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.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins 2005

I Am Donna Troy

Adam Beechen Story
Darryl Banks Pencils
Sean Parsons Inks
Sno Cone Colors
Nick J Napolitano Letterer

Cover art by Tony S. Daniel and Marlo Alquiza, color by Chris Blythe. Now that Donna Troy is back (mostly) it's time for another Secret Files & Origins issue to update everybody on the new status quo. This is the second Secret Files issue for the Teen Titans and Outsiders, but instead of calling it issue #2, DC chose to just use the year 2005 to distinguish it. The cover features Donna, front and center, with everybody else standing around somberly behind her. I'm not sure why everyone is so serious. These Secret Files covers also usually included a few text blurbs teasing the various contents inside, but this time, DC merely listed almost every single person who worked on this issue. And in this case, it is true that the creators themselves are more interesting than the actual content here.

Our opening story picks up where we left Donna Troy — the sole inhabitant of the tiny world New Cronus and possessor of the Harbinger Orb, which can basically show her anything and everything. The orb has given Donna a startling vision of the upcoming crisis, so she is slowly steering New Cronus back to Earth to warn the others. This is a very slow and long trip, even thought the Teen Titans, Outsiders and Wonder Woman were all able to travel there very quickly. Anyway, as distressed as Donna is, she chooses to spend her time reviewing the key moments from her oh-so-confusing life. (I'd imagine she needs to do this on a regular basis to keep everything straight.)

After briefly looking at her time spent with the original Teen Titans, Donna spends some time on her death at the hands of a Superman robot, and the subsequent formation of the new Outsiders and Teen Titans.

Donna feels guilty about dragging her friends back into another crisis, but she presses forward anyway. Slowly, but surely. (Seriously, though! Is there no faster way for Donna to warn everyone about Infinite Crisis!)


The main story is a sprawling adventure that apparently happened two months ago involving half the Teen Titans and half the Outsiders. But Kid Flash was not included, nor did he receive a profile page in this issue. But he did make a very brief appearance in one of the other side stories.

Secrets

Nunzio Defilippis & Christina Weir – Writers
Todd Nauck – Penciller
Ray Snyder – Inker
SnoCone – Colorist
Nick J. Napolitano – Letterer

This story takes place in San Francisco two weeks ago. Cassie has invited her old friend Cissie over to discuss the recent revelation that her father is Zeus. Cassie says she told Conner about this, and to her dismay, Conner believes Cassie's mom and Wonder Woman made the right call in concealing the truth from her. Now Cassie worries that if she tells the rest of the Titans, they'll treat her differently. Cissie sagely points out that Cassie is crazy to think this, saying that this new doesn't change anything.

As they argue in a park across the bay from Titans Tower, the girls stumble upon the super villains Multiplex and Hyena, plotting an ill-conceived attack on the tower to prove to the Society that they're more than C-listers. Cissie offers to help Cassie take down the ambitious villains, but Wonder Girl reminds her that Arrowette is retired, so she vows to handle this alone.

Wonder Girl quickly knocks out Hyena with a single punch, but Multiplex, and his ability to create duplicates of himself, is a different story. Cissie rushes in to help, but Wonder Girl flies her away. Cassie then manages to wrap her lasso around all the Multiplex clones and electrocutes them until only the original is left unconscious.

As the police head over to pick up the villains, Cassie asks Cissie if she wants to come with her to tell the Titans about her dad, but Cissie declines. She says the Titans are Cassie's family. Cissie says she's already provided all the emotional support Cassie needed, and she offers to get something to eat with her after her big talk. So Cassie flies over to the tower and tells them all they need to talk. But Robin says Conner has something he needs to tell them first. And coming down the stairs behind all our heroes is the bald, brainwashed Superboy.

Todd Nauck is back! Well, sort of. But I'll gladly take what I can get from him. Unfortunately, this story does not fit in at all with what happened in Teen Titans. Geoff Johns clearly didn't know Zeus was Wonder Girl's father. Otherwise things would have played out very differently. And as great as it was to see Cissie again, I don't like how she kept trying to break her solemn vow of no longer being a superhero, or how she refused to see the other Titans. Cissie doesn't want to say hi to Bart, Tim and Conner?

