Heroes in Crisis #4

Surprised this one wasn't "look ma, no hand!"

The punnage! The Dad Joke level of it all!

Wow.... murder is never the most glamorous of things - despite the whole noir/detective/spy gigs that keep popping up but good gravy does Harley look freaky here!
I turn the page and see Aquaman crying out in pain, grasping the mangled remains of his arm with his good hand and think 'aahhh, that's better.' Then I feel bad. But no tooo bad, because I'm pretty sure lil ol' Arthur got a gold hand to sob into afterwards.




Alright, first off - I love this scene. The mural, Donna casually carrying her drunk from mourning team mate, the graffiti credits, the lighting... it's just great.

We haven't really seen much of the Titans apart from... well... Wally. We do get to see Donna's confessional. Also... new outfit? I kinda like it... but I do miss the star cluster outfit with go go boots. 

She starts talking about the Troy that Helen and a few others made famous. 

At first you're like, okay, not everyone wants to talk about themselves, that's cool. But then you're like - she is. She's Donna TROY. She is still sore about DC screwing up her timeline and for the most part, her life. Clever way of saying so. Flash has a way with words too. 

Well... four letter words. 

Yep, Flash and Batman sitting in a field. I-N-V-E-S-T-I-G-A-T-I-N-G.

Flash believes Booster did it, Batman thinks Harley, going off each other's recent encounters with the colourful blondes.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman interrogates Booster lariat style about what happened. Well, again apparently. Booster recalls talking to Harley... Harley hitting Wally and then turning on him.

 Wonder Woman questions why Booster didn't use the shield he stole from the future. Booster can't give a reason.
He does though mention after he was hit, he was left in the field with corpses so he flew away. Before going to a diner, and meeting Harley again, I guess?










Speaking of diners and cheesecake... DAMN Lois.

I can't decide what I like more, the art being gorgeous, the pose being so natural and not oversexualised, the backdrop being so breathtaking or that Lois is parodying her husband's work outfit.

Wait, they're in bed for a reason. Sexy, sexy work talk. Oh yeah baby, talk to me about anxiety riddled super heroes... tell me about how you'll spank me like a naughty, naughty depressed super villain....

Where was I going with this...? Oh, right.. Lois keeps getting videos of these confessionals from someone named the Puddler.
It's a scoop, and she wants it. Plus, if she doesn't act, they'll go to the next bloodthirsty reporter who may not have Lois' integrity... or pantslessness. Clark is so conflicted.. and maybe horny.. that all he can say is "I don't know". Oh yes, daddy?







Next hero in the booth is Batgirl. She says three words, but shows her gunshot wounds from The Killing Joke which says enough.

Especially when on the next page she meets up with Harley Quinn in a hall of mirrors. When does anything good EVER happen in a hall of mirrors?

I do like this composition though. Harley in her classic costume, posing like she used to. Batgirl striking a powerful stance. Both saying cutesy hellos. The mirrors add an extra element here.

Harley crashes through glass - singing yet another violent nursery rhyme - to attack Batgirl.
Batgirl deflects the clown girl while trying to talk sense to her. She's tried to find Harley first - even though it meant coming to a Joker lair by herself, not knowing what she would find - because she wanted to help. She wanted to beat Batman there.






They have a touching heart to heart over being broken and scarred.

Meanwhile, Black Canary and Green Arrow meet up on a beautiful cliff face - about to shoot Roy's trucker cap off as a farewell, I think. Or steal it. They only get two panels so it's a little unclear. 

Then Black Canary is off to her Sanctuary appointment. It goes about as well as you'd think. 

 Speaking of beautiful - how about that sweet, sweet bromance between Blue Beetle and Booster Gold? Booster is cooped up in the Hall of Justice and discussing his interrogation via angry Amazon.

Booster is a bit forlorn - Wonder Woman said that he may have just believed he didn't do it which would allow him to pass the lasso test. Poor Booster has no idea if he's messed up enough to do that and if he is, then maybe he did murder a bunch of fellow heroes.

Blue Beetle decides to bust Booster out because;

This kind of frustrates Wonder Woman because they had a suspect in custody and one on the run. Now there's two on the run. Plus Batman needs new collectables.. and maybe new friends. 

I feel so bad, but I laughed at this. I mean, if someone did that in my collection area I would freak out. Batman handled it pretty well considering how many giant penny's and expensive cars are on the market. Well... actually, he is in Gotham. 

Superman drops a less coin like bombshell... Lois is releasing - or rather has released a story about the sanctuary that could compromise many supers. Oh, and also the video footage survived Batman's programming it not to do that... so now the investigation is super delayed and SUPER compromised.

Clark is a reporter... but he should know better and prioritise finding a murderer/s instead of safeguarding a journalist's source and marital confidences regarding newspapers.  

I love seeing Harley just flip/gymnast her way everywhere while Batgirl's roping it.

The Short End of the Jester Schtick

Well, naysayers in the comments are already saying how this series is pumping up Harley Quinn again. I still don't think so. I think she plays a vital role in this. Wearing her classic costume when she started out in her new threads, singing demented nursery rhymes almost compulsively, hanging out in old Joker hideouts, wearing a Joker-esque smile while murdering people randomly?

I'm starting to wonder if Joker has brainwashed or otherwise co-erced Harley into this. Even Wonder Woman is thinking along the same lines.

He's the most messed up character in the Rogue's Gallery yet we haven't heard a peep from him yet. Not that he would go the Sanctuary.. unless he thought there was a joke in it.

I am still very much intrigued by where this series is going, and I'm loving the Batgirl and Harley team up. I have pointed out before how similar these two are, but this issue has bought a new angle into it that I hadn't thought of before. Plus, smart Batgirl tracking Harley down and treating her with compassion.

Wotta Comedian!

Tempest: We were Titans! And... and.... teens...
Donna: Get up, Tempest. We're leaving. 
Tempest: Oh. You. Hey. I can't walk. Maybe I could swim. 

Donna: They look for it, they find ruins, but they don't know. It should exist. There's so much built around it. It should be...It should just be. But maybe it doesn't. Maybe it's just a mistake. A confusion between two old storytellers who got mixed up. Maybe it was never there in the first place. 

Harley: One.. two... Gonna get you! Three... four... Hit the floor!

Batgirl: How long is it going to be before Batman does what I did? Goes through the Joker's old haunts? And finds you just where I found you? And he'll take you and he'll judge you. He'll see you. The same way he sees me. 

Black Canary: Solve them now. Or I'll find them both, blow their heads off.. ...and let the afterlife's greatest detective figure it out. 

Booster Gold: Dude...
Blue Beetle: Yeah, man. 
Booster Gold: I mean, &%@#.
Blue Beetle: Right?

Blue Beetle: It's a lot of hitting. And hurting. Occasional dying. If you're a hero that's just what you do. Over and over and over. And over. You think you'd ger used to it and you kind of do. But you also kind of don't. 

Superman: There's... something else. I have to tell you. Tell you two. 
Batman: I'll hide the dinosaur. 

Batman: What? How long have you known?
Superman: A few days. 
Batman: Days!
Superman: I'm sorry. 
Batman: You corn-fed -- don't you -- how... You think it's a damn coincidence this happens after the murders? We need to investigate... we need to have already investigated this!

Batman: Great. Now I'm going to break the dinosaur. 

Harley: Harley and Girl-Bat! The Dynamicker duo!
Batgirl: Hm.