BONUS BOOK - Batman and the Outsiders (July, 1983)
Writer - Mike W. Barr
Art - Jim Aparo
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Len Wein
Today we're going to take a look at the other Insert Preview I mistakenly believed I owned and had to run around town to find the other day. This one though... kinda made me nervous.
I Googled the issue just to get a look at the cover, and saw it listed as the first appearance of Halo, Geo-Force, and now-DC Superhero Girls star, Katana. I figured this one probably wouldn't be coming cheap. I decided to see what the "going rate" was online... and, hoo-boy, this one looked pretty spendy. Here, take a look:
That's definitely more money than I was interested in spending on this... even on the low-end of the above pricing-spectrum! And, while I'd never push the "Buy it Now" button, in my experience, the online prices are (generally speaking) lower than what you might expect to pay in-store for "key" books. What's worse, I recognized the cover immediately as a book that I had actually seen in dollar bins throughout the years.
Right then, I figured that I'd have to end the first-half of the BONUS BOOKS feature... one book short. Even if I could actually manage to track this bugger down, I was pretty sure it would be tagged way out of my price range.
And so, I hit up some of my normal haunts... some of the "healthier" cheap-o bins, a couple used book stores, a few used record stores... and, came up empty. Couldn't even find the Justice League of America issue we discussed yesterday.
Then, I remembered that one of our local shops has a pretty neat consignment program... where folks can sell their comics through the store, and they're sometimes tagged below normal "asking" price. Lo and behold, I pop in... and managed to find both of the missing books... for just a couple bucks a piece! Like, less than what I'd pay for a new comic! In really good condition, to boot! That's a Vartox-Week sized miracle, if you ask me!
Let's get right to it!
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We open at the Gotham City Hospital, where Commissioner Gordon is trying to get some information out of a suicidal terrorist called Miklos. This dude ain't interested one bit in talking... and was even willing to kill himself to avoid betraying his cause. Gordon looks at his watch, realizes this is going to be one heckuva long evening... and wishes Batman were around. Just then, a delivery van pulls up outside the hospital... except, the only thing they look to be trying to deliver is... bullets into the chest of the poor Security Guard on duty! They're the bad guys, ya see. They rush into the hospital on a sorta-kinda "double suicide" mission. They're all planning to die tonight, though, not before doing Miklos the favor of killing him too.
Inside the hospital, a young Candy-Striper is bringing some cups of water to various patients. She is approached by a man who appears to have an eye for her. He asks her out to a Clash concert... which, she doesn't seem to understand. How can "Clash" be a concert, when it's defined as "a conflict of some sort"? Hmm...
Anyhoo, a terrorist with a flame-thrower strapped to his back bursts in the room... prompting our Candy-Striper to slink off to change her clothes. Folks, this is the first appearance of: Halo! She uses her powers to chase away the flame-thrower, while protecting the patients.
The flame-thrower fella rushes into the hallway, where he finds himself caught up in a Metamorpho-sized candle-snuffer! For good measure, Rex fills the snuffer with Hydrogen... which doesn't work out so good for the baddie.
Meanwhile, in the Recovery Ward, several terrorists (wielding both guns and... swords?) have corralled some patients. One, appearing to be an old woman, removes her rubber mask... revealing herself to be: Katana... in her first appearance!
Using the distraction from his teammate, a nearby Jefferson Pierce takes the opportunity to change into his "work clothes". Black Lightning is in the house.
Katana is squared off having a sword-fight with one of the terrorists... who warns her that she has nothing to lose, as this is an actual suicide mission. Katana replies that she doesn't have a problem with that... in fact, she'll save the suicidal-terrorist the trouble and kill her where she stands! Turns out this was all it took to call the baddie's bluff.
The heroes continue fighting the terrorists... and we shift over to, the man of the hour: Batman. He's doing some sorta-kinda detective work, in the form of counting how many sets of footprints entered the place. He can account for five baddies his team has already caught... however, there is a sixth set of prints! He deduces that the first five were just a diversion... and, it looks like he's right.
