History ComicBook / HeroesInCrisis

** [[spoiler: Apparently the message of Wally West's role in the story is that he's wrong to want his wife and children back, despite mounting evidence that Linda Park's erased memories of her time with Wally and the disappearance of Jai and Iris West are more proof of how Doctor Manhattan tampered with the universe for the worse. Even though Wally has been told his children are still out there somewhere and ''can'' be found, he's made out to be obsessive and in the wrong for wanting them back. What breaks this even further is how Wally's aunt Iris regained ''her'' memories of the pre-Flashpoint universe with no difficulty, raising the question of why Wally wanting Linda to remember their family is supposedly so terrible. It gets a hell of a lot worse when it is revealed that this devolved into an ItsAllAboutMe attitude and full-blown mental breakdown that slaughtered everybody at Sanctuary accidentally.]]
** The story in the end vindicates [[spoiler: Wally]] for leaking the Sanctuary files to Lois, with everyone saying it was a good thing to show that people need help. Except the matter of privacy is ''never'' brought up, nor is the fact that the files were leaked to Lois ''with the heroes identities on full display'', as ''she'' is the one who blurred them out, not [[spoiler: Wally]]. In addition, none of the people gave their testimony knowing it would be recorded. But the comic paints the act as something that [[spoiler: almost outright redeems Wally]], and the matter of privacy and whether or not any hero wanted their testimony revealed is never, ever touched upon.

* BrokenAesop:
** The thing that is triggering this CrisisCrossover is an attempt at defying ThereAreNoTherapists within the superhero community (and thus comics) GoneHorriblyWrong. [[spoiler: It's difficult to say if this story actually does or doesn't do that. There are no actual therapists at Sanctuary and the ending has more heroes going to Sanctuary than ever before, despite most of the events in the series giving them every logical reason to not even consider it. Also, still with no sign of any therapists.]]
** [[spoiler: Apparently the message of Wally West's role in the story is that he's wrong to want his wife and children back, despite mounting evidence that Linda Park's erased memories of her time with Wally and the disappearance of Jai and Iris West are more proof of how Doctor Manhattan tampered with the universe for the worse. Even though Wally has been told his children are still out there somewhere and ''can'' be found, he's made out to be obsessive and in the wrong for wanting them back. What breaks this even further is how Wally's aunt Iris regained ''her'' memories of the pre-Flashpoint universe with no difficulty, raising the question of why Wally wanting Linda to remember their family is supposedly so terrible. It gets a hell of a lot worse when it is revealed that this devolved into an ItsAllAboutMe attitude and full-blown mental breakdown that slaughtered everybody at Sanctuary accidentally.]]
** The story in the end vindicates [[spoiler: Wally]] for leaking the Sanctuary files to Lois, with everyone saying it was a good thing to show that people need help. Except the matter of privacy is ''never'' brought up, nor is the fact that the files were leaked to Lois ''with the heroes identities on full display'', as ''she'' is the one who blurred them out, not [[spoiler: Wally]]. In addition, none of the people gave their testimony knowing it would be recorded. But the comic paints the act as something that [[spoiler: almost outright redeems Wally]], and the matter of privacy and whether or not any hero wanted their testimony revealed is never, ever touched upon.

* IncestSubtext: Raven's confessional is a simple "My father loves me".

* SpiritualSuccessor: The latest DC CrisisCrossover with the word "crisis" in the title, it also tackles a smaller scale threat concerning heroes' personal lives and a breech of their trust. It's basically the 2010s version of ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis''.
** [[spoiler: With later issues, many began comparing it to ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight''. To continue the comparison, it directly leads into the Generation reboot, meaning it gets it’s own ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'']]

** [[spoiler:Wally's accidental killing of almost everyone else at Sanctuary due to PowerIncontinence is responsible for all of the misery that follows.]]

** [[spoiler:According to Wally's confessional, this is how/why he killed most of the others: his connection to the Speed Force went off due to him learning the truth.]]

** Comicbook/CommanderSteel mentions his numerous deaths and how this affected him, specifically referencing being killed by Doctor Ivo's android in ''Comicbook/{{Legends}}'' and his subsequent return as a Black Lantern in ''Comicbook/BlackestNight''. Both of these incidents happened to Hank Heywood III, the [[LegacyCharacter second]] Steel, but the dated language he uses in ''Heroes in Crisis'' (such as "fisticuffs" and "donnybrook") implies this is Hank Heywood Sr., the ''original'' Steel.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Sanctuary is first mentioned and seen in King's ''ComicBook/{{Batman|Rebirth}}''.

''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/BatmanRebirth'' have a tie-in crossover to the event called "The Price", which features Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne's investigation into a suspect for the murders: Gotham Girl.

** [[spoiler: The Sanctuary AI is shown to be acting very antagonistic to patients in flashbacks before the massacre, and the solicitation for issue #7 said that the AI running Sanctuary was stopping the Trinity from getting to the culprit, whose identity they now knew. None of that occurs in any form in the final issues. Wally isn't revealed to be the killer until Issue #8, the Trinity isn't the group that ends up confronting Wally, and the AI has no role at all in the ending, nor is it's antagonistic behavior ever even acknowledged.]]

