Heroes in Crisis / YMMV

Alternate Aesop Interpretation: The intended message of the series seems to be about the importance of mental care and having places where one can heal after traumatizing events but the final issue reveals a different take on mental health care. Namely that therapy does help but it's not an instant cure, it's something that takes time and effort in order to be effective and you have to be open to it in order for it to work even if you feel like you're not improving.
- Similarly, therapy should be handled by professionals who know how to listen to and empathize with their patients, instead of being overseen by people who have no qualifications and think they can do it just because "they know better."
Ass Pull: There was no conceivable way for anyone to guess what happened at Sanctuary, because critical aspects of it rely on things that are never established and outright contradict previous lore:
- The revelation that the massacre was caused by an electrical storm from Wally's Speed Force connection comes out of nowhere, as the Speed Force has never been shown to have such a psychological connection or be used in that explosive way before. Rather than a clever mystery solution, it ends up being a facet that nobody could predict on account of it never having been an issue before.
- Wally's skill with computers is apparently equal to that of Barbara Gordan and Tim Drake, if not beyond, because he's not only capable of cracking the security of Sanctuary designed by Batman, but also capable of reassembling all the videos of patients confession from the bits that are deleted... what he claims to do doesn't actually make sense if you know how digital files work, especially in a case where it's likely and logical the deletion protocols for erasing these files goes beyond simply sticking them in the recycle bin and deleting them.
- The way that the need for Wally's dead body to be present at the crime scene is addressed. The need for it adds tension to the scene and its presence is a clue, given that it helps lead to the killer... in the end it was placed there by Booster using completely unforeshadowed cloning tech. It is almost a literal Deus ex Machina.
- Perhaps most infamously, there’s Harley in issue 2 defeating and escaping from the Trinity Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. How does Harley do this? She acrobatically knees Diana in the face taking the lasso off her and then wraps the lasso around Batman’s neck while warning the other two to back off before getting Batman to reveal where he keeps Kryptonite on his belt and uses that to defeat Supes before he can try anything. While it seems cool on paper the fight seems to blissfully ignore the fact Harley should not be able overpower or stagger Wonder Woman at all, let alone take the lasso off her, given the latter’s fighting skills and invulnerability (granted both of those are infamously shaky comic to comic but still) and in practice Harley really should’ve just broken her leg kicking Diana. Moreover the fight also has Supes and Wondy forget they have Super-Speed and Super-Reflexes as Harley is able to do gymnastics around them rather just getting pinned down by either of them before she has time to think, blink or act. While the comic tries to play it off as Harley being a genius Combat Pragmatist it reeks more of Popularity Power.
Audience-Alienating Premise: Many were immediately turned off by DC's marketing of the series as being a Creator-Driven Successor to Identity Crisis (2004), probably still the most divisive Crisis-event DC has done, and even more were incensed by the reports that Wally West and Roy Harper would be dead in the first issue, with many, many more in the near future. Combined with its heavily controversial stab at a deconstructive narrative, a lot of people assessed the story as less of a mature exploration of its characters and more like a veritable assassination, and it's so poorly-regarded that DC themselves have visibly distanced themselves from this story and tried to correct its most negatively-impactful effects in the years since.
Awesome Art: Whatever fans and critics say about the story, there's general agreement among both that the art by Clay Mann (debates about the depiction of female characters aside) is by and large, beautiful. In the case of the two issues drawn by frequent Tom King collaborator Mitch Gerads, and the one issue drawn by Lee Weeks are also universally praised as gorgeous.
Bile Fascination: There are people who read this series just because of how negative the reaction grew with seemingly every issue. It has actually been quite a while since DC published an event comic this hated by so many, and some readers just wanted to see what was causing such anger.
Broken Base:
- The art style has caused this. You either think it's gorgeous in its entirety or you're put off by the frequent sexualization of the female characters and their dead-looking eyes and expressions.
- The various confessional scenes throughout the series are pretty contested; either they're thoughtful little interludes that help develop the themes of the story, build on the characters, and/or are necessary comic relief, or they're distracting, overly-angsty, and overall pointless to a very contested main story.
Critical Dissonance: Casual comic fans have disliked the series from day one, with diehard readers in particular having taken umbrage with the treatment of many longtime characters, especially Wally West. Critics, on the other hand, have known to have been more mixed before and after its completion. The general trend for critics is that on its own, the story is mired with plenty of major problems but does have a few standout aspects, and the more forgiving critics tend to be those who accept the treatment of certain ideas — again, primarily Wally West and The Flash mythos — as interesting, but clumsily-handled experiments rather than a caustic stain on their long-term canon.
