The Outsider #1
Written by James Robinson
Art by Javi Fernandez
I personally believe that James Robinson is at his absolute best when he’s either working with a character of his own creation or working in his own little corner of the universe without worry about editorial interference. This is why I feel that Starman and The Golden Age are so fondly remembered, while Cry for Justice and his JLA run have left much to be desired. He has a unique style to his work and it fares much better when he’s allowed to just be himself and not be subject to the whims of editorial design. Now, I understand that this is weird to open with when talking about a tie in miniseries to a big event, the sort of thing that screams editorial control and committee writing, so is this me saying that this book sucks?
Far from it, I’m happy to say. Robinson creates his own character here, complete with the issue opening with a brief origin story of the man named Michael Desai, better known to the world as ‘The Outsider’. A stone skinned Indian man, whose birth killed his mother, and who is the sole survivor of an event that consumed the entire city immediately after his father shunned him for the death of the mother. Now, as an adult (keeping the name the orphanage gave him), he’s a man of power and importance who happens to control India. One that was among the group that Cyborg tried to call in to stop Aquaman and Wonder Woman in the first issue of Flashpoint…in fact, this issue coincides with that. When we first see The Outsider as an adult he is in the middle of that conversation; taking part via hologram, his argument with Blackout during the gathering leads him to multitask for his own purposes during it. He shows a desire for power, but his intelligence stands out as he both tracks an enemy as well as is among the first to step down when Batman doesn’t side with Cyborg.
There are two DC mainstays that get brought into the story; the first is Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal Wayne family Butler who is absent from Thomas Wayne’s life, who appears to have been an undercover agent for The Outsider prior to his execution. That’s one panel, by the way, but at least he got name dropped. There’s also Michael “Mr. Terrific” Holt, who is among a group of would be assassins along with his wife and a Japanese man named Rising Sun. Three people who spent years in jail because of lies he doesn’t deny having spread, former champions…heroes, whose lives he destroyed. I don’t find it a spoiler to say that he was victorious in slaughtering the lot of them, and I find it not only says a lot about his character, but also completely made me grin when he cared more about his destroyed suit than the three people who tried to assassinate him.
The character himself is intriguing, and save for the ties to existing characters, completely original. We aren’t given too deep a look into the true nature of his abilities, but his strength and durability does get a highlight. At the same time, the issue primarily draws up questions and doesn’t bother to answer more than his origin. For some this will prove to be annoying as there’s little immediate gratification unless you like viewing incredibly one sided bad guy action (and I do), but I personally enjoy the fact that it leaves you curious and wanting to see what happens next. Robinson does a great job building up the intrigue to get you wanting to read the next issue, hoping for pay off.
Javi Fernandez is not someone I’m familiar with…rightfully so as he only recently broke in with a few issues of a miniseries at Marvel (Captain America: First Vengeance, I think it’s a movie tie-in), so for a lot of people this will be his first impression. He does an admirable job, albeit far from perfect. There are nice touches throughout the book, from the lighting to the detail in the splash pages, and the look of The Outsider in particular; these are all high points. Normal people, on the other hand, varies from page to page and panel to panel, and there are quite a few cases of disappearing noses throughout the book. The action is nice, the sheer level of actual violence is put over well. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of this mini looks.
Robinson has given us an interesting character in the Flashpoint world without borrowing too heavily from anything we’ve seen recently. Sure, the issue ties directly into the first issue of Johns event, but once the conversation with Cyborg is over we are released directly into The Outsider’s world. Someone wants him dead, and he wants to know just who that may be. He wants Blackout for his powers, but we don’t know just who exactly he is. And then, my burning question, if he truly caused the event when he was a newborn….how dangerous is he? I expect a fun story in three issues here as Robinson is creating something that most likely won’t be carrying over once all is said and done. And who knows? Maybe we’ll get some crazy reveal about hims actually being a DC mainstay in an unrecognizable take? He’s sold me on the next issue, so I’ll be looking forward to it.
Overall?
7.5/10