Between Nauck and Daniel, this Secret Files issue had better art than usual. Unfortunately, the stories were more forgettable than usual. Of course, I'm mainly saying that because Bart Allen only stood around silently in the background of two panels. But I really didn't like Donna's complete lack of urgency with the impending crisis, and the revisionist history with Cassie and Cissie. Well, guess I should stop whining and check out some advertisements, since I do happen to have the physical copy of this comic.

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GameRiot video game expo and competition.

Has the stupidity of life got you down! It's time to get MAD magazine.

Back at full power! Green Lantern Corps Recharge. Written by Wizard Top Ten Creator Geoff Johns & Comics Legend Dave Gibbons.

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Even in your most embarrassing moments, never be afraid to show your face. OXY.

For the hero in all of us. Milk's 9 essential nutrients give me the strength and energy I need to fight the forces of evil. Not drinking milk? Now that would be a crime. got milk? With Christian Bale as Batman in Batman Begins.

Next time, we'll wrap up the Geoff Johns era on The Flash.

Outsiders #25

The Insiders Part Four

Judd Winick Writer
Carlos D'Anda Artist
Guy Major Colorist
Phil Balsman Letterer
Tom Palmer Jr. Assoc. Editor
Jeanine Schaefer Assist. Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover by Mike McKone shows all the Outsiders defeated and strewn around Brainiac 8. As is usual for McKone, the emotional expressions don't come through very well. So my attention is immediately drawn to Brainiac 8's outfit, which is much more modest and practical than what she's been wearing in the previous three issues (and inside this one, as well). So it is a mistake, but it's a very odd one, because McKone also drew the cover of Outsiders #24, which featured Brainiac 8 in that ridiculously skimpy garb. So this is probably the fault of the colorist, and none of the three editors working on this book caught it. Don't worry, we'll have a few more mistakes in this issue that also slipped through their fingers.

Our story begins with a quick flashback to three weeks ago, where Shift and Indigo slept together and had an introspective discussion on the nature of reality. We cut back to today, where Brainiac 8 has Wonder Girl in her grasp as the original Brainiac descends from above in his large, head-shaped ship. Shift tries to talk to Indigo, but the robot insists she's Brainiac 8 now, and the only to stop her is to kill her. Starfire attempts to do just that by blasting her in the back, and Nightwing orders the heroes to spread out so they're not a sitting target. And Lex Luthor unleashes Superboy on them again.

Beast Boy joins a few of the Outsiders in attacking Brainiac, and they even manage to pull him out of his ship. Luthor starts to get his hands dirty, by hitting some heroes with a sonic disrupter. Arsenal throws a bomb at Luthor, but this draws the ire of the brainwashed Superboy. Wonder Girl attacks her boyfriend again, pleading with him to fight off the mind control. Luthor sees this is starting to work, so he shoots a rocket at Wonder Girl, determined to eliminate Superboy's achilles heel. But Luthor's plan backfires. As Superboy watches Luthor attack Cassie, he regains control of his senses and says, "Leave her alone, 'Dad.'"

We then see that Cyborg has suddenly joined the fight, even though it seemed like he was still being repaired last issue. Robin's arm also has seemed to heal in record time, as he has apparently removed his heavy-duty cast mid-battle. Robin comments that they're not causing any actual damage to the Brainiacs, so Nightwing orders Starfire to stop holding back. She reluctantly agrees, and Nightwing gives everyone a hasty order to steer clear of her impending attack.

Conner has begun to rip apart Luthor's armor piece by piece, shouting that he'll never be Luthor. But after pulling off one of Luthor's gauntlets, he exposes himself to three Kryptonite stones Lex has on his glove (red, green and blue). Disgusted, Lex says he'll kill Superboy and make him stronger. Kid Flash suddenly zips in and takes off with Cassie and Conner to get them away from Starfire's attack.

