A review by jonwesleyhuff
Heroes in Crisis by Tom King
2.0
I am, in general, a fan of Tom King's writing. He's done some phenomenal books, and I still have some waiting in trades to read. This is not one of them. It pains me to say this. When the first issue came out, I was really intrigued. I read issue 2, but then issues started to get delayed so I decided to wait until I could read it all in one go. The concept of the story is really fantastic, but it all falls down in the execution for me.
Before we go too far into that, let me just say that Clay Mann's work is fantastic, but I was disappointed, even after delays, that he didn't do all of it. I mean, they brought in some fantastic guest artists to fill in areas, but it's still just a shame. Thankfully, it doesn't interrupt the reading of the story as badly as it can in other books.
So, back to the story. There's some very odd tonal things going on where people are cracking jokes when ALL THESE HEROES ARE DEAD. I'm cool with comedy in even a bleak story but it just feels odd her at times. Like someone stepped in halfway through and was like "Man, this is depressing. No one wants to buy this. Can they crack some jokes?"It works for Harley because it's her character. But Booster and Blue Beetle come off as just callous and icky at times. I don't recognize Batgirl at all as a character in this. Her relationship with Harley is interesting, but underdeveloped
Ultimately, that's the thing that hurt this the most for me. I can push aside my personal feelings about the damage done to a particular hero at the center of this piece. One who has been ill served for a long time now. I think the main issue here is that the ending doesn't really feel deserved. I don't know the full histories of the hodgepodge of characters at the end of this story, so it feels like King is saying something weighty about them and their characters, but I don't understand what that's supposed to be. For the two characters I now the best, Harley and Batgirl, their inclusion in the group feels like a reach.
So, look. They can't all be winners. I'm excited to see what King cooks up next. This just wasn't my cup of tea.
Before we go too far into that, let me just say that Clay Mann's work is fantastic, but I was disappointed, even after delays, that he didn't do all of it. I mean, they brought in some fantastic guest artists to fill in areas, but it's still just a shame. Thankfully, it doesn't interrupt the reading of the story as badly as it can in other books.
So, back to the story. There's some very odd tonal things going on where people are cracking jokes when ALL THESE HEROES ARE DEAD. I'm cool with comedy in even a bleak story but it just feels odd her at times. Like someone stepped in halfway through and was like "Man, this is depressing. No one wants to buy this. Can they crack some jokes?"It works for Harley because it's her character. But Booster and Blue Beetle come off as just callous and icky at times. I don't recognize Batgirl at all as a character in this. Her relationship with Harley is interesting, but underdeveloped
Ultimately, that's the thing that hurt this the most for me. I can push aside my personal feelings about the damage done to a particular hero at the center of this piece. One who has been ill served for a long time now. I think the main issue here is that the ending doesn't really feel deserved. I don't know the full histories of the hodgepodge of characters at the end of this story, so it feels like King is saying something weighty about them and their characters, but I don't understand what that's supposed to be. For the two characters I now the best, Harley and Batgirl, their inclusion in the group feels like a reach.
So, look. They can't all be winners. I'm excited to see what King cooks up next. This just wasn't my cup of tea.