DCU Comic Book Reviews

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #7

The Snare

July 2008

Written by Chuck Dixon

Pencils by Carlos Rodriquez

Inks by Bit

Covers by Dougie Braithwaite

Synopsis

In the Batcave, Batman gives Dr. Miandad the task of tracking the Outsiders, who have been captured in China in an attempt to steal a spacecraft to rescue Metamorpho.  In China, Batgirl has a plan to free Green Arrow, Katana, and Grace.  In Space, Metamorpho escapes from the zombie-like astronauts by hiding out in an airlock.  The plan backfires as they shoot him into space.  However, he is able to get back to the space station and steal a space shuttle.  As he flies away, he realizes the space station is actually a gun!  Elsewhere, the Chinese government decide to execute their prisoners.  Meanwhile, Batman, along with Nightwing, recruit Thunder to help rescue the Outsiders.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Whoa.  After reading this issue, my head is spinning.  There are a lot of things going on with the plot, a lot of characters in different places and situations, and Dixon makes sure to include a little bit of everything into the mix.  Sadly, it creates a fractured issue.  Granted, Dixon is pushing around the pieces to get everything in line for the finale, but it doesn’t necessarily make for good reading.  There are sequences (such as Geo-Force’s entire presence or the first Batgirl scene) that seem superfluous and don’t seem to add to the story.  I mean, an entire page devoted to the aircraft carrier noticing something strange flying in the air.  If someone were to ask me what decompression means and provide an example, I might point to this issue.  Except for the Metamorpho scenes, there really isn’t much here that adds to the overall story or pushes the plot forward in any meaningful way.  Yet, this was still an enjoyable issue, mostly because Dixon is a good writer with a solid bead on all of these characters.  There are some nice moments highlighting the characters (like the conversation between Francine and Anissa).  Overall, however, this particular chapter will probably read a lot better when collected with the rest of the story, but on its own, the scenes kinda dangle there with no meaning or relation to the rest of the story.