Don't Shoot the Message: Fans have agreed Tom King wanting to do a serious story about superheroes and PTSD was admirable. The problem is, the story he's given them is just another Crisis Crossover involving multiple beloved characters getting killed for shock value or having their backstories and characterizations ruined for plot convenience, while the living characters take turns holding the Idiot Ball.
Esoteric Happy Ending: The ending is meant to be bittersweet in tone, but emphasizes an optimistic future that audiences were not exactly privy to agreeing with. Among the concerns of note was Wally's leaking of the superheroes' private confessions (played as an honest, noble act, but raises major ethical and privacy concerns), the fate of Sanctuary (despite its hand in causing Wally's actions, its flaws were never addressed and there's very little suggesting any sort of reform), and even the ray of hope that Wally can learn to overcome his trauma (many doubted his ability to meaningfully redeem himself considering he lost so much with little in return in the story alone).
Fetish Retardant:
- The biggest criticism of Clay Mann's otherwise positively-received artwork is the presence of fanservice happening at entirely inappropriate times. It can be quite distracting being presented a bloody murder mystery and deep ruminations on the trauma heroes face right next to a panel half-covered by Batgirl's ass.
- Poison Ivy's "new look", in particular is a cross between her being naked with her skin flayed off her body, showing her musculature.
Funny Moments: Black Canary's confessional, where after getting her nine panels to confess her heart out... decides to peace out by the second one, leaving the next few panels awkwardly silent.
Heartwarming Moments: Superman's speech addressing concerns about superheroes going into therapy is considered the high point of the series for a reason. He reassures people that attending therapy is not a sign that someone is weak or dangerous, but on the contrary it should be seen as an encouraging sign that they are on the path towards healing. This message applies just as well in the real world.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
- Outside of all the controversy this page details, there are some readers who were just annoyed that this was yet another Tom King story that focuses on comparing superheroes to real life soldiers suffering from PTSD.
- King attempts to "break down" Wally West as a character, even if he is in a way built back up in the end. Fans have pretty famously resisted attempts to deconstruct him in the past (Dan Abnett tried to do something similar with him in Titans, but fans rejected it there too, and it was swiftly reversed), and most have pleaded to just leave the guy alone and let him have a normal status quo, especially since he had only just came back to life during DC Rebirth and already didn't have much at all to break anyway.
Just Here for Godzilla:
- Outside of some readers having Bile Fascination for the series there are some who admit they only read it for the Harley/Ivy moments.
- Others just read it to see Booster Gold and Blue Beetle together again.
Like You Would Really Do It: It's easy to whittle down the list of possible deaths based on which characters have their own series. Before the first issue hit, fans already narrowed the list of likely victims down to Roy Harper, Kyle Rayner, Tim Drake, and Poison Ivy — With the list narrowing down even further once solicitations were released.
Memetic Mutation: The page (sometimes edited to be three panels) of an annoyed Black Canary saying "fuck this" then walking away have been used to react to Heroes in Crisis itself.
Mis-blamed: Writer Tom King has received a ton of flack for the series, but the degree which things can be singularly blamed on him is debatable. While the exact extent is uncertain due to DC's hush-hush treatment of the series, King publicly admitted there to have been some executive meddling and editorial mandates throughout the series. In particular, he's recounted many times that he originally wrote an outline of the general plot of the story to DC editors, but they were the ones with final say on what characters to put in (specifically citing Booster Gold, Harley Quinn and Wally West being made central characters). He also claims the original outline was specifically focused around the exploration of trauma, but he was later pushed to add in an Identity Crisis (2004)-inspired murder mystery plot, suggesting that he likely didn't have full control over how the comic was meant to be written (not helped by how the series itself suggesting through its dropped plot threads and odd pacing that something happened behind the scenes that demanded a sudden change in direction). While not officially verified, the series' infamous treatment of Wally West may also have been a victim of this editorial push, especially considering then-editor-in-chief Dan DiDio's longstanding vocal hatred of the character.
Narm:
- In the finale, Booster's statement of "Bros before heroes" comes across as quite ridiculous and almost a parody of the concept of forgiveness, essentially saying that Wally's manslaughter is okay (but requires imprisonment) because they are friends and should prioritize that over actually being a good person.
- The ending shows Sanctuary reopen, seemingly the exact same Sanctuary facility where a massacre of heroes occurred on the front lawn, whom many of the other heroes had close relationships with. Surely the least they could've done is open a new facility somewhere else, especially considering that could reasonably cause many of them emotional distress. This might be some attempt to reinforce the (alleged) mass shooting analogy, because very few of the places where mass shootings occur shutdown afterwards. But that's a matter of practicality, as most schools and businesses don't have the time or resources. Batman alone easily has the resources to open another Sanctuary facility somewhere else with little issue.
One-Scene Wonder: Black Canary's single provided testimonial, where she stares at the camera, goes "Fuck this", then leaves. Many readers find her reaction the most relatable thing in the whole book.