Up in Miklos' room, the sixth man bursts in... and this fella is completely strapped with 'splosives. The Outsiders follow him in... with Halo almost referring to Batman as "Mr. ... something". Hmm... I didn't know the Outsiders knew Batman's secret identity? Perhaps they changed their mind on this early on. Anyhoo, the Bomber pushes the button, blowing the heck out of the hospital room. On the ground outside, a trench-coated fellow looks on.
This fellow is: Geo-Force, making his first appearance! Batman kept him outside, just in case he was needed for crowd-control or anything of the sort... and it's a good thing, too! He is able to use his Earth-born powers to take care of any and all falling debris.
Once that's out of the way, he heads into the hole in the hospital... only to find his teammates alive and healthy. Metamorpho was able to stretch himself out to deflect the blast, and protect his partners. The only casualties were the terrorists.
Gordon is thankful... even though, by the looks of it, Miklos is dead too. I thought the whole point of this thing was keeping him alive long enough to talk? Oh well, I guess we take our victories wherever we can. Anyhoo, Batman informs the Commish that he's no longer with the Justice League... and that he's running with a new crowd. And thus, begins the legend of Batman and the Outsiders!
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Not a bad little introduction to the Outsiders "franchise". I think we might assume that this story could be slid in right after the opening arc (first three issues) of the ongoing Batman and the Outsiders series... since, ya know, they're already a team... and they all appear to know one another. We've already discussed the first... and third issues of the ongoing. Not sure how or why I skipped #2... but, whattayagonnado?
Batman and the Outsiders was always a series that I'd kinda give "side-eye" to when I'd happen across issues of it in the wild. I've mentioned a time or two before that when I'm digging for comics, I've come to expect something of a "Batman Tax" (in current year, we can add a "Harley Quinn Tax" and a "Joker Tax" into the mix). What I mean by that, if it's not blatantly obvious, is anytime I'd come across a comic that was tangentially Bat-Adjacent... you'd have to pay more for the privilege of owning the thing.
This has popped up again and again, even if it's just Batman making a cover appearance on an issue of Action Comics or something! You could flip through the bargain bins... and you'll find every issue before and after the Bat-one... and they'll be a quarter or fifty-cents, each. That Bat-issue, however... that's a "folding money" book. And so, for the longest time, Batman and the Outsiders (outside of an issues here and there) was a series that fell just outside of my grasp.
I think, in my addled-mind, this lent to my both over-valuing it... and subconsciously under-valuing it, if that makes any sense? I assumed it would be worth more than I wanted to spend... while at the same time, convincing myself it wasn't worth the effort to track it down on the cheap. That was, until... just like with All-Star Squadron... I came across an awesome run of the things for a quarter-a-pop at a local used-bookstore. Heck, it might've been the same day... I know it was around the same time period!
Anyhoo, so I got the books... read the books... loved the books. Not since the first time I read New Teen Titans did I fall so quickly for a DC title. It was superheroey, soapy, they seemed to put out Christmas issues every single year... it was just a really good time. A very special book, indeed.
This here introduction "prevue" works well in giving all of the characters enough time to "get their stuff in". New characters and old, everyone gets a chance to shine. Though, for this piece, I want to pay special attention to those making their grand debut.
Halo, as written, is very interesting. She appears to be completely lost... and, ya know, sorta inhuman. She takes everything literally... and, at one point, even needs her memory jogged to recall what part of the body a "leg" is. I'm not too sure about her knowing Batman's secret identity... though, in fairness all she says is "Mr." I don't know if she was going to follow that up with "Wayne"... or "Smith". We don't know how the Bat introduced himself... so, maybe it's best not to assume.
Katana is pretty awesome here. She comes across as ruthless and willing to cross any line in order to meet her goals. I really enjoyed her calling the terrorist's bluff... which, I mean... just feels so human. Here's a follower of Miklos, supposedly prepared to meet her end, when... Katana offers to expedite the process. This causes the terrorist to actually realize what's going on... seeing her fate right before her eyes. It really makes ya stop and think.
Geo-Force is kind of an also-ran here... but plays his part well. He gets the opportunity to show his stuff, while protecting dozens of looky-loos outside the hospital. It's not like he'd have been able to truly "cut loose" with his powers in the hallways of the hospital... so, this was probably the best role for him here.
