Cry For Justice/Rise of Arsenal: Worst DC Storyline Ever *SPOILERS*

[HBarnill]

I just wanted to start off by saying I’m a huge DC fan. The only other publishers I read are Image, Dark Horse, and Oni Press, though not as much as DC. Not interested in Marvel, except for maybe the X-Men and Fantastic 4 (I have a crush on Sue Storm, don’t judge me). I’ve been with DC since I could begin reading. They’re the modern Greek mythology. I love the mythos, the characters, the themes, etc. Hell, I’ve forgiven them for many of their worst decisions this century, as hard as I try, like Identity Crisis, Amazons Attack, and even Countdown. But this storyline was the one that nearly got me to abandon them. Cry for Justice and Rise of Arsenal.

Where do even begin? Let’s start with Cry for Justice. It’s bad enough the “heroes” are a bunch of imbecilic a-holes who have lost the term “Justice” in their dictionary. It’s bad enough the dialogue is some of the worst I've read in any comic book. It’s bad enough how Prometheus is an absolute damn moron. But I could’ve moved on from all this had it not for Lian Harper’s death, the daughter of Arsenal, aka Roy Harper.

I mean, because it just had to be tragic, right? Harper losing his arm? Nah. Star City becoming a crater, with a death toll reaching 90,000+, making it 9/11 x 30? Nope, not tragic enough. Let’s kill off a beloved child character who had nothing to do with the story just for the sake of shock value. I don’t necessarily mind kids being killed off for the sake of a story (I think a part of my soul died writing that) but there needs to be context for that. There needs to be build up, foreshadow, things that have happened to lead into that. Lian’s only appearance in the series was her corpse. Again, I’d accept it if it was handled correctly but they certainly went the opposite direction, if ya asked me! The only reason I could think of for this absolutely reprehensible story decision was because Harper was becoming “boring” and DC wanted him to revert back to his old days as a crime fighter without any kind of adult responsibilities. THAT’S MARVEL’S JOB!

And if it couldn’t get any worse, Rise of Arsenal comes along. Now, you have a character who’s lost a lot. Surely this could be a reflection of grief and how someone copes with tragedy, huh? Too bad! First of all, Harper’s “friends” treat him like a load, not understanding what he’s gking through or even giving any kind of try to not be so half-hearted at it, especially when Dick Grayson kicks Harper in the face. Harper ain’t too good either. I understand what he’s going through but he does/says some vile crap in this that are absolutely inexcusable and never once apologizes for them. Ok, he did apologize in a future storyline, but he should’ve expressed remorse here. His friends aren’t the ones who killed Lian! Speaking of Lian, thank you, DC, for showing us a graphic depiction of her death. Really shows what you think about your fans. All of this, just to make Roy Harper into a cliché, 90s anti-hero scumbag. Pat yourselves on the back.

Oh, yeah, unintentionally funny moments, thinking Lian is a dead cat, murdering bums, everyone’s a jackass to one another. I can’t decide which I hate more. They’re both equally garbage and deeply unpleasant to read. They’re not dark and serious; they’re cruel and bitter. They made me give up on DC for 8 years. Only after what I heard about in Convergence, with Lian coming back, and Rebirth being the fresh start DC needed, did I come back. But I will never forget what DC did here.