I'm back, Yea Forums! Time for the Eisner Award Winner, Tom King, at the helm for an event focused on the cost of being a Heroes in Crisis!
I apologize in advance.
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I remember when this was first announced, there was a whole thing about how these Confessionals were meant to be a "Final Step" of the Sanctuary Program, where you unmasked yourself and confirmed your experience to others if you wished.
I had this big theory at the start, that this Booster confessional was fake, since it's the only one in the entire series without the name in the first left panel.
Yea Forums, I've got a confession. I'm generally not one to complain. I believe that we have far too much negativity in our lives, and on this site.That's why I constantly push towards the accumulation and expansion of positive content and communication on this board, whether Named or Anonymous.
Really, I don't have an issue with Bruce or Clark in this scene. Bruce's lying gave Harley an opportunity that she wouldn't have had he not been truthful.
Diana, on the other hand, stood and watched this occur.
there's a few contenders, but THIS might be the absolute worst page in the comic. Killing off some minor superhero for shock value, then having fucking superman of all people show up to piss on his grave by saying he can't remember the guy's catchphrase is so pointlessly cruel I can't believe it got approved.
Oh yeah, this reminds me; It's extremely vague early on just how many people died in Sanctuary at the time, as well as who's actually died. There's a Green Lantern back here , that never shows up
If this book was actually a Murder Mystery, we would know who's dead, how they died, a timeline of events, literally any clues outside of being told "Booster did it" and "Harley did it".
>having characters bond with each other over their shared history of past abuse okay that's good writi >one of them is an unrepentant serial killer who later tries to murder people in this very same story and is never punished for her past misdeeds never mind fuck you King
I never understood why the confessionals got so many pages dedicated to them. It fellt like these D-list characters all just showed to act depressed and die. If King was trying to make a point about nihilism, then I guess I could see it, but it really just feels like trauma porn.
If I was to re-write HiC, I'd have the public reject Superman's Eulogy since it's saccharine crap that doesn't solve anything, so Superman would redo it later saying something that actually has a meaning to it.
I think it was about here where I started hating the confessionals entirely. I assumed they would be used to unveil new information/perspective on characters featured.
Here, we learn the Joker and Harley romance was A B U S I V E.
I thought Sir Ystin was supposed to be more androgynous because of the whole non binary thing? Gosh it feels like forever since I first read about them.
What would he even say though? I suppose he could talk about losing people, since that’s what set Wally off. It’s interesting, but you’d have to change a whole lot more.
Spoilers within. Reminder that this page is Gnaark's dying dream. It also didn't actually happen, as confirmed on Twitter. Tom King also apologizes for this.
Why doesn’t King just skip ahead and apologize for how shit this whole event was.
Cooper Davis
This legit sucks, maybe not on a more objective level, but something about just sucks. Sometimes therapy can help you solve your problem but giving you a space to talk about your problems out loud to someone else. As a species of social animals that’s enormously important. It can help put things in perspective. But them they just kill him? Is it supposed to parallel Wally? What was the purpose?
Bentley Jones
Forgot to mention; I'm still a sucker for sfx that go in reverse on certain occasions.
And this reminds me; I wish this book had a consistent tone and target audience. That consistency would have made it much less jaring in it's fluctuations.
I think Wally being the culprit on accident, as depicted, is fine. It's that he mutilated his friend's corpses afterwards of his own volition to frame two people for no real reason is active character assassination.
I truly believe Heroes in Crisis was meant to be something else when King started writing it. There was so much in interviews about how Sanctuary's function and process would be explored, and the solicits contradicted the actual plot.
It was supposed to be one death in Sanctuary to kick off the plot, and then Didio made it everyone, and thus the net was cast from fleshing out from the details of one murder to the details of dozens, which King couldn't handle writing so he left it vaguely as "Harley or Booster did it" since that was ultimately all that matter in the plot.
At this point, these confessionals are just a waste of page space. One of my biggest irks in event comics is wasting the reader's money by not using the time allotted to fit in as much plot as you can.
In all, not much happens in each individual issue (though #3 and #6 are exempt since they were intended as oneshot specials non-essential to the plot. If I redid the book, I'd release both at the same time near the start, or merge them into a single oneshot to establish their alibis.)
>Frankenstein >I’m rotting Cute joke but Frankie has had a hard life. His son died and his wife left him. I am shocked King didn’t want to milk that misery.
Carter Gutierrez
You make a fine point, user. But it's wasting page space more than the other page does.
I think, conceptually, I actually quite like this setpiece/plot beat of Wally after what he feels is the worst day of his life and that he's beyond redemption, being saved by himself from the future, telling him he's going to be okay.
