Outsiders #50

You Killed the Outsiders!!!

Tony Bedard Writer
Matthew Clark & Ron Randall Pencillers
Art Thibert Inker
Guy Major Colorist
John J. Hill Letterer
Rachel Gluckstern Assoc. Editor
Joan Hilty Editor
Special thanks to Rich Birdsall

Our cover by Santiago Arcas shows the Outsiders putting their hands together in a circle under their new leader: Batman. This image is shot from a very weird perspective, and I'm not sure all the arms are coming in here from realistic angles. The lightning strike behind Batman does lend a moody feel to the whole piece, although that trick has been overdone.

Our story begins with Batman essentially dissolving the Outsiders to re-form them as a new team under his direction. He explains he felt this was necessary because of the recent turmoil after Infinite Crisis. Batman says Lex Luthor's Everyman Project tainted the public's trust in superheroes, which only worsened after the actions of Black Adam and the Amazons Attack event. Batman then says Bart Allen's murder was the last straw, forcing the world to take drastic actions toward superheroes and villains.

Batman explains that the JLA, JSA and even the Teen Titans are now subject to rigorous government scrutiny, effectively limiting their operations. So Batman has decided to make the Outsiders a team of outlaws to allow them to avoid this oversight. Everybody very quickly agrees to this, and they go off on their first mission, which is to visit a club for villains and try to make some friends. Of course, Batman's true purpose was to verify the rumors he'd heard about the Suicide Squad rounding up any and all metahumans. Turns out Batman was right. The Outsiders avoid capture, but are unable to prevent the Suicide Squad from taking away a handful of villains. On a side note, Captain Boomerang's son (and Bart's illegitimate half-brother) Owen is working with the Suicide Squad. But he doesn't do anything interesting in this issue. In fact, nobody does anything interesting here.




Most series make a big deal of their 50th issue. Like Teen Titans, which went with an extra-sized issue and brought back some big-name creators to honor the past while still looking ahead toward the future. But this issue was entirely a prologue for the new series Batman and the Outsiders. And it was quite dull. Also, how does Batman have time to run around with the Outsiders? Isn't he busy enough with Gotham, the JLA, and his secret identity? Oh well. Everybody likes Batman. And nobody likes Impulse.

Next time (if I can find it), we'll take a quick look at somebody who does like Impulse with Wonder Girl #1.