DCU Comic Book Reviews

THE OUTSIDERS #17

The Deep, Part Three

June 2009

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Lee Garbett

Inks by Trevor Scott

Cover by Lee Garbett

Synopsis

After Katana had been kidnapped, Geo-Force leads Owlman and Black Lighting through the Earth to find her and the metallic machine that took her.  In Iceland, the Insiders monitor the situation and order Katana released.  Moments after she is free, the metallic machine tries to fly away, but the Outsiders pull it back down.  They then disable its engines.  However, the Insiders take action, killing the person inside so the Outsiders learn nothing of who they are.  In Iceland, the Insiders receive the other item the metallic machine took:  a meteorite, which they add to scores of others.  Suddenly, another metallic machine rockets away.  Back on the Outsiders ship, Geo-Force examines the meteorite from the residue on Katana.  However, it is Metamorpho that recognizes it:  Pallasite, part of the meteorite the changed him into who he is.  And also gave the world Vandal Savage.  Elsewhere, one of the Insiders offers a job to Deathstroke.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Where’s Alfred?

This is sort of those good news and bad news type of reviews.  The good news is that Tomasi and Garbett have a great handle on the Outsiders, with some great characterization of the team as well as decent action and humor gracing the pages.  Each of the characters stand out as individuals and Tomasi makes sure they each get a chance to shine.  The rescue of Katana is a well-done sequence that showcases the team’s abilities and what each one brings to the table.  There is some really good stuff going on.  I really like the teamwork, especially the fact that they aren’t fighting with each other.  Granted, there is some bickering among the group, but they are operating as a group, trying to strive for the same goal, rather than politicking.  It is refreshing to find a team that doesn’t have internal dissent and it is one of the pluses for this book. 

The bad news is that for as good as the Outsiders have been, the Insiders have been just as a bad.  The biggest problem is that neither Tomasi or Garbett have done enough to make these characters stand out.  They are nothing more than shadowy villains with a murky plan to do something we don’t understand.  At some point we need to know their end game.  The characters don’t stand out.  They haven’t been defined, either in the way they act or the way they are presented.  They all look and act pretty much the same way.  I suppose one could argue that this is the point and perhaps I could go with that logic, but Tomasi seems to be writing conflict in the group, which would dispute the single-mind theory.  As a result, the Insiders aren’t a credible threat and each time they appear I start scratching my head, wondering what they hell they are trying to accomplish.  If Tomasi could ever explain that to us, then I think we might have something good.  Right now, all we have is half of something good. 

Comic Connection

Slade Wilson (aka Deathstroke) and the little girl who answered the door were last seen in the “Faces of Evil” one shot. 

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