Overall... this was just a joy to (finally) read. It's kind of familiar... so, I might've read it in passing in the SHOWCASE Presents volume... but, whatever the case... this was a lot of fun. The art, as you might expect, was also pretty fantastic. I'm glad to have this in my collection... finally "completing" my run of Batman and the Outsiders!
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Batman and the Outsiders #31 (March, 1986)
"The Truth About Looker, Part 4: Pawn of the World Below"
Writer/Editor - Mike W. Barr
Artist - Alan Davis
Letters - John Workman
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Cover Price: $0.75
Now, we've been covering Christmas comics for three years at this point... and I feel like during every go-round, we get an issue of Outsiders! It's surprising for a property with so few issues (relative to DC's legacy books) to have so many Christmas issues!
I mean, the I feel like the Teen Titans are still living off The TT's Swingin' Christmas Carol! for a half-century whereas the Outsiders, for a time, were havin' one a year!
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We open, and it's Christmastime in Gotham City. A pair of lovers might be forced to celebrate the Holiday without their mates... first, Greg Briggs, the husband of Emily... second, Sapphire Stagg-Mason, the wife of Metamorpho. Turns out they, and the rest of the Outsiders, are currently in the down below... in the kingdom of Abyssia. Batman, Black Lightning, and Katana are being held captive... while Geo-Force, Halo, and Metamopho are under the control of the Princess (who is one of the most Alan Davis-y looking characters you're liable to see).
Mousy Emily Briggs is also there... and way out in space, Haley's Comet is nearly ready to make it's once-every-seventy-something-years pass of Earth. I remember that being a hyooge deal back when I was in the second grade.
The Princess of Abyssia demands a Priest to "transfigure" Mrs. Briggs... this turns her into Looker!
The with-it Outsiders are taken aback by this. What's worse, Looker proceeds over to Princess Tamira's throne, and kneels before her. The Priest announces that Looker is of the same blood as Abyssia's original ruler, Loron.
Emily is stood before a full-length mirror, where she gets her first look at her new bod. She is captivated, and protests when they go to take the mirror away. Tamira plies her with a goblet full of a concoction she calls "Obedience". Sounds like the name of one'a those Calvin Klein fragrances.
Our attention now turns to Tamira's brother, the Zack Morris-esque Prince of Abyssia... who is about to be put to death. When asked if he has any last words, he tells Emily that she is a "Looker"... which, appears to have triggered a post-hypnotic suggestion of sorts. Looker uses her eye beams to roast Princess Tamira!
The rebels rise up, and amid the distraction, Black Lightning attempts to burn off his bindings. Unfortunately, Geo-Force is there to perform a little noggin knocker with Jeff and Batman. The rebels are commanded to kneel... and a few look to the heroes, just waiting for the right time to go back on the offense.
Prince Mardo and Looker make out for a bit, with the former promising to make the latter his queen. He then commands her to, get this... crush Princess Tamira under a stone statue in her own likeness... and she does! The Princess gets smooshed!
Looker's next order of business... blasting the Outsiders! When Batman and Company come to, they are outside in the snow. Mardo feels it important that they see what's to come. Looker commands Haley's Comet to, not pass the Earth... but crash into it!
Ya see, Mardo's plan... is a pretty smart one! The way he sees it, Haley's Comet will smash into the Earth, busting through the atmosphere and stirring up a torrent of dust which will block out the Sun. Those not killed by the impact, will die off quickly, as without the Sun, the plants will die, and without plants, there'll be no more oxygen. The Abyssians will wait out the Earth's recovery (they are apparently quite long-lived) and take the planet for themselves. So, in his words, Mardo is creating a Nuclear Winter without the radiation! We shift over to an observatory... and the Comet's shift in trajectory has not gone unnoticed.
Batman turns to the rebels and asks for a hand. At first they're hesitant, but ultimately come around. Unfortunately, Looker sees it coming and neutralizes the attempt. Batman pleads with her that she's about to murder billions of people. She only smiles. Katana asks her to try and remember her husband, Greg Briggs. Still smiling, she says "no".
Mardo takes Looker by the hand, removes her wedding ring from her finger... and crushes it! This is what it takes to shock her back to her senses! She blasts the Prince, and vows to be a pawn no longer!
Prince Mardo threatens to kill the Outsiders, but before he can do much of anything, Emily both frees those captive and brings the rest back to their senses!
