DCU Comic Book Reviews

OUTSIDERS #43

Mad Scientists, Finale: The Man Behind The Curtain

February 2007

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Ron Randall and Pop Mhan

Inks by Art Thibert and Steve Bird

Cover By Mathew Clark and Art Thibert

Synopsis

Doctor Sivana has just shot Nightwing with a poisoned dart.  He has the antidote, providing the Outsiders just listen to him.  The team, however, is inclined not to, so they attack.  Sivana’s bodyguard, Saber, holds them off long enough to allow Sivana to poison Katana as well.  The team decides to listen.  Sivana tells them that he has been the mastermind behind the Outsider’s missions, which have been designed to help him retrieve the Luddite. He has them all and is ready to turn back Earth to the Stone Age.  After watching the Outsiders for these past few years, he wants them to seriously consider joining him in his master plan.  He gives the antidote to Nightwing and Katana and tells them to think about it.  Katana, however, unleashes Sabbac from her sword and orders the fiery demon to destroy Sivana’s lab and destroying most of the Luddite bombs.  Sivana is able to get away.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I liked the ending to this storyline, although I think I liked it because Sivana’s “master plan” is so tied to the series as a whole that as someone who has been reading this title since the very beginning, I feel the same type of connection that Sivana feels with the Outsiders.  I hesitate to say that this issue is like a reward for being a faithful reader for these past 3 and a half years, although it is the best and only word I can come up with.  Except for the “Most Wanted” storyline, almost all of the stories and foes are accounted for, including Sabbac at the end.  Suddenly everything connects, although it may not make total sense.  Others might be pissed at Winick for tying everything together as he did and really I can’t fault for someone thinking that way.  In some ways I get the feeling that the decision to make Sivana the ultimate bad guy for the Outsiders was recent.  Somehow I doubt Winick sat down to write the first issue and said:  “Sivana is pulling the strings and is using Gorilla Grodd and the Joker to do it.”  The clues that might suggest Sivana’s involvement just don’t seem to exist; other than what Winick tells us in this issue.  Yet, I am willing to overlook it; I liked the way the story wraps up, so let’s move onward.