DCU Comic Book Reviews

OUTSIDERS #46

Pay As You Go, Part Three:  Friends, Lovers, & Other Strangers

May 2007

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Freddie Williams II and Carlo Barberi

Inks by Art Thibert

Cover By Mathew Clark

Synopsis

Anissa Pierce (aka Thunder) wants the Outsiders to break her father, Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lighting), out of prison after learning that he did not commit the murder that landed him in jail.  The Outsiders all vote “no” since the information provided to them came from the Red Hood, a noted criminal.  The only Outsider who agrees with Anissa is Grace.  Later, Anissa goes to visit Grace and the two kiss.  In Iron Heights Prison, Captain Boomerang Jr. is being beaten by four men, only to be saved by “Derek Cooper.”  The warden decides to bunk Boomerang with Cooper.  Meanwhile, one of the guys who beat up Boomerang offers him a deal:  they’ll leave him alone if he kills Cooper, who is actually Black Lightning.  News of the contract reaches the Outsiders, who realize they must now free Black Lightning from prison.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I really hope there is a specific reason why the ending to this story is being shuttled to the Annual rather than being released in the next issue (which happens to be the Checkmate crossover, so that may explain it).  Otherwise, this is typical Winick material, which means I liked it. 

A good portion of this issue focused on the one aspect of this storyline that had failed to capture my interest:  the budding romance between Anissa and Grace.  After reading this issue, I still am not engrossed with this plot as I am with Boomerang’s involvement with Pierce’s eventual escape or the fallout that will lead to the team willing to fake their own deaths. 

Part of the problem is that Winick is the writer, so it is difficult to not see this relationship as part of his ongoing fascination with gay issues (first seen in Green Lantern with Terry, than in Green Arrow with Mia, and now here).  Combined with Grace’s sexual relationship with Roy and her current relationship (no matter how Grace defines her encounter) and it is hard to avoid believing this is the writer shoehorning this element into the story rather than letting come around naturally.  To even murky the waters, it was revealed in a previous issue that Grace is not even human, a bit of information that has not been explored since then. 

According to the credits, Williams penciled pages 9 (intro to Iron Heights) and 15 (Boomerang in the warden’s office).  I suspect that since both pages feature the warden, these may have been redrawn when editorial realized some type of goof. 

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