Or - “Some Call It The Larry Lieber Syndrome…”

Being the resident Major Spoilers comic historian, I can usually find some sort of precedent for most of what happens in comics.  This issue, indeed, this whole TITLE, reminds me of the 1970’s Atlas line of comics, founded by former Marvel publisher Martin Goodman to put his former company out of business.  He hired away many of Marvel’s freelancers, including Stan Lee’s brother Larry Lieber, and started a new line of comics whose characters and situation seemed vaguely familiar…  Most of the titles started out interestingly, but Goodman, desperate to put Marvel out of business insisted on editorial changes, leading to what has become known as the “Third Issue Switch.”  Batman and The Outsiders started out seemingly going one direction, before veering off to give us a new direction, new members, and an entirely different creative team.  As with ’70’s Atlas, it’s only a problem if you liked the old direction better…

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Even before the first issue of Batman and the Outsiders #1 hits the stands, DC has announced a new creative team of Chuck Dixon and Julian Lopez.  Not only is the original cover (right) getting ditched in favor of two new ones by Doug Braithwaite and Ryan Sook, but the original writing team of Tony Bedard and Koi Turnbull have been given the heave ho too.

But wait, there are even more changes in store for the Dark Knight and his covert underground strike force.

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Or - “Thank Whatever Supreme Being There Is This Series Isn’t Weekly Anymore…”

So. Batman has chosen his team, leaning heavily on experienced and powerful heroes, the ones with the most seasoning, but also those who have worked with him previously. Katana, the Martian Manhunter, Metamorpho and Grace have jumped through his hoops, but Grace and I think that he made at least one mistake in his selection process, and she’s more likely than I am to twist off his World’s Greatest Detective Limbs and beat him about his pointy-cowled head. Batman may be a smart man, but I’m seriously starting to question his wisdom… (more…)

Or - “How Come Diana Gets Top Billing?”

After all, every OTHER time we’ve had a new guy involved, the actual current Outsider’s name came first. Even alphabetically, I’d expect Grace to come first. Still, putting the title under Wonder Woman, when it’s an Amazons Attack crossover (even if the cover says ‘Countdown’) probably makes more sense, and for all my affection for Grace, I’ve never though that her superhero codename was the best. This issue confuses me even more regarding timelines, crossing over with the tail-end of A.A., yet taking place after the formation of the new Justice League, a story that didn’t come out until AFTER Amazons Attack began, yadda yadda yadda. All this, and the mystery of Grace’s origins that arose waaaay back in Outsiders #41 is finally made clear…

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Or - “I May Be Nothin’ To You, But I Am A King Beneath The Sea…”

“Let’s see you get by underwater, as well as I do on the ground. I am AQUAMAN! Ya better not mess around.” Those prophetic words come courtesy of my third favorite band in all the world, Ookla The Mok, introduced to me by my friend Bruce of Otter Disaster infamy. So far in the New Outsider Order, we’ve seen the big bad Bat send a promising super-speedster back to an underground life that will probably lead to a villain career or death, we’ve seen him alienate his own son, we’ve discovered that even if you’re successful in your mission (as Thunder was) there’s no guarantee that he’ll respect your decision-making skills, and most tellingly, we’ve seen that the only people he trusts are the people he already trusts. At this point in the race, his only acquisition is the Martian Manhunter, and of the active Outsiders, only Katana has made the cut. His level of Bat-Dickness has been running between 6 and 10 throughout, but we’re at a moment of truth, as both Aquaman and Metamorpho have a history with Ol’ Scallop-cape.

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Or - “Two Of My Favorite Super-Heroes Together… So Obviously One Is Getting Fired.”

I was initially very skeptical about Thunder as a character. Black Lightning’s creator, Tony Isabella, has stated numerous times that retconning in a daughter that we never heard of makes Lightning look like a deadbeat dad, at best, and a heartless jerk at worst, and that Jefferson would never have let his child grow up without being an active force in her life, and I agree. But the execution of the character has grown on me; with Anissa initially less-than-thrilled to be a superhero but eventually growing into a role as Outsiders team powerhouse. Now, Batman has taken over the team, and even though Thunder helped to FOUND this new Outsiders team, he insists on torturing her to see if she’s up to HIS standards… This oughtta be interesting.

