“Heroes in Crisis” Limited Series by Tom King & Clay Mann to Start in September

[Mr. Wind-Up Bird]

I read zero lead-up to this to stay spoiler-free so I had no idea and hopefully it will be explained later in the story. Thanks for the answer!

[bearman]

I thought WW was closing Wally’s eyelids...certainly indicating death.

[byrd156]

I thought WW was closing Wally’s eyelids...certainly indicating death.

Yeah she was.

[Dred]

I read the issue and I really dug it a lot. I think the comparisons to Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and Cry For Justice are completely unfounded. This isn't shock value...shock value is having Superboy Prime knock Pantha's head off because he can, or the terrible Sue Dibny/Dr. Light scene because being a villain who can single-handedly take on the entire JLA isn't enough reason to be concerned. This is a slow burn, with the Trinity trying to sort through the devastation post-event and Harley and Booster at the starting point of trying to determine what happened from the other side. I found the scenes to be compelling and keeping with King's other DC work, which is nine times out of ten the best of what the company's put out that week. He actually had me caring about Hotspot, which I would not have thought possible. And the art was beautiful...best looking book of the week, for my money.

It's not perfect. I agree the over-reliance on Harley is annoying (it would have been more powerful to have another hero fight Booster, with each thinking the other had committed the crime...maybe someone like Dove or something). And that, once he's actually engaged in battle, there's no way Booster would get cut by that knife (I'm willing to believe he had the force field down in the diner when the first attacks happened).

As far as the deaths go, I'm a fan of Blue Jay and Lagoon Boy so it's sad to see them go, but not to the point where the book is "ruined" for me (Jay's recent appearances in Orlando's JL book felt pretty out-of-character to me, so it's fairly evident there wasn't much thought being put into developing the guy for future endeavors). We have no idea who Citizen/Commander/Steel is, since the most recent character's history seems to have been wiped out with the JSA history so there's no real connection to be had there, just a familiar costume. Arsenal...I liked the guy pre-Flashpoint, but the whole backwards ballcap dudebroification of him under Lobdell's pen made him more than expendable to me, personally. As for Wally...add my name to the folks who don't think this is the end of him. In fact, I noticed some things that got me thinking...Superman starting to say "Wally" then stopping...Wonder Woman backing up Batman's "touch nothing" comment and then, first thing she does, is feel Wally's neck for a pulse...I wonder if Wally's role there might be by design of the Trinity, and they know more than they're letting on, including possibly his true fate. Just grabbing at straws, but it popped in my head reading it.

Overall, I'm totally down for the book and am in it for the long haul.

When an editor hands the writer a list of characters to kill in his story, and then says in an interview the point is to get people upset, then yes, the deaths are entirely for shock value. Trying to read more into it is silly.

[TheFerg714]

I really wanted to like this. I'm always rooting for DC, I've read all of their major events since Identity Crisis, Clay Mann is amazing, and I really like Tom King (unless he's on Batman). All of the pieces were there for me to enjoy this... but I just didn't. This is shock value for shock value's sake. Dan DiDio is obsessed with making the consumer angry, and it's working. What happened to the hope of Rebirth? Why are they throwing away fans from an era of DC that actually pleased everyone? Wally West returning was a love letter to the fan, saying that DC was on our side. Heroes in Crisis is a symbolic middle finger to the fans.

It just needed significantly more buildup. No one wants to flip a page and see two main characters dead without explanation. I've been reading every major DC event since Flashpoint, Superman (until Bendis took over), Justice League since Hitch's final arc, and various books from throughout the universe. I should have some semblance of an understanding of what's going on. Instead, I feel duped. I feel like DC is actively trying to annoy me. No one wants this s*** anymore. Everything doesn't have to be grim and dark all the time. No one wants to go back to the New 52 besides Dan DiDio.

[mrbrklyn]

As far as the deaths go, I'm a fan of Blue Jay and Lagoon Boy so it's sad to see them go,

I never heard of them until 48 hours ago but you were a fan of those characters? That is really fascinating. Can you give me some background on them? I thought those were the guys in the red uniforms on away missions.

[Lee Stone]

I never heard of them until 48 hours ago but you were a fan of those characters? That is really fascinating. Can you give me some background on them? I thought those were the guys in the red uniforms on away missions.

Blue Jay, alongside Silver Sorceress and Wandjina, was one of the Champions of Angor (or the Justifiers, as they're also known as).
This other planet was an homage to Marvel, and had originally first appeared in JLA #87.

At the start of the Giffen/DeMatteis JLI run, the three of them come to Earth to 'do us the favor' of ridding us of nuclear weapons after their world was destroyed.
In the ensuing battle that brings the JLI into confrontation with the Rocket Reds, there is a nuclear meltdown and Wandjina sacrifices himself to stop it. In the face of his heroism, and the reality check that follows, both sides retreat.

