Post by Strafe Prower on Feb 1, 2011 21:52:56 GMT -5
Overview
Hey guys, I'm going to review Tomasi's Run on the Outsiders. It started with Batman and the Outsiders Special, which came out March 2009. It then moved to The Outsiders #15 with the start of a new ongoing. His run ended with #25. Let's get to discussing.
The Writing
Batman leaves Alfred a message to bring the Outsiders back, so he gathers them and forms the team. I do want to say that I enjoyed Alfred's part in this series and wished there would have been more. The message Bruce left for him was great and one of the highlights of the run. His interactions with the individual members was good as well. Alfred may be the one character Tomasi understands, but more of that later.
As a long time follower of the Outsiders, I have to say this is by far not Tomasi's best work. He starts off with a vague plot about the Insiders, a group of Immortals that are trying to collect fragments of this comet to grant permanent Immortality. Tomasi doesn't do the greatest job with the Origin or back story of the antagonists. They aren't interesting and are just plain awkward to be honest. He includes Deathstroke in the story for no purpose what so ever. He doesn't explain how the Insiders and Deathstroke are related either. The Outsiders and Deathstroke end up fighting....and Tomasi shows that he has no idea about the power levels of the outsiders. He completely makes them look like punks, save for Katana. The story concludes with the Outsiders blowing up the Insider's base via Creeper. Tomasi also throws in Ra's Al Ghul and Vandal Savage, but they don't do anything and are pointless.
Next he moves to the Outsiders taking on Bat Villains that escaped from Arkham Asylum after it was burned down by Black Mask. He has the team split up to go fight Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, and Clayface. Once again he shows he knows nothing of power levels. He has Clayface meeting Geo's strength and Mr. Freeze making blocks of ice the size of skyscrapers. I'm serious right now. The arc ends in all the villains being defeated, with the random interference by Man-Bat.
This arc then leads into Blackest Night tie-ins, which is the best part of his run. He has the Yamashiro family (Katana's Husband and Kids) and Terra come back as Black Lanterns. The Outsiders fight them and he shows once again that he knows nothing of power levels. The only reason this is any better is because of the interaction between Katana, Geo-Force and the Black Lanterns. Otherwise, it was just as bad as the rest.
The Art
The art is actually good, showing some very good in panel drawings of the characters. The covers continue to be great during this run. Garbett and Parasin show great versatility and the art by everyone is just solid. I especially like the use of color by the artists. Here is an example of a great cover that I fell in love with.
Recap
The Good
-Solid Art
-Great Black Lantern choices
-Alfred being the "Oracle" of the group
The Bad
-No details in story telling
-Continued ignoring of power levels and power sets
-Random characters thrown in for no reason
-To much focus on Geo-Force and Katana, not enough spotlight on other members.
The Rating
[glow=red,2,300]1.5/5[/glow]
