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The heroes of the DC Universe could be doomed if they don’t address a serious issue, as Huntress just proved.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Detective Comics #1049, on sale now from DC Comics.
Superheroes go through a lot, not just physically but mentally too. The horrifying things they see day after day stick with them. They may save as many people as they can but they can’t save everyone and, even if they do, what they save them from can eat at them long after. Add in the myriad of different cosmic and supernatural events they go through, some with horrifying consequences, and it makes one wonder how these heroes can continue to do what they do and keep their mental health intact. The answer is – they can’t.
As Arkham Asylum was destroyed in A-Day, the new Arkham Tower has taken its place. So far, it seems to be a safe haven for the mentally ill of Gotham. The city’s worst criminals may be there to get better but they aren’t the only ones, the heroes are checking in too in Detective Comics #1049 (by Mariko Tamaki, Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, Brad Anderson, and VC’s Ariana Maher). Huntress was sent into the new facility undercover by the Bat-Family to find out what was really going on there. However, when Batwoman came to get her out, Helena didn’t want to leave. Not because she didn’t want to abandon the mission, but because she actually wanted to be there.
After Helena was infected with the Vile Parasite in earlier issues of Detective Comics, she’s been getting visions of various violent acts that happen around her. She had no way of controlling it and, as the visions happen in real-time, she had no way of preventing them either. She has had to witness the worst humanity has to offer and then track down those responsible because that’s her duty. She’s a superhero.
However, when she came to Arkham Tower she found that these visions stopped. The facility’s treatments were clearly working on its criminal patients, and there had been no violence around her. Therefore, she hasn’t had any violent visions. It’s a depressing fact that the only help and rest Huntress has been able to find since her latest trauma was as part of an undercover mission. Even more depressing still is that this peace didn’t last. An attack by one of the inmates in the middle of the night brought yet another violent vision. Huntress’ short respite was quickly shattered.
This incident will force Helena to return to the mission she clearly wanted to leave. She’ll have to help the Bat-Family solve this mystery which will likely involve Arkham Tower, the only safe haven she’s found, being shut down. Once that happens, she’ll be back on the streets fighting crime whilst still suffering from these horrible visions. Who knows what such prolonged trauma will do to her. It’s made all the worse by the fact that her allies don’t seem to want to help her at all, just send her on the next violent mission. What’s worse, they may actually have a reason to not want to. They may see these visions as an asset and use them to fight crime with no regard for Helena’s mental wellbeing.
Huntress isn’t the only hero suffering right now. After Wonder Woman returned from the dead, she’s barely had a second to process everything she went through in between fighting two new threats. Meanwhile, Damian Wayne is currently being haunted by the ghost of Alfred, after he saw him brutally killed before his very eyes. No one is helping them and that never ends well. Sanctuary, the one place that helped heroes with their mental health, became itself a tragedy because of unaddressed trauma. Almost everyone at the hospital died because of Wally West’s breakdown and he’s only just come to terms with it all.
Not everyone is as lucky as Wally though, Huntress certainly isn’t. If the heroes of the DC Universe don’t address their growing disregard for their mental health, they could end up with another situation like Sanctuary in the near future.
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