WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Heroes in Crisis #1 by Tom King, Clay Mann, Mark Brooks, J.G. Jones and Francesco Mattina, on sale now.


How could something so right go so very wrong?

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman pooled their resources to create the superhero crisis center known as Sanctuary. It was a place where heroes could come and deal with the pain and torment of the violent lives they lead, and it was meant to make them better. Heroes in Crisis #1 is about how that idea goes wrong. In the first issue of this nine-issue series, readers see just how bad things can get.

Someone has attacked the facility. There are multiple homicides, key witnesses are in the wind and the surviving heroes have no idea who did this, or how it could even happen. The events of the first issue kick off an investigation into who is responsible for this travesty, but first it's only right to take a moment to acknowledge those that were lost.

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So Many More Heroes Die Than We Thought

We knew that there would be more than one big death to open this event series, but no amount of marketing could prepare readers for this level of carnage. Upon hearing about the attack on the Sanctuary facility, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman rush to the scene to see what has happened.

Superman is the first to arrive. He finds what can only be described as a massacre. Bodies are strewn across the front lawn as superheroes undergoing treatment seemingly attempted to run for their lives. The first bodies he comes across are a group of young heroes who had yet to make a name for themselves.

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The superhero Blue Jay is the first confirmed dead, as evidenced by his bloody cowl and wings being picked apart by a flock of crows. The shrinking superhero was a survivor from the world of Angor and had recently been featured in Justice League. Perhaps the most emotionally charged death belongs to the former Teen Titan Hot Spot. Though he had not been seen in years, Isaiah Crockett had once been a major part of Dan Jurgens' Teen Titans relaunch.

Hot Spot was found among a group of heroes that also included another one-time Titan. Lagoon Boy, who was an ally of Aquaman and a member of both the Teen Titans and Young Justice in pre-Flashpoint continuity, was found among the bodies. Another demise is a little tricky. He's either Steel, the former Justice Leaguer who originally died back in 1980s, his Earth-2 counterpart Captain Steel or Citizen Steel. Hopefully later issues will clarify his identity, but it should be noted that, no matter who he is, trauma runs in the Heywood family.

The Big Deaths Are Revealed

For months, DC Comics' marketing was hitting readers over the head with the promise that not one, but two superheroes would be killed in the opening of Heroes in Crisis. The publisher ran several ads hinting at who it might ultimately be, but no amount of teasing could prepare us for the tragic scene that Superman finds inside the Sanctuary facility.

Whatever happened must have started inside the house, because Roy Harper and Wally West are the only heroes found dead inside. Both Roy and and Wally had their adventures and their fair share of problems. As an addict, Arsenal had to fight hard to come back from the dark side and prove that he could be a hero. He was a friend and ally to many in the superhero community, having served as a member of the Titans and Red Hood's Outlaws. He was also just recently acknowledged by Green Arrow as his equal.

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Wally West, on the other hand, had to fight hard just to continue existing. Lost in the Speed Force following the New 52 reboot, he returned to the world in DC Universe: Rebirth, though he never seemed to find his place. Few people remembered him, and his family was lost to him. Following a fight with his mentor, Barry Allen, he was taken to Sanctuary to deal with the trauma he faced from his time outside the timeline. Now he has been cut down.

It's worth wondering how the superhero community will react to their murders. Unlike the others, these two were intrinsically linked to many of the most prominent superheroes in the DCU. They both had mentors who treated them more like sons than sidekicks, and they were both former members of the Titans before the team was broken up by the Justice League. Will Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman tell their loved ones that Arsenal and the Flash are no more? It can't possibly be a good situation, considering these heroes were under their care at the time.

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Are There More Deaths Unaccounted For?

The issue came to an end with a total of six superheroes confirmed dead, but could there possibly be more victims that we haven't seen yet? We only see Superman's initial approach to the house and the Trinity convening inside, but there hasn't been a final tally yet. It's worth considering that there may be other casualties brought up in the following issues, and here's how we know that.

We see a view Sanctuary from afar upon Superman's initial approach, with bodies spread across the ground. There are a total of 13 bodies in the shot. While four of those deaths are accounted for, that leaves another nine bodies to be considered. Sure, several of those victims are likely the robots that attended the patients of the facility, but it's hard to imagine there were that many, that they would all be running for their lives and they would bleed red blood. If that aerial shot is supposed to be taken literally, there has to be a few more loses.

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Another major hint is that there is a Green Lantern symbol seen among the bodies Superman stands over. While he surveys the loss of Hot Spot, Lagoon Boy and Steel, we also see a Green Lantern uniform, but the victim is obscured by Superman's body and the end of the page. Who could this possibly be, and how did the killer defeat a member of the Green Lantern Corps? Kyle Rayner was teased to be among the victims, but his demise would have made it into the issue. Another possibility is that it's Simon Baz, who is not featured in any upcoming books. Of course, there are thousands of Green Lanterns out there, but it's likely that only those familiar with Earth would have been stationed here.

We don't know who did this, or where the investigation will take us, but seeing so many heroes die in such a gruesome and all-too-real way gives us pause. This is truly a terrible tragedy in the DC Universe, and you can be certain a crisis has started.