Outsiders #1 review

Posted on by martingray1

Kate Kane has had enough of Gotham City and its constant wars. She needs to get away… somewhere nice?

It turns out that a Gothamite is waiting for our Batwoman. Luke Fox, the hero known as Batwing.

Batwoman is intrigued, but the no-superhero bit doesn’t last long – Luke has a Bat-snowsuit to hand as he takes Kate to meet another associate.

Drum roll…

Hey, I remember a character called The Drummer! He was a member of Planetary, archaeologists of the impossible – but that was in the Wildstorm Universe, before that comics line was absorbed by DC Comics. Here’s a new take on Planetary, with Luke Fox as Elijah Snow, Batwoman as Jacita Wagner, Lucius Fox as the Fourth Man and Drummer as – ta da – the Drummer. But Luke and Lucius are calling themselves The Outsiders because, well, they’re Outsiders, answering ‘only to history’. There’s no mention of the 15 versions of The Outsiders already linked to the Bat Family.

To be fair, Kate is confused too. Not as confused as me, though. It makes no sense to me that, wanting some peace and quiet, she shows up in a war zone which is apparently a playground of all-purpose mad hag Amanda Waller. It makes no sense that Luke Fox says he’s had a hard time finding her when Bat Family members are as connected as can be. It makes no sense that Luke suggests Kate has came to the Middle East because she wants to end her life. It makes no sense that Batwoman is the perfect woman for the job rather than a hero known for their love of cataloguing, Oracle, say. Sure, Luke says both he and Kate ‘trained under one of the most brilliant tactical minds to ever exist’ – presumably Batman – but unless her origins have changed, that’s certainly not true for the super-independent Batwoman.

And why does everything have to be so cloak and dagger? When you know you’re facing a 50-mile long bomb, why not call in one of the big gun teams?

So yes, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly’s script is a bit of a headscratcher – and yet I really enjoyed it. The writers obviously has a master plan, they aren’t afraid to point out tired tropes, and they have a gift for dialogue that’s snappy without being smart-arse.

I’ve not read a story with Luke Fox in it for years, but I like the man we meet here – determined, stoic, out to carve a new path in the DC Multiverse. And Kate Kane is fun, even when she’s being terribly disrespectful of her elders – it’s about time we had a Batwoman who isn’t grim 24/7. As for the new Drummer, she exudes cool.

What’s more, Kelly and Lanzing aren’t shying away from the original Planetary – by the end of this issue, a comic that at first looks like nothing more than heroes in Planetary cosplay proves to have deep connections to the Warren Ellis/John Cassaday original. I’m very much looking forward to seeing exactly how over the course of the promised 12 issues.

The art is by relative newcomer Robert Carey, and it’s pretty good: the storytelling is clear, the figurework fine and the backgrounds – bar the odd computer-blurred cityscape – effective. There are some neat big machines too. I especially like the new Drummer, who looks like Lady Shiva if Lady Shiva had suffered many very bad days while smoking and drinking to within an inch of her life. And the white-suited Luke looks great, especially when he puts on his woolly hat.

Colourist Valentina Taddeo foregoes the vampiric white skin tone that at some point moved from being Kate’s Batwoman make-up to her natural look, making her seem far more human, and attractive. She also does a bang up job with lighting, adding tons of atmosphere to the pages. Taddeo works especially well with Carey on that Drummer intro, I can fair hear the snow crunching underfoot. And letterer Tom Napolitano, as well as doing his usual bang-up job, has great fun when an unexpected character decides to make their voice known.

Illustrator Roger Cruz turns in a terrific cover image, which Adriano Lucas colours which style – the icy blue for the masthead is particularly good.

To sum up, some of the set-up for this issue’s big events is a tad confusing, but once we get into the main narrative Outsiders #1 becomes quite the compelling yarn. Give it a go.

14 thoughts on “Outsiders #1 review”

  1. Was there ever an explanation given for Batwoman’s white face?
    It’s been a long time since I’ve read any of her stories, but I don’t remember it ever being addressed. I seem to recall both Batwoman and Kate Kane had the palest of pale skin and it constantly knocked me out of the story anytime anyone else shared panel time with her.
    But again, it’s been a long time since I read her original stories. Maybe Kate’s skin was a regular colour and it was only Batwoman who had the white look

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    1. I gave up reading the Batwoman series shortly after the New 52 arrived, but I don’t recall an explanation. I thought that maybe some colourist got confused between her Bat-look and regular look, and made it a thing, but going back to Detective #554, her series debut, she was already really pale. So it must have been an artistic decision on the part of Greg Rucka and JH Williams. She looks like a ruddy vampire!

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  2. When it was first announced I was excited about the premise. For years I’ve thought that DC should have a team/ongoing series dedicated to exploring the multiverse. And this seemed to fit the bill.
    More recently though spoilers online indicated this is a new spin on the old “Planetary” title which I hear is good but have never read/been interested in.
    I also haven’t seen much if any additional publicity since it was announced a few months back. An interview with the creative team shedding some light on things might help.
    I’d be more interested, for example, if it was clear this is firmly set in the DCU and not a “Planetary” reboot with some DCU window dressing just to try to hook readers like myself.
    I guess tying it in with the Batman titles is maybe necessary to try and get more folks interested. But I’m also not a big fan of the two characters featured. I’d be more excited if this was a Challengers of the Unknown title or some other group of B,C, D-listers, but that’s just me. I understand how that might not get the green light/sell as well as having the Fox and Batwoman characters.

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      1. Yeah, still not interested. BTW, archeologists and historians would not be affected adversely by reboots, retcons, etc. After the paradigm change, they would think the current status quo was always there.

        Oh and did you click on the free ad/article for the Star City tie in to that month’s crossover? It calls Black Canary the mentor of Red Canary. Um, no. Dinah’s her inspiration. Mentor’s teach and train you. Has she done that in the current Green Arrow series I’m avoiding?

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      2. Oh yes, I agree with that, it’s not like pre-Crisis would be lurking underground somewhere. I’m hoping that will be addressed.

        Where was this clickable ad? Screen Rant? Anyway, you’re right again, Red Canary – so far as I know – hasn’t appeared outside her debut storyline, and Dinah certainly didn’t know her.

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      3. It caught my eye as one of the article links on the side. I liked Red Canary well enough. I’d assumed she was going be like that Beetle Character in the end of the JSA’s pre-Flashpoint series or a gruesome death to show it’s not smart to throw a knockoff costume on and hit the streets with no prep.

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  4. So, Outsiders in name only, a bait and switch to do a Planetary book. Starring Kate and Lucius, who I’ve never cared that much for, and what I find in your review is a gender swapped Planetary character whom I didn’t warm up to here. I also never much cared for WildStorm back in the day or Planetary. I’ll check out the next volume of Outsiders in a few years but this issue is the only one I’ll be reading of this one.

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  5. I think it is too soon to judge where the book is going– especially since they are doing a lot of different things within the context of the book. Okay, the title may not exactly fit what we think of the “Outsiders” team- but comic companies do that sort of thing all the time. I give DC credit at attempting to do something a little outside-of-the-box.

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Published by martingray1

Journalist, comic reviewer, theatre critic, film lover, biscuit fan, cat indulger