Later, Queen Bee takes Wandjina, who didn't die but was horribly disfigured, under her control.

And then much later, Silver Sorceress and Bluejay return in the pages of JLE and join the team, staying with them until Breakdowns when Silver Sorceress is killed by Dreamslayer (one of the Extremists, a group of villains from their world), leaving Blue Jay as the lone survivor of Angor.

The heroes were a pastiche of the Avengers, while the villains covered a wider range of Marvel villains.

Blue Jay was a pastiche of Yellowjacket.
While Silver Sorceress was Scarlet Witch and Wandjina was Thor.

[Hypestyle]

Seems like Sanctuary wasn't much of a sanctuary after all. and if Wally Flash is among the dead, there has to be some type of speed or magic or time warp component to the assault.

[BatmanJones]

I can accept some of the initial attempts to stab Booster. Dude was just chilling eating when she makes the initial few stabs. As soon as he 'lights up' so to speak the fights over. The fact they drag it out is ridiculous.

Not if he's in shock.

[Raijin]

The CBR article mentions all these heroes were killed while 'running for their lives'...

Now... what the heck kind of threat or killer would A) Not only be able to Kill Wally, and that's a big one... but B) Have these trained, tested, and established heroes 'Running for their lives'???

I mean.... I'm not THAT familiar with the D-listers in the corpse piles... but as established heroes I have to assume it was in their nature to fight back or SOMETHING... The only thing I can think of is that somehow Sanctuary turns of their powers... for their own good or something stupid. Nothing else really makes sense for the concept... It really is feeling like Identity Crisis where you step back and go What?!!? NONE of this works like that...

I mean. What if Wally and Roy told them to run while they fought off whatever the threat was? That wouldn't be so farfetched, at least not to me. (There's a chance my opinion can be "wrong" though ) When they were found dead, they were awfully close to one another.

I honestly have a whole head canon about this thing.

[Raijin]

Not if he's in shock.

Exactly. The fact that people are making a big deal out of it is weird. Boost is still human at the end of the day.

[Korath]

I started reading this issue expecting the worst, and I found myself not liking it, but not disliking it either. I'm on the the fence, I guess.

For a start, I don't see the Trinity as badly depicted : Superman is clearly affected, he's unable to name Wally and Roy because he is overcome by saddness (it's a common trope, really), Diana is angry but she is from a warrior culture, so her seeking to deal with the problem to then mourn makes sense to me. And Batman... he's the guy who went on two rampages of grief, talking to no one, refusing help and everything when he lost Jason and Damian. Him being a mute made sense to me.

The only thing which really bother me is how Booster let Harley come close to him when he says later that he saw her killing the peoples at Sanctuary. Why would he let her come close to him ?

[byrd156]

I started reading this issue expecting the worst, and I found myself not liking it, but not disliking it either. I'm on the the fence, I guess.

For a start, I don't see the Trinity as badly depicted : Superman is clearly affected, he's unable to name Wally and Roy because he is overcome by saddness (it's a common trope, really), Diana is angry but she is from a warrior culture, so her seeking to deal with the problem to then mourn makes sense to me. And Batman... he's the guy who went on two rampages of grief, talking to no one, refusing help and everything when he lost Jason and Damian. Him being a mute made sense to me.

The only thing which really bother me is how Booster let Harley come close to him when he says later that he saw her killing the peoples at Sanctuary. Why would he let her come close to him ?

The whole warrior culture focus on Wonder Woman is so over done at this point. She's the Spirit of Truth, her first reaction is always based on love and respect. She wouldn't be already to take up arms and leave the bodies just laying there.

[phantom1592]

The whole warrior culture focus on Wonder Woman is so over done at this point. She's the Spirit of Truth, her first reaction is always based on love and respect. She wouldn't be already to take up arms and leave the bodies just laying there.

Agreed. I hate Xena Wonder Woman. Pretty much any Wonder Woman wielding a sword and shield misses the point in my opinion.

Wonder Woman is about Peace... and Love. She comes from Paradise Island where the women live in peace for centuries. Her whole purpose in coming to Man's World was because men were too warlike and violent and she was coming to show them a better way. I love Wonder Woman using her bracelets for defense and a magic rope for offense.

A 'Warrior Culture' Amazon of Battle... has nothing to teach 'man's world'. Her world is just as violent as theirs.

[Sergard]

Is there something in Roy's hand?

Has this question been answered yet? I skimmed through the pages but haven't seen any response.
I first thought it could be Booster's ring but he's still wearing it in the diner.