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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Or - “You Gotta Love Grace…”

There’s two important safety tips to the reading of Major Spoilers recaps of Outsiders. One: I am a fan of Judd Winick, his dialogue and plotting, so while many other reviewers may raise hue and cry about the earmarks of Judd’s writing, you won’t get that here. Secondly, I have a huge imaginary crush on Grace Choi. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to try and defend it, but a six-foot tattooed half-Asian woman with super-strength appeals to me. As Grant Morrison (or someone quite like him) said in this week’s ‘Tales of The Unexpected’: “We’re geeks. That’s how we roll.” He said it with a thick Scottish accent, though, so it was incomprehensible. Meanwhile, back at the crossover…

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Or - “Two Excellent Books Are Crossing Over… And You’re Reading SPAWN, Aren’t You?”

I know, I know, I shouldn’t be mean about Spawn… Every single title out there is somebody’s fave-rave, and just ’cause I don’t get it (and maybe resent Todd McFarlane’s general public persona and history of questionable litigatory decisions) doesn’t mean that it isn’t awesome in… some… way. Maybe… Anyway, back in the realm of statements that keep my foot out of mouth, we’re about to embark on an interesting case study in the DCU. Outsiders, a relatively underrated book with a ton of neat characters and action is crossing over with Checkmate, about which Sam Wheat would just say “Ditto.” How exactly does an underground superteam of highly questionable legality interact with the government’s official CIA-type group designed to reign in the antics of metahumans?

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Or - “How We Got Where We Were A Year Ago But Now Aren’t Anymore…”

Perhaps the most unpleasant realization of the “One Year Later” stories is the gnawing feeling that the writers DIDN’T KNOW how their characters got to this new status quo, and that when the time came to reveal the truth, it felt like a lot of vamping and ad libbing. Granted, 52 became less of a “story of the DC universe” and more an untraditional superhero narrative about Ralph, Booster, Montoya, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) John-Henry Irons, but even the last three weeks of that book have found what felt like a lot of hurried explanations shoved into any panel that would fit. The Nightwing Annual had the space to show a “Behind The Music” story of Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon’s journey into and out of couplehood and did it smashingly, but now that it’s time to figure out how the Outsiders went from Arsenal-led “Mission: Impossible” riff to Nightwing-led “A-Team” riff, things are… less satisfying.

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Or - “Strange Days, Indeed… Most Peculiar, Mama.”

Of all the mysteries left unsolved in the wake of the time-jump caused by 52, the question of what happened to the Outsiders has been the most maddening, partly because their change in status quo was so dramatic, and partly because Judd Winick has insisted on giving us absolutely nothing to go on, not even an oblique hint. Even now that they’re revealing the events that filled the one-year-gap, certain questions remain maddeningly unanswered (notably the whole “Grace isn’t what she seems” issue), and Winick is probably going to hell for it. Serve him right, crafting an interesting series of mysteries and then giving us no clues to them. *removes tongue from cheek* Are they going to give us ANYTHING this time ’round?

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Or - “Superheroes Make For Some Interesting Fathers…”

As a parent, I find it interesting how the superheroes treat their kids. The poster child for this is, of course, Franklin Richards, whose mutant abilities have popped him up and down the power charts like a whore’s drawers. Young Frankie’s parents only refer to him when they want to hurt each other by calling their spouse neglectful, only to return to their experiments/flirtations-with-fishmen the moment their ire cools. The Vision and The Scarlet Witch’s children were wished out of existence, we’ve seen recently the toll that an absentee Batman father had on l’il Damien Wayne-Al -Ghoul, and even staid and trustworthy Cyclops let his kid be fired into the timestream to “save his life,” (superhero code for “give me back my freedom.”) With all that taken into account, it’s good to see couple of decent dads on display in Outsiders… Who am I talking about?

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Or - “They Talk Of Days For Which They Sit And Wait And All Will Be Revealed…”

“When there’s trouble, you know who to call… OUTSIDERS! From their floating ship, they see it all… OUTSIDERS!

With Judd Winick writing the script! From the headlines adventures are ripped! And if you’re lucky there’ll be girl-on-giiiirl! OUTSIDERS!

With their superpowers they unite… OUTSIDERS! One Year Later, nothing is quite right… OUTSIDERS!

Doc Sivana made them all think! But our heroes just told him he stinks! And Katana’s costume is the woooorrst! OUTSIDERS!

O! U! T-S-I! D-E-R! S! OUTSIDERS, GOOOOO!”

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DC Comics has released a sneak peek of Outsiders #44 that goes on sale this week. This nine page preview features bombs, explosions, and those darn Dominators.

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Or - “Go-Kart Mozart Was Checkin’ Out The Weather Chart Seein’ If It’s Safe Outside…”

I tried recently to explain to one of my customers (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Topeka, Kansas. Come buy stuff!) why I enjoy Judd Winick’s work on The Outsiders. As I did, I found myself in that weird position where I had to explain away my PROBLEMS with the current status of the book before I could tell him what was good about it. I’m sure the Germans have a word for the need to justify your enjoyment of something (maybe it’s Hurneyvurneyfarfarghnughen?), but it’s a weird position for me to be in. I know I’m liking the book, or at least parts of the book, but for the life of me, I couldn’t articulate the positives. Now, I can…

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Or “A Mystery Within An Enigma Wrapped In Bacon and Deep-Fried In Batter.”

Recently, I mentioned on the forums how DC’s Shadowpact comic was adhering to the fanboy rule of thumb regarding the Star Trek movie franchise: the odd-numbered issues leave me cold, whereas the even-numbered ones give me hope to come back for the next time ’round. With this issue, Outsiders officially joins the Roddenberry Rondelay, with an issue that adds yet another layer of questions, a terribly unfortunate tonsorial decision and some serious bad behavior. (more…)