I take no pleasure in writing this review, because everyone involved in this book is clearly talented, and there's some genuine passion behind this book (and because everyone else seems to love the book, so I expect plenty of hate mail). But I also took no pleasure in reading this comic, and that's because Meltzer has written a story that essentially destroys much of what I love about DC's shared universe. As with the first issue, I have to warn those reading that I'm going to spoil the big surprise of this issue. It's impossible not to talk about the big surprise and give it a proper review, because it is that surprise that utterly ruined this series for me, and made me actually want to take a big step back from DC Universe comics as a whole if this is the direction their books are going in. I can't deny that Meltzer got a surprised and emotional reaction from me with his writing on this book, but I don't think blinding hatred of the book was what he had in mind.
I was wary, in the first issue, when Meltzer killed off Sue Dibny, complete with the hack trick of revealing that she was pregnant when she was murdered. This issue? We find out that in the past, she was raped... by Dr. Light. I expect that next issue, at the rate we're going, Dr. Light will dig up the corpse and rape her again. After all, we're well beyond the bounds of good taste or the kind of thing that belongs in a superhero comic, and well into the shock value without substance that I thought we'd left behind in the '90s. Really, this is cheap, manipulative melodrama of the kind found in the worst schlocky daytime soap operas or B grade movies.
Leave aside that there's no mature readers tag on this book, that it is in fact the "summer tentpole" of the DC Universe, and that the content of this comic is something that belongs more clearly in a Vertigo book, Meltzer's story utterly destroys the mystique of the superhero. Not only did these guys fail to prevent an innocent, pregnant woman from being murdered in her home, they also failed to prevent her from being raped in their own headquarters. They then exhibit much hand-wringing not over the decision of whether or not to kill the rapist (or, to be fair, attempted rapist, it really doesn't make much difference at this point) but over the decision about whether to tamper with his mind. Meltzer is almost there, he tries to get that the heroes are too noble to kill someone even for such a heinous crime against their loved ones, but in this context, rather than making them look heroic, it makes them look even more like chumps.
It's a shame, because Meltzer's writing has some snappy dialogue, and his take on Hawkman, in particular, is one that makes him seem intelligent, dangerous and powerful. I could even see myself enjoying the notion of a supervillain headquarters, a safe haven of sorts from the Justice League, except that their banter isn't funny when he's set the tone with the rape and murder of Sue Dibny and in this context it's just another case of the heroes getting punked. Morales's artwork, as always, is beautiful and he definitely brings home the horror of Sue's rape effectively, which is a tribute to his skills as an artist and an unfortunate use to put them to. In addition, beyond his design of Captain Boomerang, which I don't much like, most of his work on the characters here is top notch, and I love the work he does on every single member of the Justice League. There's just no way around it, Morales has skills, and if Identity Crisis has any effects that I'm happy with, it will hopefully be introducing him to a wider audience and moving him up to the "A" list where he belongs.
The central premise of this book seems to be about tearing down the heroic ideal and "gritty"-ing up the DC Universe, and that's not what I tune into mainstream superhero comics for. Not only does this book put me off of reading anything else Meltzer ever writes in the DC Universe, it gives me pause to wonder what the hell is going on in DC editorial that nobody thought to put the brakes on this book before it saw print. I read a lot of comics, and I like some, and I don't like others, but this is one of the few that actually made me angry, because it shows such disrespect for the characters that Meltzer professes to love. It seems to miss the point of the genre so badly, and do so much damage to the characters, that these events will forever taint them, in the same way that Hal Jordan will never recover from being a murderer or Batman will never fully be able to rationalize that the Joker has murdered so many people close to him without consequences. When you're working in a shared universe, you have a responsibility to think beyond just the shock moment, and Meltzer hasn't done that. I find it ironic that in the same week DC publishes one of the one-shots celebrating the imagination and fun that Julius Schwartz brought to DC, including a story that features Ralph and Sue Dibny, they are also publishing a series that literally rapes the characters.
