This morning’s DC Comics breakfast at San Diego Comic Con may have taken place on the Hornblower Yacht – yes, be jealous – but it was more of an initiation than anything else. In order to promote Tom King’s upcoming Heroes in Crisis miniseries, guests were welcomed into the Sanctuary that some of their favorite heroes would be staying at and even provided with white robes to remind them of DC’s eerie generosity. In the midst of what felt like a relaxing and meditative breakfast meant to rejuvenate our world-weary spirits, Tom King himself appeared like a zen master ready to guide his flock through their heroes’ journeys. Which is precisely what happens at the Sanctuary during Heroes in Crisis – or at least what’s supposed to happen until something goes terribly wrong.
Before getting into specifics about the story itself, though, King gave credit to Clay Mann as the book’s main artist and then announced that Mitch Gerads would be contributing as well. “As the series goes forward, we’re going to do deep dives into the emotions of these characters and get inside their lives in a way you’ve never seen in comics before.” King promised, which is what Gerads would be on hand for. One place we may have seen something similar is Mister Miracle, however, which King acknowledged when he called Heroes in Crisis a “follow-up” and “realization” of their previous effort. Instead of focusing on one superhero and how he reflects our current time, like they did with Scott Free, this time they will reveal the inner workings of “hundreds of superheroes.” Sounds like quite a Herculean task.
Whodunnit?Enough comic events take multiverse-ending scenarios and expand on them, but this time the creators hoped to infuse that same scope and into a more personal story that focused on how superheroes see themselves instead of simply how the rest of the world sees them. He drew very clear parallels with moments of weakness in his own life and those around him, explaining that the true purpose of Heroes in Crisis is to explore how “we can lean on each other and find strength in each other,” instead of always being strong and silent. That was the reason Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman created Sanctuary in the first place: to give heroes who have had to go through violent ordeals a place to talk out their issues and receive support from some particularly caring AIs.
It’s a beautiful thought, but of course the comic doesn’t begin in such an uplifting manner. The crisis in question commences when a massacre at the Sanctuary leaves a dozen heroes dead, and the Trinity have to uncover who did the deed – with none other than Harley Quinn and Booster Gold as the main suspects. While he wasn’t supposed to give too many spoilers about the nature of the deaths or the turn the investigation takes, King did quote Dan Didio’s comment from another event back in 2007: “You can’t have a Crisis without a dead Flash.” Wally West, we hardly knew ye (again).
Heroes in Crisis will be available in comic book stores and online starting September 26th, 2018.