Heroes In Crisis

This year’s event miniseries Heroes in Crisis has certainly been divisive amongst the DC comics readership. It’s a murder mystery, and so by necessity the plot is topped by some controversial deaths, and tailed by a shocking killer reveal, which has outraged many loyal fans. It’s a shame though, because those fans are missing the fact that under the headline-grabbing spectacle, there’s a perfectly entertaining thriller, exploring some timely and pertinent themes.

In the first issue, writer Tom King carefully sets out the main hook; that there has been a brutal massacre at a remote superhero recovery clinic known as Sanctuary. Although Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman (the joint patrons of Sanctuary) investigate the killings, the main characters are really Booster Gold and Harley Quinn, the only apparent survivors of the massacre, who each suspect the other of being the culprit. Themes of mental health, trauma, grief and mourning are explored amongst a diverse cast of heroes and villains, as a game of cat-and-mouse plays out between Booster, Harley and the powerful Leaguers that are hunting them down.

It’s not all heavy-going melodrama though, King makes space for plenty of action and a healthy dose of knowing humour; fitting since it is used as a coping mechanism by many sufferers of stress and anxiety. The characters are written with warmth and sincerity also, with plot strands focussing as much on the support for the survivors as on their mission to bring the killer to justice. The overall arc relies on some pretty far-out sci-fi concepts and constructs, but this allows the resulting beats to be not just a tragic, but also redemptive and finally hopeful.

There are a couple of stumbles; the series is probably at least 1 issue too long, padded out by a few too many digressions into the confessional testimonies of the other visitors to Sanctuary. And although artist Clay Mann‘s work is generally breathtaking, he really does overly sexualise many of the prominent female characters; particular noticeable with Lois Lane and Batgirl, two of DC’s leading role-model women. An odd editorial choice for a comic which is otherwise so progressive, thoughtful and carefully created. Having said that, this is still one of the comics of the year for me, and I enjoyed it so much I immediately went back to the start and read all 9 issues over again.