuanced than people think.

There are rumors for what HIC means for Wally. Whether he's truly dead. I do recall there being an advertisement page claiming there were three accused when only two have been shown so far. DC never really went any where with the dangling plots about his family. There are rumors Cheshire will be pregnant with Lian which is great if true but kind of cowardly if they don't want Roy to raise her. As bad as HIC is for being a gory event about killing people with severe trauma the fallout could be handled quite well in other books.

I have no doubt Lobdell will do fine with writing an emotional read in RHATO #27 (I'm not changing the title) he excels at that. He did it back at Marvel and he always packs the punch in this title. I'm not as familiar with the Bensons but I'm going to give the next issue a try. I'll wait to hear what Flash is doing just because I haven't heard anything about it.

As for this issue as shocking as this sounds it wasn't as bad as I wasn't expecting. It wasn't great either, if I didn't know these characters I'd say it was mostly forgettable since none of the characters except Harley really give you much in terms of personality. Since I do know them I can say there were flaws.

This was extremely forced but there could have been more to this issue. There could have been more emotion, more depth, better characterization, better continuity and less blatant bias for making Harley more of a threat. Booster took on Doomsday yet Harley can hurt him with a knife? Why does any restaurant have a knife that sharp out where costumers can grab it and used to cut pies? Does King realize Booster can actually fight without using his suit?

That said I do not support what this title represents. I don't want the DCU to get dark again. I got into DC for it's heart, legacy and history.

We have to let DC know if we don't like this direction since Didio thinks they did a great job regardless of furious fans telling him off. Let them know by not buying it if you don't like what they did. I don't know how to keep King away from characters except a petition, maybe? But I feel like this is not a direction DC should go in. I left Marvel for a reason and I didn't start reading DC to see it become another Marvel.




Did You Notice?: Roy is holding the Sanctuary badge. It hasn't been shown in comics prior to this but DC has given out real ones to promote the series. Given the way he fell over the back of a chair I suspect it was planted there after their deaths.