Monday, November 23, 2009

Outsiders #24

I have to admit that I'm completely out of touch with this comic.

I bought the original title, Batman and the Outsiders, and the first 10 (or so) issues of this latest version when Chuck Dixon was writing it. (How could I not be a fan of a guy with such a wonderful first name?)

But that was more than a year ago, and obviously some things have changed for the Batman-less Outsiders. Black Lightning has left the JLA and rejoined the team, and "Roy" (who I'm assuming is the former Speedy) is now apparently known as Owl Man.

I picked up this comic for the "free" ring, of course, but this is the first such comic that doesn't make much of an effort to explain the basic setup to new readers.

It's all part of the Blackest Night story, of course, and we get the backstory of the revived Terra, who may or may not be resisting her murderous urges.

The book is split into two stories, as she confronts her brother Geo-Force and several members of the team, while Katana leads two other members of the team in another mission, which brings them into battle with other Black Lanterns.

It's not a bad comic at all, although anyone picking it up cold (like me) is pretty much on their own to figure out what's going on. Writer Peter Tomasi keeps things moving along briskly, and the art by Fernando Pasarin is quite good - detailed and intense, especially the action sequence with Katana's team.

But when you get down to it, this just reads as a generic super-team, with no characters standing out at all.

My advice: bring back Batman.

Grade: B-

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