DCU Comic Book Reviews

THE OUTSIDERS #15

The Deep, Part One

April 2009

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Lee Garbett

Inks by Trevor Scott

Cover by Lee Garbett

Synopsis

Alfred Pennyworth informs the assembled group of Outsiders that Batman specifically requested this group to be part of the Outsiders.  However, to join the mission, they all must be willing to sever all ties to their former lives.  All of them instantly decide to join, except for Black Lightning, who will provide an answer in the morning.  That night, Black Lightning visits his daughter, who is comatose in the hospital.  He says goodbye to her as he will be joining the team.  Meanwhile, Halo decides to spend the night at Wayne Manor with Alfred.  Elsewhere, the other members of the team say goodbye to their previous lives.  When they all return to the batcave, Alfred leads them to a specially designed rocket.  He tells them to get in.  In Germany, a robot causes an earthquake that kills many people. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This series is still in set-up mode as Alfred brings the team together for the first time and lays out the overall plan for the team.  We are getting slow build to the plot and the conflict.  And I think because of that, this issue benefits, because I really like it.  I have to complement Tomasi for taking the chance to spend some time to introduce us to the characters rather than simply toss us into the plot.  There are some wonderful moments, especially the scene with Black Lightning and his daughter as he explains why he is joining the team.  I also liked the introduction of Owlman, presenting us with a character who needs to prove to the team that he belongs on the team.  As good as these two scenes are, the rest of the issue is chock full of characterization goodness and I think a lot of that is due to the time and effort Tomasi has given to highlighting the individuals of the team.  So far this is a good start and I am eager to see where this goes. 

The only misstep so far with this new group of Outsiders is the Creeper, who seems to be picked for the team simply to fill a particular role rather than any particular need.  In this case it would be the crazy role similar to Starman from Justice Society of America.  You know, the character who says wacky and wild things around the fringes of each panel simply to inject some humor into the story.  Right now it is a little irritating.  Hopefully, Tomasi will be able to either establish the Creeper as a character in his own right rather than a Starman clone or tone it down a little. 

Like the Special that came before this issue, the ending confused me a little.  Were those deaths on the last few pages intended or just a consequence of the robot coming out of the ground?  Further, I am not quite sure how this ending and the Special are connected, or even if they are supposed to go together. 

The sudden kiss and budding romance between Geo-Force and Katana didn’t quite work for me.  I am not sure if it was the situation, which didn’t seem to lend itself to a sudden kiss, or the fact that the characters don’t strike me as the kissing kind.  It reminds me a little of the Hawkgirl/Red Arrow romance in Justice League of America in the sense that we have two people who should know each other suddenly getting involved in a relationship.  The big difference, however, is that I think Tomasi can make this one work better than what we saw in Justice League of America. 

My batman freak of a brother-in-law would be upset with this issue.  One of the things that he always complains about are the number of people who know Bruce Wayne is Batman.  Based on this issue, it is obvious that all of the Outsiders know Batman’s secret identity.  I mean, really, freaking Geo-Force

Origins & Omens

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Art by Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott

Commentary

I actually like this one.  Granted, it is not an origin, but for a team book I think it was a good choice to run down the various members of the team, who they are and what they can do.  It works as a great introduction to the new Outsiders before we get to the omen part of the story.  I have to ask:  what is the deal with all those little Metamorpho’s running around like that.  And who is Alfred supposed to be fighting.  Kinda looks like Owlman from the facing page, except without the glasses. 

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