** [[Comicbook/{{Steel}} Commander Steel]] mentions his numerous deaths and how this affected him, specifically referencing being killed by Doctor Ivo's android in ''Comicbook/{{Legends}}'' and his subsequent return as a Black Lantern in ''Comicbook/BlackestNight''. Both of these incidents happened to Hank Heywood III, the [[LegacyCharacter second]] Steel, but the dated language he uses in ''Heroes in Crisis'' (such as "fisticuffs" and "donnybrook") implies this is Hank Heywood Sr., the ''original'' Steel.

* StuffedInTheFridge: [[spoiler:Shockingly, Poison Ivy is stated to be dead in the second issue. However, her body has suspiciously not yet made an appearance. It's eventually revealed that she did technically die, but a piece her consciousness was able to grow a new body from the flower Ivy had earlier given to Harley.]]

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: [[spoiler: In the final issue, Harley Quinn gets to GroinAttack Wally as payback for what he put her through and for temporarily killing (by accident) Poison Ivy. No one argues that what Wally did was wrong, but it has been pointed out that it is VERY hypocritical for HARLEY QUINN to get a TakeThat to Wally. She wasn't even supposed to be at Sanctuary, and she has committed FAR worse acts than anything Wally did in this event throughout her life. She herself spends the majority of the event wanting to kill Booster Gold (and attempting it twice, with the second time being treated almost as PlayedForLaughs), so it can come across as a bit ridiculous she gets a chance for payback when she herself gets off scot-free and at the end gets to have a nice walk with Poison Ivy while Wally is locked up in prison, where she herself should be regardless of not being the one who committed the massacre.]]

* {{Gorn}}: [[spoiler: Blue Jay's tiny body is devoured by crows.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: ''DC Nation'' explains why certain characters were at Sanctuary in the first place even though it's never brought up in the series proper.

''Heroes in Crisis'' is [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths the]] [[ComicBook/ZeroHour latest]] [[ComicBook/IdentityCrisis entry]] [[ComicBook/IdentityCrisis in]] [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis a]] [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis long line]] of crisis crossovers with the word "crisis" in the title, but whereas most of those storylines (except ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'') were very cosmic and grandiose, [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent this one is more existential and personal]], inspired by a traumatic experience in King's life prior to the series.

** [[spoiler: With later issues, many began comparing it to ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight''. To continue the comparison, it directly leads into the Generation reboot, meaning it gets it’s own ''ComicBook/ZeroHour'']]

* HeroKiller: The culprit is specifically targeting supers. [[spoiler: Except it turns out no one is 'targeted' at all. The deaths are all the result of an accident, and it's only supers that die because only supers were at Sanctuary.]]

** Beast Boy laments the death of Terra, his first love. Terra isn't dead as of the New 52 and in Rebirth, she is a supporting character in ''Deathstroke''.

** Hotspot was dealing with trauma for his time with the H'San Natall Teen Titans, despite how they never appeared in the New 52 or Rebirth.

** Ted Kord seems to remember his own death from ''Infinite Crisis'' for some reason, despite never making mention of it since his return via CosmicRetcon. If his death happened, then ''Infinite Crisis'' must've also happened, which it didn't post-Flashpoint; and if it did, how Ted is back isn't even slightly touched on. Adding on. Blue Beetle Rebirth established that Ted Kord had retired from superheroics due to Health Concerns wheras here he's apparently still active.
** [[spoiler: Gnarrk is hinted in the third issue to be one of the people who died at Sanctuary, which makes absolutely no sense because he shows up in ''Green Arrow'' at ''Roy Harper's funeral'' which explicitly takes place after the massacre. The sixth issue even spends a great deal focusing on Gnarrk before he dies with Protector, but even more jarringly he's speaking like a stereotypical caveman despite how he ''hasn't'' spoken like that since he was reintroduced in ''Titans Hunt''.]]

** Lagoon Boy was traumatized by the Titans East massacre at the hands of the Sons of Trigon, even though that would require Cyborg to have still been a Teen Titan even though that never happened in the post-Flashpoint universe.[[note]]Though Cyborg's past as a Teen Titan would eventually be restored to continuity in ''Comicbook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'', that wasn't written until 2020.[[/note]]

** Lagoon Boy was traumatized by the Titans East massacre at the hands of the Sons of Trigon, even though that would require Cyborg to have still been a Teen Titan even though that never happened in the post-Flashpoint universe.

** Commander Steel mentions his numerous deaths and how this affected him. This only works because Tom King weirdly combined every iteration of Commander and Citizen Steel character into a single character.

* Kryptonite has gone from "bright" to "an outright flashbang that can blind everyone".

** [[spoiler: With later issues, many began comparing it to ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight''.]]

* HollywoodPsych: Possibly only in-universe, but Wally West seems terribly disappointed at not recovering in three weeks of treatment. In reality, treatment for most psychological issues, including the grief of losing children, is likely to last the entirety of the patient's life.

** [[spoiler: It's implied the way Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman delegated all the work in Sanctuary to robots just made it easier for the massacre to happen, making them indirectly responsible for the dozens of victims.]]