The controversial series continues on. I honestly can’t remember the last time a book published by DC comics has drawn this much heat. While still enjoying the story that both King and Mann are attempting to tell, to say it’s been without flaws would be a bit of a understatement. After all nothing is perfect. What’s the most interesting aspect is that this one of the two “extra” issues will bring to the overall narrative for Heroes In Crisis. Warning the review will contain spoilers, so read your comic before reading this review. You have been warned.

I won’t lie to you, this issue has left me puzzled. Not because of anything cryptic that was done, but before I open Pandora’s Box, the running theme of Heroes In Crisis continues to the stellar art. While Clay Mann pages (while minimal) are still gorgeous, it’s Lee Weeks pencils that truly shine. Weeks pencils are what I call deceptively good, at a glance his art doesn’t seem that different from the stuff you see from week to week. However the more you examine week’s page the more a reader will realize the true beauty. Weeks manages to bring that realistic feeling to a page, and it doesn’t clash whenever a superhero enters the scene, every panel has a cohesiveness to it. I’m also pleased to see that similar to Clay Mann, Lee Weeks pencils manages to conjure of a random rainstorm as I was reading this issue, namely that shot of Booster Gold overwhelmed as he attempts to help himself. My one hope for this chapter of Heroes In Crisis, is that more comic readers will finally see how beautiful Lee Weeks pencils are.

The most puzzling part of this issue, is that from a structure standpoint this should have been the first issue. While I personally enjoyed the opening act for Heroes In Crisis, the biggest criticism (besides the pointless murder of Wally West and Roy Harper) was the lack of context for Sanctuary. I understand that King loves to be subtle in his writing, but not all readers may enjoy that type of storytelling. I would honestly still defend Heroes In Crisis #1, but in a weird way this issue makes issue one redundant and vice versa. The plot doesn’t progress at because of this and which is a shame because of how intense the action kicked in. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the emotional moments of seeing Wally reunite with his family or Booster arguing with himself are emotional gut punching moments. Plus King manages to explain what Sanctuary is without having a exposition dump, the entire issue flowed beautifully. Sadly this issue just feels completely unnecessary.

At first Heroes In Crisis makes you think this will be a murder mystery that also examines the human condition within the world of superheroes. Now that it’s been revealed Harley Quinn did invade Sanctuary and kill the heroes there, I’m left wondering where this story heading. I understand that King wants to examine the mental health of our favorite DC heroes, but readers need more to stay invested in a story that will take almost nine months to finish. I’m willing to see where Tom King goes with this story, he’s proven to be a master storyteller but this issue will leave comic readers perplexed. At least Lee Weeks pencil’s look amazing.

Heroes In Crisis #3 earns a 4/5