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tiedyedude's review against another edition
4.0
Similar to Identity Crisis, in that a hero makes some poor choices that cause ripples throughout the DC universe. At the center of the story, though, is a secret location where heroes can get help for the PTSD they experience from saving the day, dieing and resurrecting, etc. A great premise with a strong story and powerful art.
raspberryicedtea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
INCLUDES SPOILERS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
oh boy, was this a wild ride.
Honestly, going in I had already known public opinions on it and assumed it wouldn´t be great but still thought it would be at least kind of interesting in terms of themes and mystery.
I´m still fairly new to DC Comics so I´m not sure how the story ties in with the rest of the universe, all I got was that it´s related to Flashpoint, I think? This stuff really confuses me tbh.
Starting with what I liked tho, the artwork really was gorgeous, Harley Quinn had some pretty funny moments and I liked her relationship with Ivy and Barbara. I´ve seen some people say that the female characters were extremely sexualized and while I do see it as well, I don´t think they did much better with the male heroes physique so I at least wasn´t too bothered by it.
Everything else was mostly just dumb.
The concept of a rehab for heroes is interesting, since I´m guessing they would need special treatment but they don´t even get that in the Sanctuary! There´s not a single therapist or psychiatrist in there, just an AI that´s built from kryptonian tech and the character traits of the big three, but yk the compassion of Wonder Woman or the will of Batman isn´t gonna get you far if they have no clue wtf they´re talking about. You can´t compassion someone out of ptsd, you know?
So instead of actual treatment by trained professionals all the heroes (and reformed villains) get is a fucking holodeck simulator thingy where they can do whatever they want while the AI provides commentary, I guess. Seriously, there´s a whole segment where we see lagoon boy literally self-harming over and over again and it´s like. He´s allowed to just do that?? Right in front of his “therapist”??!?!? jfc it´s no wonder someone went nuts and killed everyone, I´m honestly surprised it hasn´t happened sooner.
There was then this whole thing about how the Sanctuary had to be a secret so people wouldn´t lose their trust in heroes but then they ended up not doing anything with that, so it felt kinda redundant. Like, it could have opened up at least some conversations about the stigmatization of mental health issues or even vigilantism as a means of seeking justice, whether or not there should be these all-powerful individuals when their mistakes could impact so many people who would have no means to stop them when necessary.
Billed as a murder mystery, Heroes in Crisis fails delivering in every way imaginable. The Big Three show up a little bit at the beginning to give exposition but the “investigation” is literally non-existent. They don´t find any significant clues that could help them solve the case and are generally either not present or not helpful. The conflict between Harley and Booster Gold was resolved in the most underwhelming way and while I liked their banter after that, the characters really didn´t have much depth or skills that could have helped them solve the case either.
And while the dynamics between many characters (Harley & Barbara, Harley & Booster, I didn´t really care for Booster and Blue Beetle but they had some good moments) was fun to read about and the snippets of heroes/reformed villains talking were interesting for giving context, all of it was kind of removed from context didn´t move the plot forward at all, which is why especially the latter started getting on my nerves after a while.
When it´s finally revealed what actually happened it´s not because of any investigation it´s because Wally himself just explains it in a confession video.
The moral of the story is a bunch of worn out phrases and empty platitudes and the way they treated Wally actually makes me so so angry.
Honestly, the only thing they did right was Harley and Ivy´s sapphic love saving Ivy´s life #unburyyourgays
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Drug abuse
averylwc's review against another edition
2.0
I’m all for heroes going to therapy... that being said I only read this to understand the Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy Miniseries which is apparently a spin off.
Ummm, okay mystery is fine, feels like a big lack of consequences and booster gold and blue beetles’ whole schtick always confuses/bores me.
I like the format with the 3x3 confessionals a lot and I don’t mind that the trinity sort of took a back seat
Ummm, okay mystery is fine, feels like a big lack of consequences and booster gold and blue beetles’ whole schtick always confuses/bores me.
I like the format with the 3x3 confessionals a lot and I don’t mind that the trinity sort of took a back seat
njdarkish's review against another edition
2.0
So people are going to think it's a bad thing that their heroes are going through therapy to deal with the things they endure? Really?
The story got very convoluted and hard to follow as the series progressed, and it started from a pretty confusing point to begin with.
And the art is so, so horny. Seriously, the artists really needed a long, cold shower before drawing any female DC character.
The story got very convoluted and hard to follow as the series progressed, and it started from a pretty confusing point to begin with.