Starfire has flown up above Brainiac's ship and lit up the whole sky with a blinding light. She unleashes her full power in a blast that directly hits the ship, presumably knocking it down right on top of Brainiac and Luthor. But it is unclear what exactly happened to those two classic villains. Brainiac 8, however, is still up in the air, vowing to kill everyone. And at this point, we're given a quick panel of Kid Flash and Speedy to remind us that they're here.

Nightwing calls in everybody with a ranged attack to hit Brainiac 8 at the same time. But their combined might isn't quite enough to take her down, especially since Starfire is exhausted after her big blast. But Shift finally has a breakthrough, attacking his former girlfriend, which prompts the old Indigo to begin talking to him again. She explains that she is a real, separate personality inside Brainiac 8, and she has temporarily regained control. Indigo says that the plan all along was to send Brainiac 8 back in time to kill Donna Troy, but because of the fluid nature of time, they created the Indigo personality to take over after that murder and hide among the heroes. Indigo begs Shift to kill her, saying Brainiac 8 will soon regain control and will force Indigo to watch as she kills everyone. So Shift sadly complies, transforming Indigo's circuits to dead, inanimate flesh.

This touching scene strongly effects Nightwing, who is reminded that they're all standing on the spot where Donna Troy was murdered. Dick says when he joined the Outsiders, it wasn't supposed to be personal (whatever that means), but now that is is, he no longer wants to be a part of it. So he quits the team on the spot. We then end with a quick epilogue of Donna Troy watching from some mystical location, saying it's time to come back.




Ugh. What a disappointing conclusion. We had two competent teams get together to battle two classic DC villains, and they were basically defeated off screen. What happened to Brainiac and Luthor? They surely couldn't have been killed in such a lackluster manner. And I don't think we were meant to believe that, either. So it's frustrating that this issue just glossed over those two. You'd think someone (possibly Kid Flash) would at least try to look for them at the end.

I'm also disappointed in the sloppy art and storytelling, as well as the minor continuity problems that easily could have been prevented by our editors, who were also in charge of the Teen Titans issues. I'm sick and tired of Nightwing being a major drama queen every time he shows up. And I'm sad that Bart had nothing to do in the finale. But my biggest gripes come from the set up of this story as a whole.

Judd Winick introduced Indigo in Graduation Day, and while I haven't read all 24 issues of the Outsiders between then and now, I do have to say that this story feels like revisionist history on Winick's part. What was clearly set up as a freak accident (Donna's death) is now suddenly a deliberate and convoluted plot. This crossover failed to explain why Brainiac wanted to kill Donna Troy in the first place, let alone why Brainiac 8 was suddenly reactivated from the Indigo shell. I think it would have made more sense for Brainiac 8 to not come back until after Donna came back. But that's just me.

Geoff Johns planted the seed of Superboy being "related" to Luthor in Teen Titans #1. This also required some revisionist history, but it could be explained away. Luthor, a patient man, willing to play the long game, covertly had a hand in creating Superboy, then left him alone for a few years while he ran for president and whatnot. Now he's back to being a full-time super villain and has decided that now is the right time to reap the reward of all that patience. And this is what we got? Superboy's surprise attack was the perfect time to kill somebody, but Luthor called him off. They met up with Brainiac, but didn't do anything together. They were just two separate villains that happened to be in the same place at the same time. I don't see how Brainiac's involvement helped Luthor at all. It actually hindered him, since Brainiac brought in the Outsiders. I just don't get it.

I did kind of like the fatal flaw in Luthor's plan. As he is essentially incapable of understanding love, he was unable to anticipate the effect Wonder Girl would have on Superboy. But where Johns was searching for an emotional payoff after two years of teasing us, I don't think that delays was necessary. I would have preferred to see this story in place of Graduation Day. Superboy finds out he has Luthor's DNA, then immediately goes into that brainwashed rampage, perhaps even killing Donna Troy, if that was necessary. Even without that murder, Superboy's rampage could have been a stronger motivator to split up Young Justice than the Indigo attack was.

Next time, we'll return to the Rogues War in The Flash #224.