A battle rages, and Prince Mardo sidles up to Looker and goes to stab her in the back. Unfortunately for him, Katana is in the same room, and she strikes first!
As the dust settles, Looker releases Haley's Comet from her control and it returns to its natural trajectory.
The Abyssians all look to, well, Looker for leadership... which she relinquishes. She hands the power over to the people, which I'm sure won't come back to bite her.
The Outsiders head home. On the flight, Emily calls her husband to let him know she's okay. He notices that she sounds a little different... but she assures him that she's fine, and they plan a place to meet. Back in Gotham, Rex and Sapphire are reunited.
We wrap up with Greg Briggs meeting his wife in a suite at the Hotel Lancaster. After initially thinking he'd gotten the wrong room, the Briggs' start goin' at it! Merry Christmas, Greg.
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Not much of a Christmas issue, but a good one regardless!
I love the inclusion of Haley's Comet. I'd wager that it was a big deal in my six-year old life for maybe 2-3 days... I honestly can't even remember if I saw it... or if it was even visible, but in looking back, it feels like I talked about the Comet for months!
Wanna talk about a scene that kinda shocked me. I'm surprised they had Looker actually crush Princess Tamira under the statue! I mean, that feels like a point of no return, doesn't it? I get that she was under Mardo's control, but still... seems a bit extreme, though perhaps necessary.
Actually, what shocked me the most about this issue was probably the fact that it involved a race of "underworlders" and it didn't bore me to tears! These kind of stories very rarely engage me... and I usually just "blur" through em in order to get to the good stuff. This issue actually worked for me though!
I'd say it's worth a look (no pun intended). We've already covered Part 1 of The Truth About Looker here on the blog (over two years ago!)... we'll eventually get to the middle two chapters. This one is available digitally.
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Letters Page:
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Batman and the Outsiders #5 (December, 1983)
"Psimon Says..."
Writer - Mike W. Barr
Co-Plotter - Marv Wolfman
Art - Jim Aparo
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Len Wein
Cover Price: $0.75
Going to wrap up the crossover we started yesterday.
I'll be adding these issues to both the Life and Times of Tara Markov and Collected Editions pages for easy consumption.
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Picking up right where we left off last issue, the Titans and Outsiders are flailing in the waters where the tiny island off Gotham sunk. Batman and Robin both blame themselves... as one might assume. Terra attempts to tap into her Earthy powers to re-rise the island, but proves to have been too weakened in the blast. Lucky for her, she ain't the only Earth-Mover present... her brother, Brion, reaches down deep and actually manages to raise the island out of the Gotham Bay drink.
Everyone looks to have made it... except Beast Boy! A worried Halo rushes to his side... and a little voice suggests she try some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the green fella. That little voice, of course, belongs to Beast Boy himself. Nice try, Gar!
At the same time, Batman begins directing traffic, telling both teams where to go and how to be... which kinda sticks in a certain Boy Wonder's craw... which, is understandable.
Meanwhile, on the mainland... Dr. Light makes another power grab, attempting to take leadership over the Mud Pack (not that Mud Pack). This doesn't quite work... after all, they only do what Psimon Says. The rest of the Fearsome Five make it quite clear that they now follow Psimon, which makes a ton of sense... any time they'd follow Dr. Light, they wound up in jail! Ol' Artie gets chased outta dodge.
We shift scenes over to the Outsiders' headquarters atop the Wayne Foundation Building, where both teams get better acquainted... sorta. Terra acts like a bit of a jerk, but that's kinda her gimmick... so the Outsiders shouldn't take it all that personally. We do get a few "parallels" here, which is pretty neat. Both Wonder Girl and Halo don't know about their pasts... Kid Flash and Black Lightning both do-si-do with retirement... it's pretty cool stuff.
After awhile, Batman calls for the heroes to assemble in the meeting room. He and Dr. Jace have deduced that the Fearsome Five's target will be Manhattan. Robin chips in with a bit of information from the NYPD police band...
... which Batman heeds, yet doesn't go out of his way to thank Dick for presenting. It sure feels like Marv and Mike keep trying to paint the other-guy's guy as the whiner, don't it?
