DCU Comic Book Reviews

THE OUTSIDERS #20

The Deep, Conclusion

September 2009

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Lee Garbett

Inks by Trevor Scott

Cover by Lee Garbett

Synopsis

In the batcave, the Outsiders regroup after retrieving a piece of the Pallasite meteor.  The team believes the Insiders haven hidden the rest.  Owlman is able to decipher the location.  In Iceland, Vandal Savage and Ra’s al Ghul decide to team together in order to the locate the Pallasite.  In Space, the Creeper easily defeats the Insider’s team of soldiers and the commandeers the ship to return to Earth.  Meanwhile, Vandal Savage and Ra’s al Ghul attack the Insiders.  Moments later, the Outsiders join the fray.  However, the Insider’s machine that houses the Pallasite is unstable and about to explode.  At that moment, the Creeper’s ship crashes right on top of them.  However, Vandal Savage, Ra’s al Ghul, and the Insiders are able to escape.     

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was slightly disappointing.  Tomasi had taken his time with the build-up, slowly introducing plot elements while focusing on the characters.  And it worked, to a small degree, although the whole goal of the Insiders was cloudy for awhile (and still cloudy.  They want immortality, but there seems to be another goal beyond that, or am I mis-remembering it).  The problem is that for the slow build-up, the ending felt extremely rushed.  Just when it seemed as if the plot and the conflict had finally reached a fever pitch, the story ended.  It felt like with the way things were going there was at least one more issue, but this is the end.  Actually not really an ending since there was no resolution.  Everyone got away.  We don’t learn what happened to the Pallasite (blown to bits) and all of the bad guys were able to get away.  Ultimately, there were some good things in the story, but this (non-) ending was very disappointing. 

What was the reason of adding Vandal Savage and Ra’s al Ghul into the mix?  Did they serve any purpose to the plot or story?  I get that they would be interested in the Insiders because of their own longevity, but beyond joining the battle at the end, their roles served no real true purpose.  It felt like an empty cameo. 

At the end, Black Lightning talks about “devastation and loss of life.”  It is a fine question, but one that is never answered.  Not only are the Outsiders still alive, but seemingly everyone else who was in the fight got away as well.  So who the hell died?  And if someone did die, why the hell do the Outsiders leave the scene so quickly?  It seems silly to me to bring up the point but not follow-up on it, especially in this medium where life and death is part of the trope of these characters.   

Here is a stupid question:  Geo-Force picks up a piece of the Earth to transport the team back to Gotham City.  So what happens to the big hole he left behind?  And when he gets to Gotham, what does he do with the ground he took with him.  Inquiring minds want to know.

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