Heroes In Crisis #9 hits your local comic book store this week, and writer Tom King pulls off the impossible by concluding the series with such emotion that you carefully turn each page to see what’s next, and there is a sober excitement for the future of the main characters in the book.
SPOILER WARNING – When discussing the art and the writing of Heroes In Crisis #9 spoilers may seep their way into the conversation. If you haven’t read the book yet turn back now.
Clay Mann handles all the art in the finale and the script is tailor-made for epic panels that leave you in awe. The final issue is full of raw emotion from every character involved and Mann is tasked with bringing that intensity to each panel. The book feels like a film in the way the camera angles are worked. Every panel conveys emotion and has a purpose. There are seven panels involving Harley Quinn that are cinematic gold. I’ve never had a static image emotionally squeeze me as hard as Mann’s work did in the finale. Tomeu Morey’s colors assist Mann’s pencils as the background colors bring the characters out of the page. Morey also gives certain panels a soft background blur that keeps the conversation serious but heartfelt.
Clayton Cowles has to stack a ton of King’s dialogue in the book, and it flows. The lettering in the book directs your eyes very well, and Cowles excels at framing the artwork to increase an emotional response from the reader. The final two pages of the book have a gentle ‘S-motion’ to the lettering that gives momentum so that the final word on the page is exciting and inspirational.
As mentioned before, Heroes In Crisis is about the raw emotion of being a superhero. Superman’s speech from issue five is probably the best moment from the series, but the final issue is where it all connects. King’s writing shines when it comes to unpacking the complexities of Wally West’s emotional state. There is a level of compassion in the writing that gets under your skin and resonates. Wally, Booster Gold, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Blue Beetle are all damaged goods to a certain degree, but you care deeply about the characters because of the little details that King puts into his story. What elevates the book, even more, is the ending had me excited for what comes next.
Overall, Heroes In Crisis was an up and down story but was definitely worth the price of admission.
What did you think of Heroes In Crisis? Check out a six-page preview below.
