I actually am really looking forward to this considering all the traumatic events that superheroes have to go through in order to save the day. I like there is a comic that addresses how they heal not just physically but mentally as well.
I actually am really looking forward to this considering all the traumatic events that superheroes have to go through in order to save the day. I like there is a comic that addresses how they heal not just physically but mentally as well.
King AND Mann?
I'm sold.
"Yes...Mondo Cool"- Vegeta.
Harley Quinn being so front and center has me worried.
I find the premise really intriguing to explore in a superheroic world and thematically for the real world and the anxiety, depression, trauma, and PTSD some people face.
This is the kind of realism I enjoy in superhero worlds, where the dynamics of superhero and supervillain concepts are applied to that world's character's psychology. I mean...
If you can time travel and see your future and it's bad, what does that do to your state of mind in the present?
If significant other after significant other keeps getting murdered by your rogues, how do you deal with that?
If fighting superheroes is your ultimate high, how do you have a "normal" romantic relationship if it just doesn't give you the same rush or excitement?
How do you treat a metahuman for depression and anxiety from trauma if their body cancels out any positive effect from antidepressants?
How do you get past a passive-aggressive relationship with your archenemy? (lol)
How do you cope with knowing you have an evil doppelganger on another Earth harming people and there's nothing you can do about it?
Do Arkham Asylum and the Phantom Zone do more harm than good?
You're BFF was mind controlled by Mr. Mind, Doctor Psycho, Maxwell Lord, and/or Psimon and you almost had to kill him to stop him from hurting others. How do you fix a friendship after that?
You can't move on because your metahuman boyfriend has died, but you're sure (and want to believe) that he will come back from the dead?
You feel guilty because you can't stop saying "no" to training sidekicks to fight alongside you, even though you're putting them in harm's way?
You find that you're only attracted to one of your villains and are starting to feel the pull of being an anti-villain.
You saved the world, but as a consequence were pulled out of the timestream and no one remembers you or your sacrifice when you return twenty years later? How do you get past your resentment at the world?
Your significant other is starting to ask and assume things about all the times you show up with bruises and injuries? Is it psychologically healthy to live a double life?
I don't want to see talking heads for issue after issue necessarily, but there's so many interesting psychological aspects of superheroes lives that don't often get touched on deeply and in an interesting way, considering their predicaments. Or get wrapped up quickly and with no consequences because they're just a "hero" or a "villain" and that's they way they are.
Anyway, I find this mash up of the internal logic in a superhero world smashing against the emotions and actions they might cause fascinating.
Hawkman and Hawkgirl to the left but who is the hawk guy on the right?
Well, she *is* a shrink.... Seriously though, I would hope King has done his due diligence when it comes to mental health. Including someone like Harley, who definitely has mental health issues opens the door to all sorts of potential missteps when it comes to using terms that apply to real people living with real disorders.
Thinking about it further I'm beginning to think the masked and robed people are patients, and that the get-ups are either symbolic to this cover in the fact that the patients try to remain anonymous to some degree, or that they literally do wear the costumes around other patients for that exact reason. Either way, the bloody robe and mask held by Superman to me then would indicate that one patient dies. Which sets off the mystery.
Maybe Harley's strong featuring will be explained in story via a friendship with the victim before the death, making it personal for her in particular (could it be Ivy? Or is that her next to Selina in the back?). Booster on the other hand indicates a time travel element to the mystery requiring his services.
Last edited by Sacred Knight; 06-13-2018 at 01:29 PM.
"They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you. My only son." - Jor-El
That's the Medusa Mask, isn't it? Makes sense for therapy- you could use it to make a patient feel any emotion and work through their issues.
Something like this is super important for the superhero genre. People like to say they just want it to be upbeat, but, IMO, this is how you do that. You cannot ignore the darkness inherent in the human condition. You have to show what it takes to persevere and make the world a better place. Part of that is having a system set in place for people when they start to slip and fall into the abyss. That's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength.
Not sure if I'll check this out or not. I'm not familiar with King's writing and this sounds a little too serious/not fun for my taste. Art looks good though.
Tom King and Clay Mann-It would be cool if Seth Mann handles the inks-... HELL YEAH! I wll check it out, no doubt about that! I have yet to read a comic by King that I dislike, I think he moves between good and awesome, especially in the latter
"The Batman is Gotham City. I will watch him. Study him. And when I know him and why he does not kill, I will know this city. And then Gotham will be MINE!"-BANE
"We're monsters, buddy. Plain and simple. I don't dress it up with fancy names like mutant or post-human; men were born crueler than Apes and we were born crueler than men. It's just the natural order of things"-ULTIMATE SABRETOOTH
I am intrigued. I like Tom King's work on Mr miracle and the artwork on that cover looks great. I will be getting this.