Mild Mannered Reviews – Heroes in Crisis #8

Heroes in Crisis #8 [of 9]

Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 24, 2019
Cover date: June 2019

“Alive”

Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads and Travis Moore
Cover: Mitch Gerads
Variant Covers: Ryan Sook

Reviewed by: Glen J. Clark

In the confession room, Wally West explains the events that led to the tragedy at Sanctuary. He questions the validity of Sanctuary. Is it an actual place that has helped others or was it invented just for me? He remembers his past life (Pre-New 52) with Linda Park, his wife and their children, all now a past memory. If this place was real, than their must be others here with him, but because the place is anonymous he was not allowed any interactions with others, strengthening his suspicions about being alone even further. So he decides, since he is the fastest man alive, to take all this “deleted” data that has been cracked and put it back together, revealing to him every person who has gone through Sanctuary, the pain they were feeling during their confessionals, the acts that they were trying to sort through in the virtual reality rooms. Piecing this puzzle back together set off some sort or alarm announcing everyone to please exit Sanctuary. Already struggling with his own mental struggles, and now adding everyone else who has been through Sanctuary, is more than Wally could bare and he could not keep his speed force in check, emanating bursts of lightning from his body killing everyone who was outside of Sanctuary. In a panic he ran inside and saw Booster Gold and Harley Quinn had not made it outside, so in a flash he put both back into separate Virtual Reality chambers and programmed each to show the other person killing the other occupants outside. Wally then traveled five days into the future, found and killed his future self and brought it back to the past and laid it beside his friend Roy Harper. Rearranging the crime scene and leaving cryptic notes to throw Batman and Barry Allen off track. All of this to buy him some time, five days to be exact. Five days to try and do something as good as he had done bad. Five days to tell the truth.

To be continued…

Story – 4: In typical Tom King fashion, this story has been very controversial. Just look at Tom King’s Twitter page and you will know what I am talking about. One person even sent him death threats over this story. So why 4 Shields? Often we as fans get so passionate about our favorite characters that we confuse what is written versus how it is written. This book in particular is brilliantly crafted. As we get an internal look into Wally’s head we see a man struggling to find himself in this world that has basically forgotten him. The book even mentions that everyone said he was the symbol of Hope (see ‘DC Rebirth’), but with Linda, his wife from a previous world, not even recognizing him and his kids nowhere to be seen, he feels anything but Hope, in fact he feels rather hopeless. Which brought him to Sanctuary in the first place. With all of this heartache, and then adding all the pain and memories from everyone who ever stepped foot inside Sanctuary it was just too much, and something he has been able to control all his life, the speed force, erupted from him, killing those around him. Tom King writes a story that deals with the harsh reality of ‘it could happen to anyone’. A parent, a loved one, even a hero can lose control when pushed to the limit. Separate the who done it for why he did it and you will see the brilliance behind this story.

Art – 5: This book for the most part has been done by the talented Clay Mann, and the visuals have been breathtaking. However, for this particular issue, Mitch Gerads does an exceptional job setting the overall tone that this book was trying to deliver. Every page was simply breathtaking.

Cover Art – 5: A dichotomy of Wally’s life, what should have been versus what it really is. This cover captures Wally’s perfect day; a husband and a father enjoying the peacefulness of the outdoors with people who love and support him, his wife and kids. If this was a reality, the events that happened in this book would never have happened.

Variant Cover Art – 3: These covers have been a lot of fun, different events for characters across the DC Universe in the form of a case file showing what brought them to Sanctuary. This one focuses on the transformation of Dr. Harleen Quinzel into Harley Quinn. However just the top of her head coming out of the vat of chemicals just didn’t do much for me. Maybe if it showed more than just the tip of her nose up. Maybe if there was an image of the Clown Prince of Crime in the background, but as it stands this cover is average at best and is outshined by the regular cover.

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