Outsiders #24

The Insiders Part Two

Judd Winick Writer
Carlos D'Anda Artist
Guy Major Colorist
Phil Balsman Letterer
Tom Palmer Jr. Assoc. Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover by Mike McKone follows the same pattern as Teen Titans #24. One of the team's heroes has suddenly turned evil and has altered their appearance to mimic that of a classic villain. Superboy became Lex Luthor, and Indigo has become Brainiac. I haven't been reading Outsiders, so this cover doesn't have nearly the same impact on me. I've never known Indigo as a hero — only the stupid robot that caused the Graduation Day disaster. I also find it odd that this robot, Brainiac 8, would be so concerned about looking so sexy, having its "clothes" barely hanging on to a perfectly idealized frame.

Our story begins with a quick recap of Indigo's origin. She was a damaged robot from the future, desperately teleporting around the world to find compatible technology that could repair her. In this journey, she nearly destroyed Cyborg and inadvertently activated a malfunctioning Superman robot that killed Omen and Donna Troy. S.T.A.R. Labs repaired Indigo, and she became a heroic member of the Outsiders. Until now.

Indigo has transformed into what is likely her "true form," Brainiac 8, and begins attacking the Outsiders. Arsenal had a fail-safe emergency shutdown installed, but Brainiac 8 has overridden that. She then proceeds to beat the crap out of each and every Outsider. Finally, Arsenal targets her with a massive bazooka, and Brainiac 8 teleports away, saying she's already accomplished her goal: "A first shot across the bow."

The Outsiders gather themselves together and fly across the country to meet the Teen Titans at the S.T.A.R. Labs Medical Facilities in Palo Alto. The recovering teens relay their story of how Superboy seemed to be possessed. Wonder Girl says he didn't seem to know or care. Raven adds that she couldn't sense any emotion in him and he seemed like another being altogether. Kid Flash laments that another being would have been nice — Superboy was strong enough to nearly kill them.

Nightwing can't help drawing the comparisons to their recent episode with Indigo, although there is some debate among the Outsiders whether Indigo was actually being possessed by an outside force or merely revealing her true nature. The Outsiders' argument becomes quite heated, and Nightwing tries to calm everyone down. But they only stop fighting amongst themselves when dozens of Superman robots begin descending on the medical facility.

We then cut to a secret bunker three miles below Lexcorp Towers in Metropolis. Brainiac 8 teleports into the lab and is greeted by Lex Luthor, wearing his power armor, with Superboy standing dutifully by his side. Also in attendance is the original Brainiac, who congratulates his "granddaughter" on her work so far, saying their mission to eradicate an entire generation of "heroes" is going according to plan.



The Outsiders sure are a miserable lot. They spent more time fighting each other than actually fighting Brainiac 8. Anyway, I am happy to see these two stories coming together with the Luthor-Brainiac team-up — that pairing always has a lot of potential. But my main problems with the first issue of this crossover persist. Why hasn't anyone called in Superman? He is Superboy's mentor. Luthor and Brainiac are his villains. And those are his robots preparing to attack all our heroes. I mean, at least make an effort to contact Superman. That's all I'm asking for.

Next time, we'll take a break from this crossover to see Kid Flash actually get involved in The Flash #223.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins

A Day After ...

Judd Winick & Geoff Johns – Writers
Ivan Reis & Carlo Barberi – Pencillers
Marc Campos & Norm Rapmund – Inkers
Nick Napolitano – Letterer
Sno Cone – Colorist

Cover art by Tom Raney, Scott Hanna, Mike McKone and Lary Stucker, colored by Gina Going. Three different pencillers on one cover is a bad idea. This looks more like a collage than a single, unified image. But what really confuses me is the location. Are the Teen Titans and Outsiders at a dance club? And if so, why? Everything about this cover is just really perplexing and disappointing.

Our story begins with the conclusion of Graduation Day. Wonder Girl is walking away from Superboy and Robin, angrily telling them that they'll never learn enough as Young Justice. And Nightwing is stubbornly turning his back on Arsenal, declaring the Titans finished. Six weeks later, Dick is still mourning the loss of Donna Troy and is refusing to answer Roy's phone calls. So Roy decides to move on without Dick. He shaves his head, gets a new costume and starts making phone calls.

