DCU Comic Book Reviews

OUTSIDERS #50

You Killed The Outsiders!!!

November 2007

Written by Tony Bedard

Pencils by Matthew Clark and Ron Randall

Inks by Art Thibert

Cover By Mathew Clark

Synopsis

When the new Outsiders gather together, Grace is upset that Anissa Pierce (aka Thunder) is no longer on the team.  Batman tells the new Outsiders that they will operate in the darkness by convincing everyone that they are bad guys even as they fight the good fight.  Batman does not think Thunder has what ti takes to be part of the mission.  Despite what Batman says, Grace invites Thunder to go with them.  Later, the team goes to a bar frequented by other bad guys, including Catwoman.  Suddenly, the Suicide Squad show up to capture them all.  The Outsiders interrupt, beating the Suicide Squad and allowing the bad guys to go free, hoping this will help them gain credibility as bad guys themselves.  When the Outsiders then make their get away, Catwoman decides to join them.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

The issue itself wasn’t that bad.  I liked the way Bedard made sure to show, via the fight with the Squad how the new team works together.  He also managed to toss in Captain Boomerang Jr. as a reminder of the past team, while organically working Thunder back into the mix.  Catwoman’s entry onto the team seemed to be a little forced, which surprised me because the events in her own book (in which she is in trouble with the Gotham police) seemed to point her in the direction of the Outsiders to the point where she didn’t really need to invite herself.  It seemed like a natural for Catwoman to ask Batman and have him agree but, nevermind, that’s just my own thoughts on it.  So, overall, not a bad beginning, er, ending to this series. 

I think my problem with this book at the moment is the basic set-up, that of heroes willingly becoming bad guys to work undercover.  It is a plot device that works well for mafia-type stories but I don’t think works that well for Super Hero stories.  In fact, it has been done before, most recently I believe in Justice League Elite and that didn’t work, lasting only 12 issues.  I am not really sold on the book’s aim, but I am willing to give it a chance. 

Batman’s speech at the beginning of the issue sounded too much, disturbingly so, like Marvel’s recent Civil War mini-series.  Luckily, this is not supposed to be a political book, but rather a book about heroes going undercover.  I really hope Bedard focuses on that aspect of the book and not on any political motivations. 

Neat touch with the cell phone:  It looks to be a Ted Kord (aka Blue Beetle) model phone connected to “L Mobile” which looks like the logo would be Lex Luthor.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the issue but I wonder why this was numbered as part of the Outsiders book before we get the new numbering scheme with Batman And The Outsiders?  The cynic in me believes it was done just to reach #50, but really this issue had nothing to do with the previous series.  In fact, the book skipped a month to do the Five Of A Kind one shots so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to stop the book there and relaunch this month, not next month. 

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