This past weekend at DC Entertainment's "DC in DC" event, Batman writer Tom King unveiled a new addition to the DC Universe: a crisis center known as the Sanctuary.

Designed specifically for superheroes by the DC Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, Sanctuary will serve as a place where the defenders of the world go to receive emotional support and deal with the trauma of their adventures. Sanctuary has the possibility to appear in every book, and with it being inspired by crisis centers for real life war veterans, it's clearly something that King, who called it "the most obvious idea I've ever had," has long term plans for.

RELATED: Tom King Brings a Superhero Crisis Center to the DCU with Sanctuary

Though the books where Sanctuary will be featured have yet to be announced, it's likely that at the very least it'll show up in King's Batman, if not outright start there. We'd also bet it will factor into upcoming issues of Justice League of America or Green Lanterns. All three of those books are tend to focus heavily on character dynamics and emphasize to one degree or another that simply being a hero often isn't enough. As King and artist Mikel Janin's "War of Jokes and Riddles" arc in Batman showed us, being emotionally open is sometimes the most heroic thing you can do. 

But while it makes perfect sense for Sanctuary to be a part of those titles, the most important place to show Sanctuary in action would be in the books with teenage heroes -- books like Super Sons, Teen Titans and Detective Comics.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='DC%27s%20Teen%20Heroes%20Need%20More%20Help%20Than%20Their%20Adult%20Counterparts']



It only makes sense that younger heroes would get something of a bigger focus on therapy than the adults. Being a teenage superhero can be rough, and while their adventures typically aren't as cosmic or devastating as that of their adult counterparts, they still leave a mark on the younger generation. All told, there are currently more young adult teams kicking around than the adults: both Titans teams, the Super Sons, Deathstroke's Defiance group (for however long that lasts) and the Justice League of China. The only ones to interact with each other have been because of the Teen Titans, who met with the older Titans thanks to Lazarus Contract, and the Super Sons, when Damian was investigating whether Jon would be a good fit for his junior superhero team.

Tom King Teases Writing Booster Gold… For Something

DC's younger heroes may not have the constant stream of bad luck that Marvel's do, but when that misfortune hits, it tends to hit them hard. Beast Boy's spent the last two years thinking that Tim Drake is dead, only to meet an older version of him in <"Super Sons of Tomorrow," Superboy just learned he has a devastating and catastrophic power, the Titans were turned into monsters Robin almost had to kill thanks to the Batman Who Laughs, and the Signal is likely going to need someone to talk to when his miniseries wraps up.

While some of the younger heroes already have older counterparts to go to for guidance -- Super-Man has met Superman and Supergirl on more than one occasion, Robin has his father, and so on -- many of them only have other members of their team to rely on. Bonding moments in these books have popped up here and again, but the presence of Sanctuary will give creators the breathing room to really get cerebral with these characters instead of using those moments as a stop gap before the next big splash page.

teen-titans

As the oldest and most important foundation of the DC Universe, King has described the Trinity as being like parents when it comes to Sanctuary. In that respect, it mirrors a small part of history for DC's young heroes that may have also been. In Young Justice's inaugural season, an entire episode was dedicated to the Team spending time with Black Canary for therapy and dealing with their trauma after a simulated mission that went horribly wrong. That episode serves as a good example of what Sanctuary can be for the younger generation. Even though the Trinity will be the ones primarily listening to them, this is also a good opportunity for otherwise unrelated teen heroes to meet up and form a kind of support group.

RELATED: Batman Explains Why ‘Lark’ Was the Wrong Superhero Name for Duke Thomas

King wants to use the concept, in part, to bring back a sense of community into the DCU. Given that their adventures aren't always catastrophic, DC's teens have a better chance of meeting their peers under more pleasant circumstances. Just as group events lead to people bonding in real life, it can happen with the DC teens and Sanctuary -- it has the potential to lead to some fun dynamics, whether that be Super-Man hanging out with Beast Boy, bonding over their love of social media, or Starfire becoming BFFs with Orphan.

The entire DC Universe, when you get right down to it, is one big "found family" trope, and part of family means being there for one another when it all hits the fan. Sanctuary is something this world has needed for quite some time now; with the greater focus on emotional and mental health in the world, it couldn't go unnoticed in Big Two comics forever. Now more than ever, young adults need to learn that it's okay to talk to someone about their problems, and that extends to the fictional ones as well. As their comics show, they've all got their own various issues, and these aren't the ones that can simply be punched or blasted away.