Overshadowed by Controversy: The comic is perhaps better known for the revelation that Wally West was the one who killed everyone at Sanctuary and how it seemed to handle the very delicate topic of mental health in a tone-deaf manner than it is for its murder-mystery plot.
Padding:
- This series was originally meant to be 5 issues, then got bumped up to 7, then got bumped up again to 9. There is not a enough story to fill that space. The mystery of the series is ultimately a Clueless Mystery and the series goes entire issues without any development on that front, because there's ultimately not much to develop, because none of the clues are real, the only real 'clue' is discovered by Booster Gold in issue #7, one issue before Wally confesses.
- The superhero confessions, which every issue has several of, often don't have any connection to the story beyond broad thematic purposes. While some critics and fans consider those their favorite part of the series, and can justify their existence, the majority don't have anything to do with the plot or the characters that are actually involved in the series.
Signature Scene: The series undeniably has a few, for better or for worse:
- Superman's confessional given at the end of Issue 2, which is often held up as not only one of the best scenes in the book, but also of King's interpretation of the character.
- Superman's speech to the press about superheroes and their trauma in issue #5 is probably the scene that is remembered the most for positive reasons.
- Black Canary cursing the camera and pulling a Screw This, I'm Outta Here.
- Wally accidentally killing the other patients at Sanctuary in a Speed Force explosion.
Tainted by the Preview: A lot of fans were turned off by the event due to the Tonight, Someone Dies nature of the advertising teasing they would lose a beloved character.
Take That, Scrappy!: The one possible death that no one's particularly upset about is Mark Richards, the second Tattooed Man created by Geoff Johns. Hinted to having been killed off in the third issue, Mark is mainly remembered as one of the members of Deathstroke's bastard Titans from Brightest Day and for his hand in slaughtering Ryan Choi. Due to his inconsistent motivations and flat personality, Mark's one character even the most nostalgic Titans fans aren't worried about.
Tear Jerker:
- Superman reporting on the deaths at Sanctuary, particularly Wally West & Roy Harper - he goes from using their civilian identities to their codenames, and can’t even bring himself to say the words out loud.
  Superman: Roy...Roy and W-W...Arsenal and Flash are...confirmed.
- Harley mourns the death of Poison Ivy by dropping a rose off of a bridge. It's clear that she blames herself for it, lamenting that they would still be alive if Harley had never known them.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- Given the fact that Wally West struggled with depression for much of his run as The Flash (to say nothing of what he's gone through since Flashpoint, or the effect his Abusive Parents had on him), a comic that looks at mental health in superheroes would've been a great way to explore his character. Instead they Dropped a Bridge on Him off-panel in the first issue. Making matters even more infuriating, the The Flash issue that had Wally heading off to Sanctuary advised fans to read that to see his story continued, which in light of how its 'continued', almost feels like a taunt. Then he was revealed to be the killer.
- Likewise, Roy Harper's struggles with depression and his past addiction aren't handled with any nuance or depth. Roy's suffered from some pretty bad abandonment issues (losing his birth father, having no clue who his mom is, being shunned by his adopted community before his loving foster dad died, and then getting neglected by Green Arrow) which caused his depression and led to his experimentation with drugs before getting addicted to heroin. Instead, Tom King completely ignores all that and changes Roy to a prescription addict who got hooked because of injuries he got as a superhero, but then switched to heroin because he either damaged his kidneys or feared he would. This makes it incredibly difficult to take Roy's interview session seriously because of how blatantly it ignored his backstory. It's especially frustrating because the session appears one page after his corpse is found.
- Considering the series is supposed to be about mental health and trauma, it’s a bit odd that Jessica Cruz doesn’t have a bigger role, or any role, for that matter. She does appear for one panel in the final issue, but is no more prominent than anyone else.
- Despite his close relationship to Wally, easily the closest relationship he still has with Linda not remembering him and Dick having amnesia, Barry has no role in the confrontation (despite him arguably being the one best suited to talk to him) and his reaction to Wally's confession is never shown. In the final issue, he only appears in a panel showing him and Superman coming to arrest Wally, in which he gets no dialogue and you cannot even see his face. And due to his solo series being (perhaps not coincidentally) in the middle of a flashback origin arc at the time of the big reveal and this series conclusion, there's a good chance we won't see Barry's reaction or thoughts on this for a while, if Williamson doesn't try to deliberately avoid it entirely.
- Similarly, as noted above, Nightwing, Wally's best friend, isn't really in the series at all, and due to his current status quo at the time of this story being him with amnesia and going by the name Ric Grayson, it's entirely possible Nightwing won't learn of his best friend's situation for quite a while. Though, weirdly, he does show up in a single confession panel in the last issue, seemingly back to normal, but it's only one panel and it's just used for a gag with the other Robins.
