DCU Comic Book Reviews

OUTSIDERS #49

CheckOut, Conclusion

September 2007

Written by Judd Winick and Greg Rucka

Pencils by Matthew Clark and Ron Randall

Inks by Art Thibert

Cover By Mathew Clark

Synopsis

[Continued from Checkmate, issue #15]

In North Korea, Nightwing, Captain Boomerang, Jr., and Sasha Bourdeaux are being held hostage by Chang Tzu.  Meanwhile, after getting intel from Batman, the Outsiders and members of Checkmate take the Pequod rush to North Korea to save their teammates.  At the Checkmate Castle, White Queen Amanda Waller tries to stop the Pequod, but there is not enough time.  Meanwhile, Nightwing and Boomer escape their prison cell just as help arrives.  The Outsiders and Checkmate reach North Korea and battle some monster, but they realize it is only a diversion so Batman can find Nightwing, Boomer, and Sasha undetected.  Later, Nightwing decides that he can no longer lead the Outsiders.  Batman, however, has an idea who should lead the team.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I have really enjoyed this crossover.  As a reader of both books, I though the mix of characters was right and the action, humor, and intrigue was mixed and balanced just right.  We got the intrigue of Checkmate and the action of Outsiders and it worked well together.  The only weakness (for me at least) is the use of numerous artists, which should be interesting when this is put together in a trade paperback. 

The other weakness is for those readers who read one book and not the other.  Besides the obvious conclusion to the plot surrounding Oolong Island, there are two things going on in this comic.  The first thing is the ending of the current Outsiders and the beginning of the new Outsiders with Batman as their leader.  The second thing is the politics of Checkmate and the fallout from whatever it is Amanda Waller is (and was) up to.  In the book titled Outsiders, the first makes sense, but the second doesn’t as I am sure they will be numerous Checkmate fans who won’t bother to pick up this final installment.  And fans of Outsiders would probably not care about it; the scene at the castle does not really add much to this issue. 

I think the story would’ve been better suited by focusing on the Outsiders, particularly Nightwing.  His final decision seems to come out of nowhere; there wasn’t much build to it within this crossover, although it has been building since the beginning of the series.  I just wish Winick had touched upon it a little bit more in this crossover. 

The credits page gives special thanks to Jesse Hamm and Aaron McConnell.  The two work at Periscope Studios (previously known as Mercury Studios) in Portland Oregon.  Members of the studio work in the comic book business.  Hamm recently was the artist for Good As Lily, a graphic novel for DC’s Minx line.  I am not quite sure what connection (other than their location, which is near Rucka’s home) they have to this crossover, I am not quite sure.

The end of this issue indicates that there will be a 5-week special to pick the new Outsiders team.  Each issue will feature two characters and Batman will pick one of them.  This is a good idea, if DC hadn’t already shown us the new team.  It’s right here in this comic, on the advertisement nestled between pages 6 and 7. 

When and how did Boomer get pants?

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