It isn't long before the heroes arrive in Manhattan's Central Park where Psimon and Dr. Light are duking it out (so to speak). The good guys seem to choose Dr. Light as the lesser of two evils, and lash out at Psimon. Good thing Zatanna mind-wiped Batman back in the long ago, ain't it? Well, it's a good thing for Arthur Light, anyway.
Before the skirmish ends, a mind-controlled Halo strikes at the heroes... this gives Light the opportunity to slip away, or it would, if Black Lightning weren't there to zap him good. Raven slips in to sooth Halo's soul.
We shift scenes over to the Empire State Building, where the Fearsome Five are making their way toward the antenna, hopeful that it will give Psimon better range for use with his newly souped-up powers. They flip a switch (for some reason... ceremony, perhaps?) and before we know it, the people of New York City are under his control.
Well, not everybody. Ya see, the heroes have headed over to Titans Tower, where Dr. Jace has created a ray to shield whoever is hit by it from Psimon's mental powers. Pretty convenient, innit? Anyhoo... the heroes all bathe in the light. Meanwhile, Dr. Light spills the beans on the Five's plans.
The heroes head toward the Empire State Building, which does give Gar the opportunity to pretend to be King Kong and invite Halo to be his Fay Wray. Smooth.
Batman's on the ground directing traffic, he insists that none of the controlled civilians are injured... which, really ought to go without saying, right? He then breaks the crew into teams... and it's here that Robin has finally had enough. He pulls rank and rejiggers Batman's teams... while telling him off!
The heroes make their way into the Empire State Building... and make extremely short work of the Fearsome Five Four. Like, extremely short work. I'm not the biggest fan of these geeks... and even I think they were jobbed out here.
Once Psimon is stuck in stasis, all of the New Yorkers come to. We then wrap up back at Titans Tower. We learn that Dr. Light escaped... but didn't take his costume with him! Looks like he quits (for now)!
Terra and Geo-Force celebrate their unexpected reunion with a hug... during which, Tara laments the fact that she has to betray the Titans... who now consider themselves friends with the Outsiders.
Finally, Batman and Robin make nice... and officially end their hero/sidekick relationship. For now, they are both bonafide heroes and team-leaders in their own right.
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Okay, a quick... but satisfying enough ending to our two-part crossover. We have a few things to unpack...
Same as yesterday, let's start with a look at some Bat-Family Drama. It's with this chapter that we see Robin start with the passive (and not-so passive) aggression... and in light of how things went down in New Teen Titans #37, it's kinda funny that Mike W. Barr writes him this way.
I remember during my early days in the fandom, we'd hear about creators being protective of their characters. Like, the ones in their creative "fiefdom". They wanted to have a certain amount of "say" over the characters they write when they appear in other peoples' books... which, I mean, I don't hold that against 'em! It only makes sense, from a characterization standpoint that you wouldn't want guest-appearances to contradict character-beats in the home book. I wish more writers were as protective these days!
They don't always get it right (I'm thinking of that Punisher/Wolverine "crossover" from the early days of Jemas/Quesada Marvel... woof), but I like it when characters are kept "in-character" regardless of which book they appear in.
But what I'm getting at here, is... yesterday, Marv paints Batman as a whiny, passive-aggressive sort... and today Mike kinda flips the script, and adds some whinge to Robin. I mean, all's well that ended well, but I still found this kinda interesting. I wonder if either writer took issue with the way "their guy" was treated?
Let's look at the Markov's for a moment. Terra looks to be having second thoughts about the ramifications of her betrayal. I wanna make it clear, she never wavers from the plan... but, does seem concerned with how it might ultimately affect her brother, Brion. This is a point in the "Terra's not evil/insane" column... from here, the "Judas Contract" betrayal looks to be... just a job. Since this was scripted by Barr... I'm not sure how "official" this depiction is.
The Fearsome Five... I said it yesterday (and earlier today), they're not my favorites... but, c'mon... the poor goofs got jobbed out here, didn't they? Very seldom am I an advocate for stretching out a story, but this probably could've done with a Part Three.
Overall... there's a lot to like here! Batman and Robin bury the hatchet... with the latter seemingly being "graduated" from his sidekick role and being seen more as an equal by his mentor. I'd say it's definitely worth a look. This arc has been collected a whole bunch, and this issue is available digitally.
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