In San Francisco, Starfire and Beast Boy are flying around, unintentionally scaring jets, and discussing Cyborg's plan for a new Teen Titans. Kory is hesitant to accept a mentorship role, but Gar insists that there are a lot of kids out there who are different like them and need somewhere they can go to find themselves. Vic has four specifically in mind, with a few others that could be added if things work out. Starfire asks if they can really be the Titans without Nightwing and Donna. Beast Boy simply says, "We aren't all gone, Kory."

At Smallville High, Conner Kent has trouble remembering his locker combination and is lectured by a hall monitor for being late to class. When he's threatened with a phone call to his parents, Superboy laughs this off and flies away. Meanwhile, someone is sorting through some old equipment at an abandoned Cadmus facility, finding a hard drive labeled "Project Superboy."

In Gateway City, Cassie Sandsmark's high school is attacked by a griffin. She playfully battles the mythical beast, while several teachers urge the principal to contact Cassie's mother to discuss her future at Gateway High. Ares watches all this from a distance, feeling disappointed that Wonder Girl has so much power that no one has bothered to harness.

In Keystone City, Bart Allen is lounging on a baseball-shaped bean bag in his room, surrounded by a board game, several video games and leftover pizza. Bart is doing something unusual for him — making a phone call. He's called up the Themysciran Embassy to try to locate Cassie via Wonder Woman. But he has a hard time convincing the receptionist who he is, and Jay Garrick keeps interrupting. In the end, Bart decides it's a lost cause and gives up.

Jay then enters Bart's room, saying they need to talk about his low scores on his entrance tests to Keystone City High. Bart says he hates studying because it's boring, and he feels he doesn't need an education since he's going to be a full-time superhero when he grows up. Jay asks Bart if he doesn't need to know anything, to which Bart reminds him that he was already been taught everything he needs to know while in the virtual reality in the future. He can't stand learning from books, so he doesn't.

We catch up with Arsenal, who has visited a S.T.A.R. Labs facility to check on the progress of blue robot girl that indirectly caused the deaths of Omen and Troia. The scientists have taken to calling the robot Indigo and have placed her in a tube of green liquid, while she continues to repair herself. Cyborg, who still hasn't acquired new legs, is riding around in a floating golden wheelchair (exactly like Professor Xavier's in the '90s X-Men cartoon). Vic repeats his assertion that Indigo's attack on them was an accident. Roy agrees, asking that Indigo be fully repaired, reactivated and placed under his control.

In Gotham City, Robin is swinging around the rooftops with Nightwing, still talking about their failure from six weeks ago. Robin notes they've been ambushed before, but he wonders why they lost focus. He also notes that all of them have seen people die before, and they thought that would make them stronger, but it didn't. He tells Nightwing he knows he blames himself, just as he does. Yet Dick remains silent through all this. Tim finally asks what they're going to do now. Nightwing says he doesn't know, but whatever it is, they should do it alone.



This story did a fairly decent job of bridging the gap between Graduation Day and Teen Titans #1. I needed to see these characters spending some time grieving. The narrative as a whole is strengthened by realizing there was a six-week gap of inactivity before the new Teen Titans were gathered. Of course, I still have a hard time being satisfied. There still was no mention of Young Justice, the Ray, Empress, Snapper Carr or Red Tornado. One of the reasons Young Justice was set up with adult mentors was to help get them through situations exactly like this. I wish Geoff Johns could have given us a page or two of the Young Justice people trying to gather everyone to comfort them. I really needed to see why that group was insufficient to meet the needs of Wonder Girl, Superboy, Robin and Impulse. I didn't need to see Superboy and Wonder Girl having difficulties in high school — we already had that in Teen Titans #1. But I did need to see the official collapse of Young Justice.