And the art is so, so horny. Seriously, the artists really needed a long, cold shower before drawing any female DC character.
raaachoo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kind of convoluted but honestly interesting and the art was really nice!! i do wish this was not canon tho because i am sad
vulco1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Definitely interesting and a worthy read... I'm not exactly sure what the point was or how I'm supposed to feel afterwards. Or even how this impacts everything going forward. It was good though.
justinlikescomicbooks's review against another edition
1.5
Wow--this was terrible! The closest thing I've ever read to trash TV, just pure hatewatch energy. I couldn't look away, but I found very little of the entire exercise worthwhile.
A mental health center for superheroes...I'm not even going to say it's a good idea, but it could've been something. Instead, this has to tie into some large, overarching "DC Rebirth" narrative (one that, we should not forget, somehow involves the WATCHMEN), so you've gotta have all the heroes solving the problem like it's an alien invasion. It's really, really, really dumb. (I can't believe this guy wrote 100+ issues of Batman--when you have such a singular voice, how could you deal with publisher demands over that long a period. That's a big undertaking but I do want to read it some day, even just out of morbid curiosity).
This just made me want to watch M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, which actually makes something of the idea. There's a whole page of Batman being silent and then crying about all the Robins that have died--again, I understand the idea, but divorced from the narrative, what the hell does it add up to? Just a bunch of spaghetti thrown at the wall, playing around with the idea of a real-life issue, but only seldom taking it seriously.
Adding on top of this, the only moments that work are the momentary jokes! Divorced from context, each Robin saying that all the other Robins have their own unique features but they feel like they're the odd man out is hilarious and revealing. There are also other moments where it's like Tom King is given leeway to have the characters say out loud what he actually thinks about the character--it's pretty cool, and pretty fun. And then you remember this is a story about murder/suicide.
The fun adventure, and the little quips, only detract from the main story. And the main story sucks.
I think that, deep down, Tom King is trying to grapple with his own inner demons in this story, and in some ways when you see flashes of that, it's quite moving. I think a lot of people misread his career as leveraging his CIA background for personal gain, when it's often quite deeper--an immense, overwhelming sense of guilt, and a need to make something of his past that doesn't just hurt people.
A huge swing, a huge miss, but an interesting one nevertheless.
A mental health center for superheroes...I'm not even going to say it's a good idea, but it could've been something. Instead, this has to tie into some large, overarching "DC Rebirth" narrative (one that, we should not forget, somehow involves the WATCHMEN), so you've gotta have all the heroes solving the problem like it's an alien invasion. It's really, really, really dumb. (I can't believe this guy wrote 100+ issues of Batman--when you have such a singular voice, how could you deal with publisher demands over that long a period. That's a big undertaking but I do want to read it some day, even just out of morbid curiosity).
This just made me want to watch M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, which actually makes something of the idea. There's a whole page of Batman being silent and then crying about all the Robins that have died--again, I understand the idea, but divorced from the narrative, what the hell does it add up to? Just a bunch of spaghetti thrown at the wall, playing around with the idea of a real-life issue, but only seldom taking it seriously.
Adding on top of this, the only moments that work are the momentary jokes! Divorced from context, each Robin saying that all the other Robins have their own unique features but they feel like they're the odd man out is hilarious and revealing. There are also other moments where it's like Tom King is given leeway to have the characters say out loud what he actually thinks about the character--it's pretty cool, and pretty fun. And then you remember this is a story about murder/suicide.
The fun adventure, and the little quips, only detract from the main story. And the main story sucks.
I think that, deep down, Tom King is trying to grapple with his own inner demons in this story, and in some ways when you see flashes of that, it's quite moving. I think a lot of people misread his career as leveraging his CIA background for personal gain, when it's often quite deeper--an immense, overwhelming sense of guilt, and a need to make something of his past that doesn't just hurt people.
A huge swing, a huge miss, but an interesting one nevertheless.
dimitrat's review against another edition
1.0
This book had the means to be- astonishing.. but unfortunately it wasn't. Tom King is really good and he can thrive in these kind of stories but this was a bad turn out. He started well and it had so much potential to be one of the best and biggest mysteries, beautiful and human too... But it was not. I can't pretend to know his process but it felt like he only had the idea and never sat to develop the whole story, he passed the opposite message of the one he advertised, he took it way too slow, the characters were very poorly written and the overall mystery turned out bad and predictable.. deeming this "event" completely unnecessary.