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Or - “I’m Still At A Loss As To How This Is Any Sort Of Competition…”

I mean, honestly, Katana is a former Outsider, she’s worked with Batman before, she’s got the smarts and battle skills, and, oh yeah… SHAZAM CAN’T LEAVE THE ROCK OF ETERNITY! After the first head-to-head came out with no winner at all, I’m sort of wondering if I’ve misunderstood the concept of this miniseries within a series. The way I read the Previews, it seemed like each issue was going to be a competition to see who works better within Batman’s proposed team structure, but two issues in, it comes across as more complicated than that. After all, the worlds of magic are in disarray, and even Batman needs a mystical resource now and again.

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DC Comics has provided two sneak previews of upcoming titles to Major Spoilers. Take the jump for Midnighter: Armageddon, and The Authority: Prime, which ship in October, and Outsiders: Five of a Kind: Week 3: Thunder/Martian Manhunter #3 that arrives in stores today.

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Or - “Is That Really Going To Be His Hero Designation?”

Ever since Owen Mercer joined the Outsiders during the One-Year-Later gap, I’ve been jokingly referring to him as Captain Boomerang, Junior. The reasons for this are twofold: first, there’s a proud tradition of calling a younger version of a hero by the Junior name (Captain Marvel, Jr. is the obvious one, but back in the day there was also Captain Battle, Jr. as well as Batman Junior and Superman Junior, the Super-Sons) and secondly, it’s a terrible, horrible, awful, really bad super-hero name. Worse than Bobo… Worse than Hard Drive… Worse even than Cable (which, whether you love him or hate him, you have to agree is a useless codename.) And now, DC has not only made that his name, they actually paid some poor shmendrik to create a LOGO that says “Captain Boomerang, Jr.” I am literally stunned… but, other than that, how was the issue in question?

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Even with the San Diego Comic Con going on, DC has made available a sneak peek of Outsiders: Five of a Kind: Week 1: Nightwing/Boomerang for those of you us who aren’t able to attend.

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Or - “A New Direction Is In The Wings, With Some Loose Ends To Clear Up First…”

The anatomy of the crossover is always fascinating to observe, and the clash of Checkmate and the Outsiders has been very interesting, serving to put the spotlight on both teams, including the first real understanding of what Sasha Bordeaux’s OMAC implants are really capable of. But it’s been a brutal ride for all involved, and if you’ve been reading Previews, you know that the Outsiders’ future will involve some changes in personnel, leadership and strategy… The questions that this issue must answer, then, are the basic issues that any good reporter would have to answer: how, when, and, most importantly, why?

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Did you get a chance to read your copy of Outsiders this week? If you did, you may have noticed this awesome tease.

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Or - “Who’d Have Imagined EGG FU Would EVER Be Intimidating?”

The 21st century truly is a place of wonders. The man from Oolong Island, most remembered pre-Crisis for an incredibly offensive accent and lines like “Stupid Amelicans! They might as werr pless a tligger to their own blains!” is not only intimidating, but this issue shows him to be a truly frightening creature, his curiosity unhindered by minor concerns such as compassion or fear of punishment. Chang Tzu proves that no idea is too ridiculous to fix, something we should probably all keep in mind when we (myself included) mock the monthly solicitations wondering why anyone would ever bring back, say, MODOK. In the hands of a talented writer or writers, even Mind-Grabber Kid might have some life left in him…

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Or - “It’s Like 24, Only Slightly Less Unbelievable…”

The Check/Out crossover has been interesting on a number of levels, but most of all, it’s been interesting to see the character interactions. Rucka and Winick seem to be co-writing each issue, with each of the various character voices staying true to previous depictions, even with a rollercoaster plot full of twists and turns. I was entertained by the interaction between Boomerang, Junior and Mlle. Marie, between Nightwing and The Black Queen, but nothing in the story so far has surprised me more than this issue’s final page…

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Or - “Finally, A Break From Iron Man Bashing. I’m EXHAUSTED…”

Usually, I try to space these out with a little more give-and-take, but last weeks comic book haul was rather Marvel-heavy, and for some odd reason, I haven’t been in an “Outsiders and Checkmate on a covert mission” writing mood. Now that I’ve reread it, I remember that this has been a pretty impressive crossover between two of DC’s better-written middle-of-the-road-selling books, but I fear that they’re “preaching to the choir,” that the people who read one book already read the other. The days of complete Marvel Zombies may be mostly over, but there’s a weird low buzz of DC resentment among the casual comics readership (at least the ones that I read on the internet and sell comics to) including people who mock DC’s naming conventions, lament the fact that not all of their characters have bad@$$ names and leather costumes, or think they’re “unrealistic.” My rant about realism in comics takes too long to go into here, so instead, I’m going to address this to those of you among the loyal Spoilerites and casual viewers: HERE is a DC book (technically TWO) that you might want to check out.

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