When it comes to superhero comics, fans often get absorbed in the glitz and glam of caped vigilantes fighting off evildoers, and rightfully so. Escapism is what the medium's for at the end of the day, a means of stepping away from the fatigue and drama of the real world, if only for a short while. But beneath the surface of these pages, if you burrow down below the spectacle, there isn't just a physical toll being inflicted on heroes and villains, but a mental one as well.

Which is where Tom King's Sanctuary comes in, an avenue for both parties to undergo therapy in an attempt to assuage concerns of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Will it rehabilitate or cure them? Well, that remains to be seen, but we all know this isn't an exact science. What we do know, though, is that Sanctuary is an intriguing and much needed concept for treating distressed heroes, because it does them the humane favor of treating them like, well, people.

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This is something King has been doing from the start of his tenure at DC Comics. Geoff Johns got the ball rolling with DC Universe: Rebirth by ramping back up the nostalgia, but since then, King has taken the baton up by embedding a sense of humanity into his writing which hasn't just revitalized certain titles or characters, it's revolutionized them.

King is no stranger to the DNA of what makes heroic characters relatable. At Marvel, he and artist Gabriel Walta touched on marriage issues, divorce, teenage angst, depression and suicide with the Vision and his family. But just before that Eisner Award winning run, King dealt with turbulent human emotions in his and Mitch Gerads' 2015 Vertigo title, The Sheriff of Babylon. There, King refined what he learned as a CIA analyst and sculpted a terrorism story which actually held America in a revered light. He and Gerads portrayed soldiers occupying the Middle East as 'gods' so to speak, only to then break down the reality of the situation: These 'saviors' were just as flawed, and in need of saving as those they were there to rescue.

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By the time he got to DC, it came as no surprise that whether King was penning robots, aliens or gods, he'd continue writing about basic human instincts. And he achieves all this by instilling compassion in his characters and overall plots, allowing us to empathize, whether it's with a hero or villain. His and Mikel Janin's "I Am Suicide" arc shocked Batman fans by revealing a young Bruce Wayne tried to kill himself after his parents' death. Kings' scripts humanized characters like Kite Man, a lost soul; Riddler, a desperate, lonely shell of a person looking for purpose; and even the Joker, a petulant but jealous narcissist. Most importantly, the strands of humanity he's put into the title are set to culminate with the impending nuptials between Batman and Catwoman. After all, what's more relatable than love and marriage?

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King has also touched on anxiety and confinement in his and Jason Fabok's Swamp Thing Winter Special, a story focused on the monster within Alec Holland trying to protect a young kid in a tundra. The tale felt so claustrophobic, you could literally feel yourself losing breath page by page. And, as expected, there was no happy ending, something King's never afraid to provide. Similar complexities are also unraveling in King and Gerads' Mister Miracle book, which humanizes DC's New Gods like never before, whether it be Orion as a petty brute, or Scott Free and Big Barda as parents fumbling through life, love and, now, parenthood.

In other words, King believes no matter what, superheroes all make human decisions, a concept Superman embodies, save for a brief period earlier this decade. This is the direction DC lost with the New 52, as that emotional connection to what fans loved most about the Man of Steel and other classic heroes was severed.

Rebirth, on the other hand, has reignited and restored this connection, and King has followed the one-shot's catalyst up perfectly, not just by working in the old magic of DC's comics, but by appealing to readers as people in sociopolitically fractured times. Simply put, we see ourselves in King's characters, living in and trying to right an imperfect world.

Batman in I am Suicide

Sanctuary, be it a comic title or general concept explored in multiple series, is poised to be the culmination of all this world-building King has been doing. We've already seen hints of this in Batman recommending Poison Ivy for treatment, and heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman will be making similar suggestions as well.

Basically, King has made the Trinity the parents and guardians of the DC Universe via this approach, as they recognize when all's said and done, there are too many fragile personalities in need of aid after fighting the good fight. This is a heavy dose of humanitarianism, and it brings all the characters on these pages to the audience's level, helping fix and further accomplish what Rebirth restarted: Narratives for us to understand the mindset of our beloved heroes and their enemies a bit more.

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James Tynion IV's recent Detective Comics run has hinted Batman might start a vigilante school, so clearly this counseling center will be needed for the youth too. It's proactive to address this head on with mental health being such a big global issue. In the end, Sanctuary serves to remind us what King has been highlighting all along in his books; sometimes the crises we face are deep down on the inside and more often than not, we need someone there with us. Being there for one another, ultimately, is what being a superhero is all about, and King wants to ensure everyone in the DCU gets an equal opportunity at having a shoulder to lean on.