Heroes In Crisis: What the Hell? Really?

Hey, guys! Let’s talk comic books!

This past weekend, I finished off Heroes In Crisis with mixed feelings.

RECAP: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have established a refuge called Sanctuary where super heroes can go and deal with the traumas of being a super hero.  A nice idea that gets gutted when a bunch of patients at the center turn up dead. Murdered! Among the victims is former Flash Wally West. Suspicions turn towards Booster Gold and Harley Quinn.

Nope! The actual murderer was…

Jean Loring in an insane scheme to get Ray Palmer (The Atom) to love her again.

No, that’s stupid. What kind of hackneyed writer would use that as a resolution?*

*Brad Meltzer, DC’s Identity Crisis in 2004.

No, it was Bruce Wayne (Batman) in an insane scheme to get Selina Kyle (Catwoman) to love him again.

No can do! Writer Tom King is already stomping on Bruce’s broken heart over in Batman.

OK, it was Wally West (the Flash) in an insane scheme to get Linda Park to love him again.

Well… not quite but…

OK, first of all, Wally is one of the murder victims! How can he be the murderer?

Time travel?

Yeah, why not.

Time travel! 

As we saw in Heroes In Crisis#8, Wally West was in Sanctuary trying to deal with stuff.

Once upon a time, he was married to Linda Park and they had two children.

Then time gets re-written! Thank you, Barry Allen!*

*Or Doctor Manhattan. Shit’s going down over in Doomsday Clock. More on that later.

Poof! Just like that Wally West is NOT married to Linda Park and does NOT have two children and does NOT exist.

Until he does.  See DC Rebirth about 3 years ago.

But he comes back to a fractured universe that forgot him but now remembers him?

And Linda Park has NO clue who this Wally West is?

Yeah, it’s enough to make you a little crazy.

In Sanctuary, Wally goes a LOT crazy, loses control over the speed force and kills everyone in Sanctuary.

Which is bad. A lot of heroes are dead and it’s Wally’s fault.

But accidents happen, right?

But “Bad” takes a turn towards “Worse” as Wally uses his speed to engage in a cover up and a frame up.

What the hell? Really? 

Part of this insane process involves Wally super speeding through time to snap his own neck and leave that body among the dead and… and…

What the hell? Really? 

Enter our heroes: TA DA! Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman arrive to set things right!

Nope. Enter Batgirl and Blue Beetle along with Booster Gold and Harley Quinn who convince Wally West not to snap Wally West’s neck.

Booster suggests a short hop to the 25^th century to clone up a dead Wally West to maintain the flow of time. Since Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman found a dead Wally West at the crime scene so that...  that....

What the hell? Really?

So here's where we leave you:

Wally West is alive! (YAY!)

But he killed a bunch of heroes. (BOO!)

But it was an accident. (Awwwwww......)

But Wally tried to cover it up. (Wha....?)

And.... and...

What the hell? Really?

Apparently DC has plans for Wally in the future but for now, his present looks royally fucked up and his legacy within the DC Universe is just total shit now. 

This hurts.

For most of my comic book reading life, Wally West was THE Flash. I started with Barry Allen as the Flash but despite efforts to add drama to his life, Barry was never more than generic cookie cutter white guy. Wally, when he assumed the mantle of the Flash after Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, was a flawed character. He evolved over time as a better human being and a better hero. Over two decades, Wally West earned the right to be the Flash.

Then in one of those bids to "get back to basic", Barry Allen returns and Wally's role became subservient.

Then along comes the New 52 and Wally's role becomes non-existent.

Wally West, the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, deserved better.

It looked like redemption might be at hand with the advent of DC Rebirth and the return of Wally West.

Then Heroes In Crisis#9 ends with Wally in handcuffs with the blood of dozens of heroes on his hands.

Wally West, the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, deserved....

What the hell? Really?






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In a couple of days, I'll post my thoughts on Doomsday Clock.