Kelly Sue DeConnick marks her return to DC Comics with the start of her run on Aquaman. She is accompanied by the art team of Robson Rocha on pencils, Daniel Henriques on inks, and Sunny Cho on colors. Her run begins after the events of Justice League: Drowned Earth, where Aquaman has suffered amnesia.
***SPOILERS****
I generally try to avoid spoilers as much as possible. Since this is the final volume for the super popular The Wicked + The Divine, however, a little more detail will need to be discussed.
Partly, I think the appeal of WicDiv is never quite knowing exactly where the story is going. More so than normal comic structures, WicDiv often creates a sense of “what the hell is going on?” while maintaining a sexy and seductive feel from the fantastic art of Jamie McKelvie and gorgeous colors from Matt Wilson.
This particular volume is a collection of one shots that was put out over time, as explained in the foreword. While the title is coming to a close, with one final volume to be released, this acts as a nice palate cleanser before finishing out the story. In some ways, this volume might act as an introduction to WicDiv that could be given to someone to tempt them into reading the series. All of these stories stand on their own and there really is no need to have much foreknowledge going in.
This issue’s primary focus is on Sofia, introduced in the first issue. She has been targeted by unknown players and needs the protection of The Outsiders. The jury is out on whether she becomes a hero, a villain, or a casualty. She has powers and is prominently featured, so it is unlikely that she’ll end up dead. We get a hint that she could be a villain from Kaliber’s throwaway line: “Dr. Fragile? Nah. Sounds like a bad guy...” When we get a surprise reveal at the end that Ra’s al Ghul is involved, all bets are off. She could likely be turned into a villain.
Bryan Hill builds off his very strong run in Detective Comics [see issues 983-987]. That run is worth picking up and reading on its own merit as well as to provide context for this new title. Batman has assembled a side team, as he is wont to do, to run missions when he cannot be directly involved. The catch for The Outsiders is that Batman has picked Black Lightning to lead this team specifically to challenge his decision making, where appropriate, and to train The Signal [Duke Thomas] and Orphan [Cassandra Cain].
My take on Heroes in Crisis is that its message is easier to understand if you have gone through major trauma in your life. I think it is harder to digest if you haven’t. We see Wally West struggling with his place in the Rebirth universe. He is all too aware of what he had before and what he no longer has—his family.
Spoilers ahead. Usually, I try to avoid discussing too many spoilers in these reviews. This particular issue, it is quite impossible to do so.
Lots of people may be upset at Tom King for this issue. I am not. People’s feelings are valid, since they are their feelings. So many people love Wally West. I do too. Wally is my Flash; I grew up with him. So, I can get why there are some strong feelings about the very idea that Wally murdered people, even albeit accidentally. That said, I think they are missing the point.
The last arc, Knightmares, was a bit controversial. For some, it was paced a bit slowly and felt disjointed. Personally, I did not have any qualms with it. Those who didn’t quite take to Knightmares, however, should respond to the beginning of this latest arc positively.
The Wicked + The Divine is at times an exercise in madness. Not the bad kind, and not necessarily the good kind. Just madness. Whenever I read a volume of WicDiv, I walk away with a sense of, “What the hell just happened?” combined with a sense of, “Wow, that was gorgeous to look at and I know this is going somewhere and I am here for the ride.”
Entering into the final act of Heroes in Crisis, we are no closer to knowing who committed the murders at Sanctuary than we were issues ago. The mystery thickens a bit when we learn that Wally West is involved in something with Poison Ivy. We are still left not knowing all the victims of Sanctuary and whether Wally West is actually alive or dead. With most of DC's "Crises," a speedster usually dies and the rupture of space/time is involved. What we do get out of this issue is a bit of coalescence. Harley Quinn and Booster Gold duke it out until they come to an understanding.
