At the DC in DC event, writer Tom King teased a new project dubbed “Sanctuary” that focused on the trauma experienced by superheroes. That project now has a name, Heroes in Crisis the newest “Crisis” event to hit DC Comics. King will be joined by artist Clay Mann on the series.
A former counterterrorism operations officer with the CIA, King has explored how we graple with war, conflict, and traume in various series such as The Sheriff of Babylon, The Omega Men, Batman, and Mister Miracle. Heroes in Crisis explores similar themes against the backdrop of a murder mystery involving Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Booster Gold, and the rest of the World’s Greatest Super Heroes.
King said in the announcement:
I feel like I’m part of a rolling generation of people who spent their twenties overseas fighting terrorism. Millions of people cycle through that machine and come home to America. And I think that sort of experience of violence is shaping who we are as a culture, and as a country. And I want to talk about that. I want to talk about that experience, the experience of what violence can do to a person, to a community, to a nation, to a world.
These pressures and internal conflicts can impact superheroes just as hard, if not more. To that end, King created a sanctuary within the pages of the comics he’s writing—a crisis center for superheroes who spend their lives fighting villainy and protecting others.
Heroes in Crisis is not a tale of universes colliding and dying. Instead this is a story centering on the humans and superhumans under the mask; this is about what allows them to get up and fight when it appears they can’t ever get up and fight again. When it’s too much, and it’s often too much, heroes go to Sanctuary—created by Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman—to find a moment of safety before returning to a universe of violence. Heroes in Crisis is also about what happens when Sanctuary fails, resulting in catastrophic consequences for the DCU.
The premiere issue of Heroes in Crisis, written by Tom King with art by Clay Mann and Tomeu Morey, lettered by Clayton Cowles, and edited by Jamie S. Rich and Brittany Holzherr, will reach comic book stores and be available digitally on September 26.
