Heroes In Crisis #3 (Review): An Emotional Punch To The Gut

HEROES IN CRISIS #3

Writer: Tom King

Artist: Clay Mann and Lee Weeks

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Publisher: DC Comics

8/10

This issue finally shed a little light on exactly what the patients of Sanctuary went through while staying there. This issue is by far the most emotional issue of the series so far. From the beginning of HEROES IN CRISIS, there have been a lot of comparisons to IDENTITY CRISIS. With death and an overall black cloud over the entire DCU.

With the first issue Tom King did the unthinkable and killed off many heroes including Roy Harper, but more importantly Wally West. As a huge fan of Wally it broke my heart, I almost wanted to give up on the series, after all that work of bringing Wally back why would DC "kill" him again. It just felt like such a senseless death, used only for shock value. Being a Tom King fan, I have faith that there are reasons behind everything that has transpired in the book.

Throughout this issue we learn more behind the trauma that brought Lagoon Boy to Sanctuary. His story is absolutely heartbreaking. One of the things that King introduced in this issue is a room that the patients can go that will be whatever they want. Lagoon Boy chooses to have the room attack him over and over. He chooses that because he wonders why he lived when the rest of his team, Titans East, didn't. Like many servicemen that deal with losing their comrades, Lagoon Boy questions "why him?" Tom King in one issue makes you emotionally invested in a character most had long forgotten about. Which gives his death in issue 1 a depth and weight that it was lacking before.

The scenes with Wally are what really pulled on my heartstrings. Finally after years of waiting for Wally to deal with his loss of Linda, Jai and Irey (his wife and kids), we see him use "the room" to do just that. Watching a character that I, and many others, feel such a deep connection to go through such a traumatic loss has been hard to read as fan. Why give Wally fans what they wanted by bringing him back only to kill him? Tom King shows a sincere love for the character and has Wally's "voice" down perfectly. He shows why Wally is such a beloved character and is so important to the DCU. His "death" is shown again but is still done ambiguously, which still gives me hope that maybe this isn't the last we've seen of Wally.

Once again King's captivating words we're brought to life by Clay Mann, along with Lee Weeks and Tomeu Morey. Their art leaves nothing to the imagination, every emotion these characters are experiencing are on full display with every panel. Adding Lee Weeks to an already amazing art team was brilliant. His Lagoon Boy scenes were especially gut wrenching. The art gets better with every issue, Tom King is one of the luckiest writers, he's constantly blessed with some of the best artists in the industry.

This series has really gained traction with every issue. The plot continues to be fleshed out and becomes more emotionally investing with every new piece of the mystery revealed.