The issue for me isn’t the perma clown, though I don’t prefer it. It’s the Joker physically shoving her into the vat. What made her story tragic for me was that she chose to follow him, she chose the persona, Harley Quinn was hers, not something the Joker gave her. It’s just an anecdote, but I knew a girl who’s boyfriend gaslighted her all the time, textbook emotional manipulation. Her family would tell her to break up with him, all her co-workers would tell her to break up, but she just loved him so much. From what I understand, they actually did break up eventually, but it’s got to hurt to break up with someone you loved that much despite everything. I just think it was more compelling where Harley Quinn’s arc was taking back the love she gave Joker and not simply remaking the things he gave her.
I think this ending might be the biggest issue of Heroes in Crisis.
If the message of JUST TALK was consistent, then Wally would be with talking with Barry and/or Iris at the end, instead of imprisoned indefinitely somewhere.
All this talk of how Sanctuary had flaws and negative effects due to it's structure are never addressed. Everyone just goes back to continuing to vaguely use it for vague reasons as if there wasn't an unintended manslaughter and breach of privacy there.
If I was a civilian in the DCU, I could never trust the Trinity again, let alone a Trauma Center associated with them.
I've got a billion different angles to make HiC salvagable, but I'll keep them to myself.
I get this is the big reveal, but the only real evidence pointing towards it is how Wally’s therapy wasn’t going well. And that’s quite the stretch, how is anyone supposed to think that poor response to therapy equals a C-List massacre.
Daniel Scott
shit's awful.
Julian Rogers
>I've got a billion different angles to make HiC salvagable, Everyone does and that's the big issue. King took pretty much every potential bad road to go down for this, barring gratuitous rape (which Clay Mann would probably draw in loving detail). Also, thanks you too.
Hunter Hill
Seems a bit torture porny. I guess if it’s written well enough.
Christopher Lewis
Only good page in this.
Levi Stewart
Oh yeah, surprised this hasn't been posted this year.
Liam Myers
There is no wrong hole with Harley
Connor Lee
Have you seen the sales? It probably just flew under everyone’s radars.
Robert Murphy
Yeah, but we've had a few threads.
Then again, War Machine 2.0 is still missing and we have one more day to go. Anything can happen.
Josiah Ross
Does it really matter? They're both some of the worst this medium has to offer.
Jack Perez
DAM dat Harley ass.
Logan Mitchell
Is that the biggest outcome of this book - Adam Strange maxiseries by King?
Ryan Moore
RISE
Nathaniel Barnes
RISE
Nolan Lewis
This might be the only page that survived before the ending was changed.
Nolan Mitchell
You can’t spell Trauma without T&A
Joseph Kelly
This is the only time someone in this book is written like a human being
Cooper Jackson
This is Tom King absolutely not getting why people where pissed about the book.
Any reporter should have asked about the Mountain of Corpses Sanctuary is responsible for
Landon Reyes
I agree.
Bentley Roberts
Yea that’s another problem with the confessionals it’s never explained whether everybody who made one is dead.
Grayson Wilson
Yes.
Rich leaked the plot/ending and the lighting deaths and ivy’s Resurrection are two plot changes that supposedly accursed from it.
Brandon Powell
Originally is supposed to be Bunker’s death but DC’s PR people threw a shit fit about killing a gay character
Gabriel Russell
Yeah pretty sure the speed force can't do that.
Jordan Reyes
The thing that gets me is that any average Yea Forums user could probably write a better one panel commentary about any one of these characters.
Look at Metamorpho. No commentary on how he's died more times than probably any other character in comics? Nothing about how he's probably the only dead character who never had an afterlife event? How about during that whole Blackest Night thing? He didn't turn like all the other characters who had died and come back, so doesn't that mean he's not really technically even alive?
And look at J'onn. Jesus, the things one could say about J'onn. "So, this one time it was revealed that Batman, one of my oldest friends, had thought of ways to beat us all. For Superman, he spent a dozen fortunes to synthesize a stone that could put him out of commission instead of one of the bajillion stones he already had that would just kill him. For me? HE SET ME ON FIRE. FOREVER. THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY SOMEONE LIKE ME COULD EVER DIE."
Alexander Thompson
wheres the "i survived the storytime of pain badge" we're gonna need it after slogging through this shit
Joshua Young
I had just hoped for a decent booster gold story. This was not that story.
Connor Turner
The weird thing is what Metamorpho's saying is clearly a Doomsday Clock tie in. But Doomsday Clock's canonicity right now is about as solid as water.
Isaac Gonzalez
Man, I wish Sideways book lasted longer.
Liam Nelson
This comic is horrible. The premise of heroes dealing with trauma is great and some of the confessionals are well done, but as another user said, when others are just gags or plain stupid it doesn't work. But at least it got some great T&A art.
Jacob Morris
Such a shame the art is so gorgeous and the story so shit.
Leo Turner
Wasn't Donna supposed to be the drunk? Also that title is right, fuck this.