- Cassandra Cain, another character with a history of extreme trauma and suicidal depression, not to mention an ambiguous disorder and recent discovery of her own pre-Flashpoint past that could have been tied into Wally's story, only appears for a gag single-panel confessional where she stares blankly into the camera while looking like an Off-Model nightmare that's only recognizable due to her costume and the label at the top of the panel.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- This is essentially the case with this entire series. The uniform claim of even the heaviest detractors, fans and professional critics, is that the idea of Sanctuary is great. The idea of a series focused on the mental health of superheroes, that focuses on the problems of that would naturally come from what many of them experienced is great. You'll find few people that say otherwise. The problem, however, is the murder mystery. It's near-universally agreed that the exact same message this series aimed to tell could've easily been told without having to needlessly murder C and D-list characters, as well as force others to act out-of-character or firmly hold the Idiot Ball. It's possible the only reason there's a murder mystery is because it wouldn't be an event otherwise.
- The execution of Sanctuary itself has wasted the potential the concept held. A center for superheroes and villains to address their problems in a safe environment sounds like a good idea. Only Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman set up the place to be monitored entirely by robots, with its only "Therapist" a computer program containing their best respective qualities. Added into this is how its virtual reality chambers are used mainly for the characters to relive their respective traumas in an effort to face them, when it's clearly shown through Lagoon Boy and Wally West that doing so over and over again is not healthy.
- The series is focused mostly on Wally West, Booster Gold, and Harley Quinn, but there are many characters with previously-established or implied psychological issues that the series either totally ignores or doesn't focus on much at all if they do appear. The most obvious is Batman^note, but there's also Jessica Cruz, Jason Todd, Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, and many others; said characters do appear in confession, but very little is actually explored or done with them.
- In a similar vein, the story was meant to be a follow-up on the conclusion of Flash War, which saw Wally admitting that he needs help (with what isn't exactly clear) after he is unable to locate Hunter Zolomon, who knows where his children are. Zolomon has a history of dealing with tragedy, feeling that superheroes are only stronger once they have experienced it, and his modus operandi is to inflict it on heroes to better them. He sounds like a perfect character to include in a series that focuses on the benefits of therapy to deal with tragedy... he isn't even mentioned, even though he is integral to Wally being at Sanctuary to begin with.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: This series is pretty damn bleak, contributing a ton to its widespread rejection by fans. Starting off already indulging in rampant axing of familiar characters, the tone is greatly informed by how every character is shown or implied to have suffered some kind of trauma, even the traditionally upbeat ones, something audiences have generally tried to ignore in the hopes they don't bleed into long-term canon.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- The entire Trinity gets a bad case of this because they were the ones who designed Sanctuary, a facility which is shown consistently throughout the book via flashbacks to be dehumanizing, abusive and isolating, along with doing seemingly little to actually treat patients mental health. What's more, The Reveal means the entire massacre was their fault, as the sheer isolation and dehumanization he was subject is what caused Wally's powers to go out of control and kill everyone. Despite this, not once is any of them reprimanded for their culpability in the situation.
- Going off the ending, Lois leaking the tapes of the patients testimonials is supposed to be a largely heroic action meant to show to the world the flaws of their heroes and make sure they get help. While this does get some mild pushback in-universe (Clark realizes what she's done but resists acting on it, believing it was ultimately necessary), audiences were much less accepting, seeing this as a major violation of journalistic integrity and potentially devastating to the dozens of non-consenting superheroes she just outed, all just to make a statement.
- Harley Quinn. Aside from fans being annoyed by her Wolverine Publicity allowing her to hold her own against not only Batman but also Superman and Wonder Woman there a fans who find her firmly in this trope. While the major concession seems to be that it's sympathetic of her to want to avenge her girlfriend, Poison Ivy, that didn't prevent fans from being annoyed by her behavior constantly getting in the way of the investigation team making any progress (something already difficult since all of them are holding the Idiot Ball to varying extents). Her desire and attempts to kill Booster in particular is this, since she doesn't even know for certain that he's responsible. There's also the bit near the end where she gives Wally a Groin Attack for what he did being Played for Laughs, despite the fact moments earlier, they just finished narrowly talking him out of committing suicide.
The Woobie: Wally. He may have accidentally killed his friends and covered it up, but man does he have it rough. His beloved wife doesn't know who he is, his children may be alive somewhere and he doesn't have any way to find them, one of the people he accidentally killed is one of his oldest friends, he has to be talked down from committing suicide, and by the end he's once again totally isolated, only now in a jail cell. And god only knows what gonna happen to him next...

YMMV / Heroes in Crisis

Edit Locked