DCU Comic Book Reviews

OUTSIDERS #32

Detour

March 2006

Written by Jen Van Meter

Pencils by Matthew Clark

Inks by Art Thibert

Cover by Daniel Acuña

Synopsis

In outer space, Komand’r (aka Blackfire) has attacked Shift and Jade in an attempt to get to her sister, Koriand’r (aka Starfire).  Blackfire takes them to her ship.  In San Francisco, Katana attempts to communicate wit the capture soul of Sabbac to learn more of the Society’s plans.  Apparently, they wanted Captain Marvel, Jr.  Meanwhile, Arsenal and Grace are on a stakeout, when Deathstroke appears a places a knife to Grace’s neck and tells her to come with him.  In space, Shift, Jade, and Starfire break free of their restraints and subdue Blackfire.  In San Francisco, Deathstroke, with the help of Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and Captain Boomerang, interrogate Grace to learn what Sabbac told the Outsiders.  She says nothing so they through her in the cage.  Roy Harper (aka Arsenal) then reveals he is under the Deathstroke mask and he tells Grace to follow him and the other rogues.  In Space, Dona Troy finds Shift, Jade, and Starfire and takes them to the center of the universe and the storm threatening the cosmos.

Review

The basic problem with any comic (or novel or movie) with two separate plots is the danger than one of the stories is better or more interested than the other.  In this case, I was totally bored by the Blackfire plot but interested in the Deathstroke plot.  In my review I comment that the better tact would be to follow one story or another and not both and to me, this issue backs up that statement.  I think what makes this worse is that the Blackfire plot really went nowhere.  At the end of this issue, Blackfire is defeated at the Outsiders are back with Donna Troy ready to find the cosmic crisis.  This is exactly the same point they were at just several issues ago. I would have preferred more on the Outsiders in San Francisco.  I like the synergy of Arsenal impersonating Deathstroke after Roy had been duped by Deathstroke impersonating Batman. 

The ironic part of this issue is that I actually prefer Matthew Clark’s pencils of the out space scenes rather than Dietrich Smith’s pencils of the San Francisco scenes.  I like the crisp detail Clark brings; Smith’s work seems less defined, to me at least.-- MRB

Comic Connection

Komand’r states that she got her powers by killing Shayera Thal (aka Hawkwoman), which occurred in the Rann/Thanagar War

mini-series, issue #5. 

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