Bart's phone call was rather odd. It makes sense that Bart would want to reach out to Cassie, seeing as how she was devastated after Donna's death. But why can't Bart find her? He has been to Cassie's house before. Has she moved? Is Bart still in contact with Robin and Superboy? I have so many questions from such a simple scene. It was nice to see Carlo Barberi draw Bart again. But it looked so strange with Bart's shorter hair. It just ... doesn't feel right. Sorry, I'm still going through shell shock after seeing the last vestiges of Impulse being taken away.


Who Was Donna Troy?

Words & Pencils Phil Jimenez
Inks Andy Lanning
Colors Tom McCraw
Separations WildStorm FX
Letters Comicraft
Special thanks to Devin Grayson

This story picks up at the end of Donna Troy's funeral. Superboy asks Wonder Girl if she's going to be OK, and she says she isn't. Impulse can only look on helplessly.

Later, Cassie starts going through Donna's photo album, reliving her (very confusing) life. We also see some more mourning from past members of the Teen Titans, including Wally West. Superman apologizes to Wonder Woman, taking responsibility for his robot killing Donna. (Yeah, why didn't you dismantle it if you knew it was unstable?) Wonder Woman blames herself for not being there for Donna. Lois Lane promises to write a great obituary. Even Batman comforts Diana, but Nightwing remains aloof.

In the end, it's Cassie who comes to Diana's side. She tells her the last words Donna gave her: "I have no idea where I'm going to be tomorrow. But I accept the fact that tomorrow will come. And I'm going to rise to meet it."



I don't have anything to say about this backup story. It was a nice, necessary resolution to Donna Troy's legacy. I do feel bad, however, that absolutely nothing was shown for Omen. Anyway,  let's wrap this up with Bart's profile page.

Kid Flash

Jeremy Johns: Text
Geoff Johns: Pencils
Nelson: Inks
Tom McCraw: Colors
WildStorm FX: Separations

Real Name: Bart Allen
Marital Status: Single
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Brown
First Appearance: The Flash #91 (June, 1994)

Bart Allen — the grandson of Barry Allen, the second Flash, and Iris West — was brought back through time to our century after his father was killed. At Iris's request, Wally West, the current scarlet speedster, began to teach Bart how to fit into this new era and get a grasp on his powers. Frustrated by his nephew's lack of focus, Wally turned his attention elsewhere. Bart became known as Impulse and set out to become a super-hero in his own right.

Bart Allen's powers mirror those of Wally West, with one major exception: Bart also has the ability to remember everything he reads at super-speed. Currently, he resides in Keystone City with Jay Garrick — the original Flash — and Jay's wife Joan. Despite Wally West's misgivings, Bart accepted an invitation to join the new Teen Titans.

Recently, Bart was injured when Deathstroke put a shotgun to his leg. Thankfully, his accelerated healing enabled a handful of skeptical surgeons to replace his kneecap with an artificial one, and Bart was back on his feet in a matter of hours. But the effects of this encounter were much more than physical. Feeling unsure, and tired of being underestimated, Bart went to the local public library and read every single book in the building. He retained that knowledge, but what he'll do with it from here, and how it will balance with his lack of experience, is anyone's guess.



The last time Bart had his own profile page like this was three years ago during Sins of Youth. That listed him as 5'3" and 114 lbs. So since then, I guess Bart has gained one pound of muscle, and lost an inch in height when he cut his hair. Jeremy Johns also incorrectly said that Bart was Wally's nephew. The two are actually cousins (once removed, via adoption, if you want to get technical). Unsurprisingly, Johns did not mention Bart's ability to create time-traveling scouts, and I have to say that's probably for the best. It was an overpowered ability, and it will be simpler to move on without it. I still wish we had a story showing Bart losing that ability, though.

What is surprising about this profile page is that it was drawn by Geoff Johns. It's the only image I've seen him draw, and I have to say it actually looks pretty good. I even like this style more than Mike McKone's. The shorter hair doesn't look too bad with this costume, but it does worry me that Bart's beginning to look too much like Wally West did back in the day. It's becoming more common for artists to forget what color Bart's eyes are, and we'll gradually see his hair turn from brown to red.

Well, believe it or not, we are done with comics from the year 2003. Next time, we'll review the year and try to hand out some awards.