Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Heroes in Crisis #2 Review and **SPOILERS**



Yes Father, I Shall Become a Rat

Writer: Tom King 
Artists: Clay Mann & Travis Moore 
Colors: Tomeu Morey & Arif Prianto 
Letters: Clayton Cowles 
Cover By: Clay Mann and Tomeu Morey 
Variant Covers By: Ryan Sook 
Associate Editor: Brittany Holzherr 
Editor: Jamie S. Rich 
Cover Price: $3.99 
On Sale Date: October 31, 2018

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Do you think they’ll kill Wally West…again??!
Find out when you read my review of Heroes in Crisis #2, right here!



Explain It!

The heroes being treated at Sanctuary have been viciously murdered, and we all have two questions: “What??” and “What the hell, man?!” It’s time for the Super-Trio of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman to find out! Namely Batman. Sure, they’ll probably make use of Supes’ X-ray vision at some point, but the deducing is gonna be all Batman. To that end, he’s doing a little autopsy on Commander Steel, to remove something lodged in his throat. While in surgery, Clark and Diana ask him where the list of patients is kept. He explains that Sanctuary was meant to be anonymous, so there is no list. They’re all like, c’mon man, we know you kept a list, you literally keep methods to kill everyone in the Justice League on deck at all times. Bruce is all no, no really, I totally don’t have a list and stuff, and plus here’s what was jammed in Commander Steel’s neck: some novelty chattering teeth.

Speaking of novelty chattering teeth, Harley Quinn has made a deal with the Penguin to hide her away in one of his Gotham City waterfront warehouses, complete with a King Penguin there to play cards with. I don’t mean King Penguin, I mean an actual penguin, with a beak and bird feet and that. I guess without explaining anything substantial, he gives up this spot, which is discovered instantly by the Trinity. Harley says she planned it that way, when grabs Wonder Woman’s lasso and yokes up Batman, forcing him to expose the Kryptonite in his belt that he claimed wasn’t there! This incapacitates Superman and—blinds Wonder Woman or something? Harley gets away, saying that Booster Gold was the one who killed everyone as she escapes.

Speaking of Booster, he’s awake in the cow pasture he was dying in the last issue, all patched up and repaired by Skeets. He explains the situation to his hovering Roomba buddy, and Skeets thinks he should turn himself in. Instead, Booster decides to hit up the Flash and ask him if he has any information regarding the death of his best friend at the secret installation for heroic recuperation. For his part, Barry didn’t even know such a place existed, and when he gets back from some super-speed reconnaissance, he socks Booster one in the face. Over at the Daily Planet, they’ve received a video interview from Sanctuary of Arsenal admitting some sensitive information. And the issue ends with Clark’s Sanctuary interview, which ends with him literally about to expose his costume—in the interview! Like, they know who you are, dude, that’s why you’re here in the first place!


And, of course, the issue is cut with interviews featuring Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as Poison Ivy at the beginning, who I’m sure will figure in prominently in this story somehow. This isn’t a terrible issue, but no one is behaving the way I expect them to. Harley Quinn is a slippery soothsayer, and I can forgive her besting Batman and Superman, but why wouldn’t Wonder Woman have followed her out of that warehouse? Booster Gold seems like a complete idiot. Why would the Penguin just give Harley a hideout? Is he friends with her or something? Why would she bother hiding out if she wanted to contact the Super Friends in the first place? And then once she contacts them, she runs away to drop a rose in the Gotham River? Too many questions surrounding weird personality shifts across the DCU. If it turns out that they’ve all been possessed by spectral brain microchips or something, then maybe I’ll reassess this issue from earlier in the series.

Bits and Pieces:

The story widens in scope a little, but I find it difficult to see this as a story happening in the DCU. It's more like a super-dramatic episode of Hogan's Heroes. Like super-dramatic, like Colonel Klink's head was removed mysteriously. And then Corporal LeBeau punches Corporal Newkirk? I haven't worked out the allegorical details.

6/10

9 comments:

  1. The main problem for me, other than resorting to the usual even default of killing one or more Titans, was the fight with the Trinity. Harley grabs Diana's lasso. Clark thumps Harley on the head and knocks her out. Harley can not under any logic circumstances deal with the reaction time of either Clark or Diana. It just rings totally false to me. Also how did Harley get into or even know where Sanctuary was? I would like to think if the Trinity hides something it is actually well hidden. There's a lot in this story that just doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe it will at the end but two issues in I'm not sure I'm going to be buying it to see.

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    1. Yep...details never jive or are left out just because they wouldn't make sense and Harley is now just like Catwoman in the first 50 issues of Batman. Tom King thinks that writing strong female characters means they get to do anything and everything despite logic...unless it's Wonder Woman who never does a thing! My guess is he makes a character beyond super human thinking fans of the character will go ape shit over it and praise him...but it never makes sense. Catwoman takes out 3 Flashes, Harley takes out the Trinity. Both complete horseshit!

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  2. Reggie you are far to kind to Kings writting. This story is Trash. It makes me so mad that this is an event. They used to say Bat God, but then King gave us the Cat God. But now we can all say the Harly God is what's it's in the zeitgeist. She absolutely punked Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. And wouldn't she be trying to kill booster if he killed Ivy. And Booster is magically fixed, but still some how out of character. Please someone stop this guy he's killing more than just Batman, he's killing DC Comics.
    3/10

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    1. It has got to the point where i refuse to buy anything by him anymore, it's that bad.

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    2. I will subtract 100 points for each death, Wally West's death costs 1,000 special points and minus 5 for characters acting out of character. I believe we're left with a didionic negative sum.

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  3. I think that Tom King's previous experience of working for the C.I.A is helping him with his writing career now. He must have a ton of dirt on DC executives to keep getting work.

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    1. Ha ha ha! Best one on the net! And I thought Lobdell was the top extortionist at DC!

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  4. Harley Quinn beating Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman? No thanks. I'm out. I can get Harley Quinn fan fiction for free on the internet instead of paying 4 bucks a shot down at the comic shop. Thanks, Obama. Wait. . .Can I still blame Barry, or do we just blame Trump for everything crappy now?

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    1. we have none to blame but ourselves for this. Tom King more, but then ourselves

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