Reviewer: Ben Morse
Story Title: “Devil’s Work pt. 2—Lightning, From Above and Belowâ€
Written by: Judd Winick
Penciled by: Tom Raney
Inked by: Scott Hanna
Colored by: Gina Going
Lettered by: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Publisher: DC Comics
Outsiders started out with a lot of promise. The first four issues were like a good action movie: tight dialogue, good team dynamics, and just the right amount of humor to keep things light but not let the reader forget that the stakes were high. Nightwing and Arsenal behaved as the professional but charming rogues that made them fan-favorites and the new characters were a pleasant mix of quirkiness and attitude. However, in the second arc, things began to fell apart a bit, as a classic DC villain got squandered in Brother Blood and the jokes began to get repetitive (Grace is a bitch, Indigo doesn’t get stuff…blah blah blah). A lot was riding on this third arc of which #9 is the second issue. A strong standalone Metamorpho tale in #7 was a good lead-in, with some good character stuff, but a lot of people were worried from the moment the solicitations for #s 8-10 came out and it became clear that the arc was going to be littered with guest stars. In a book less than a year old with half a team consisting of new characters that have yet to be fully explored, can Judd Winick justify their being there and not lose the book in the process? More on that in a bit.
One thing I do like about Outsiders, that continues in this issue, is that Judd lets the characters without their own books get the lion’s share of the exposure. Nightwing is a fantastic character, but if people want to read about just him, they can pick up his book; in Outsiders, Judd limits his use of the character so that when Dick Grayson has a character moment, it carries more weight than if he were constantly the center of the book. The relationship between Indigo and “Metamorpho†or Thunder’s struggles with her father (even if they were somewhat poorly portrayed this issue…more on that in a bit) or even getting to know exactly why Grace is a bitch (I’m sure Judd’s getting around to it), these are the things that make a quality team book. This issue is a bit light on team interaction and that hurts it, but there are still some nice moments, particularly with Indigo and “Metamorpho.â€
The saving grace of this issue comes in the form of a charming, if somewhat rough around the edges, new villain in the form of the all-new Sabbac. The Russian mobster turned demon embodies the best parts of the book so far that I spoke about above: he’s comedic but you never forget that he can also kick some serious ass. A lot of this has to with some excellent work by Tom Raney, who does a great job with this issue; the action is intense, the characters (and their scars) look real and the story flows, representing Raney and the rest of the art team’s strongest effort to date. Sabbac is not a genius, but he’s practical, he’s got street smarts (kudos to Winick for going this route rather than trying to portray a mobster as a braniac or a moron just because all archvillains “must†be one or the other), and he’s ruthless; he presents a tremendous threat to the team.
Ok, it’s a little bit later, let’s talk guest stars. The Huntress appearance last month, I was split on; given her recent character development in Birds of Prey and elsewhere (check out Looking To The Stars), her portrayal and relationship with Nightwing was way off, but there was something about her dynamic with him and Arsenal that made it charming enough to overlook. This month’s Black Lightning guest spot is a complete waste and a disservice to a great character (I’m sure Tony Isabella is thrilled). To begin with, with Huntress already there, a second guest star really isn’t needed; Huntress ends up fighting for page time with BL, not to mention a brand new villain who needs exposure, which means the rest of the team doesn’t even have a chance. Second, the reasons why BL shows up make sense (he was against his daughter doing this from the start and the team just had a very high profile failure), but then he forgets about his concerns for his daughter, throws on a costume and starts quipping with the rest of the gang. A few throwaway lines about how he knows the importance of saving lives over settling personal grudges would have been nice and also would have made BL out to be the responsible veteran hero he is, but even then he would not have not made even an attempt to make his daughter stay behind given his portrayal in the series thus far. There is no reason for Black Lightning to be in this issue and the bigger crime is that if Winick could have just held off a couple issues, he could have done a nice one-shot story with Thunder and her Dad that could have really served a purpose, but now he’s wasted his opportunity for that to seem as special, as more likely the father and daughter will squish a quickie resolution to their issues into next month’s conclusion amongst the eight million other things going on.
Just as it was on Exiles, Winick’s biggest enemy is pacing. He wants to do too much in too little space. Had he paced himself better, he could have had a good story with the team against the new Sabbac (a good enough villain that he should get the spotlight given to the guest stars), another good story with The Huntress being introduced to the team to fight another more well-known villain, and a third story with Thunder and Black Lightning sorting out their problems. Instead, we get bits and pieces of good stories and nothing to really latch onto. This isn’t a glaringly bad issue, but it’s not one I’ll be in a hurry to read again and it’s a terrible one to hook new readers with. The last page of the issue is very cool, but signifies that this problem will only get worse next month.
