Another issue of Heroes in Crisis, another reason to scratch your head and ask, “Wait…What?” If I remember correctly, the killer was supposed to be revealed in issue 7. However, while it is hinted at who the killer is, the issue doesn’t come out and plainly state the facts. Instead, we have even more questions with zero answers.
(Spoilers Incoming)
We begin the issue with Wally talking about a poem that Linda read at their wedding. As he recounts the poem, we see the speedster standing in the middle of a field covered in flowers. He clears a spot and places the rose Harley dropped in honor of Ivy’s death there. He uses his powers to shock the flower, and it begins growing. In Central City, Harley and Booster are still fighting. As Harley tries to break through Booster’s shield, Batgirl and Blue Beetle watch the two brawl. Batgirl discovers that Booster’s shield is currently being powered by Blue Beetle’s ship, which is kept operational by Ted’s consciousness. After finding this out, Batgirl knocks Beetle out with one punch, dropping Booster’s shield. As Harley prepares to kill Booster, he accepts his fate and admits he’s been a failure as a hero. She drives the jagged, broken piece of her mallet down towards his face, but intentionally misses, sparing Booster. She collapses next to him, and the two both admit that when it comes to being heroes, they aren’t very good at it. At the same time, Flash runs to the Batcave to alert Batman to the fact that he was attacked by Booster and Beetle. Batman begins his search for them using his satellites, and Flash begins running across the globe in search of them, checking every continent.
While all of this is going on, we see Wally’s Sanctuary tapes. We see the first one he made, and one for each week that he was there. With each tape, you can see Wally’s face change from hopeful to utterly broken. In the present, Wally snaps his fingers and sends an electric charge through the rose, causing it to grow to the size of a human. It then opens up, revealing a newly formed Ivy. Back in Central City, Booster and Beetle explain that Wally is alive and may be the key to unlocking this mystery. The four of them agree that they need to work together and find Wally to protect him and solve the Sanctuary slaughter. In the Batcave, Batman alerts Flash that, “We have them. The alarms. They triggered…All of them.” In the field, Wally apologizes to Ivy for hurting her. He also apologizes that she has to see his death. At that moment, Wally and Ivy are joined by…Wally?
So. Is Wally the killer? He tells Ivy that he’s sorry for hurting her and that he can’t make up for it. But why is there a second Wally? I’ve defended this series since the beginning, but it’s getting more and more difficult to do that as each issue arrives. It’s hard not to feel like a dog being led by a bone on a string, constantly being deprived of answers. Now, not only did we not get direct confirmation if Wally went rogue, somehow Poison Ivy is back from the dead and connected to this. Has Ivy been behind all of this? Did she manipulate and control Wally to turn him into her weapon? Can we finally get an answer as to what exactly is going on? With only two issues left, I hope this becomes clearer in the next issue. I also hope the creative team doesn’t ruin the character of Wally West and make him a cold-blooded hero killer. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?