The mystery about what happened at Sanctuary starts to be revealed in Heroes In Crisis #3. The third issue focuses on Booster Gold, Wally West and Lagoon Boy. Each one of these heroes has been at Sanctuary for various amounts of time with Booster being the newcomer.

Heroes In Crisis #3
Written By: Tom King
Art By: Clay Mann and Lee Weeks
Published By: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 11/28/2018

 

The mystery about what happened at Sanctuary starts to unravel in Heroes in Crisis #3. The focus of this third issue is on Booster Gold, Wally West, and Lagoon Boy. Each of these heroes has been at Sanctuary for varying amounts of time, with Booster being the newcomer. The other focal point of this issue is a room in Sanctuary called “The Chambers”, where each patient can go for more intensive help with their issues. For instance: Lagoon Boy goes there and relives a moment – over and over – when he let down the Titans, Wally West spends time with his alternate future wife and kids, and Booster Gold goes to The Chambers to confront himself. The room gives the heroes more help and answers for why things have been happening to them.

Writer Tom King once again nails the deep and personal stakes of this story. There are moments in this book where, once again, I found myself moved to tears by the characters’ personal experiences. It’s at these times when you can see how much these heroes have been through, and what could help them cope with their growing PTSD. King shows that a story doesn’t need a lot of action to have an impact, and it reminds the reader about the importance of these characters.

The art by Clay Mann and Lee Weeks shines in every panel of this book. The design of Sanctuary is fantastic and lends itself even more to the mystery of “the incident” at the hospital. The panel layout also further enhances the story and makes the reader care more about the characters. For example, there is a page of panels laid out in columns of three: the first focuses on Lagoon Boy, the middle on Wally, and the third on Booster. This gives the characters their own individualized focus, even though it’s all on one page. As I stated earlier, with this type of story, action isn’t really needed. That’s just another thing that makes the art stand out, making the experience all the more enjoyable.

There was only one negative that I took away from this book, and it came toward the end. The reader sees some of the other patients in their confessionals, but it feels like these panels are just an afterthought. As a reader, I was more than happy focusing on the three highlighted characters in this book. The addition of the (frankly) ancillary panels about the other patients broke the immersion for me a bit. I feel like a better choice would have been to focus on the other characters in the next book instead of including them in this one.

Despite the negatives, I did enjoy Heroes In Crisis #3. Not only am I invested in the characters, I am also invested in this mystery.

3.75 Lagoon Boys out of 5