Outsiders #2 – Jackson Lanzing/Collin Kelly, Writers; Robert Carey, Artist; Annette Taddeo, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The first issue of this series was almost overwhelming with how much information it dropped on us right out of the gate, as Batwoman and Batwing became heirs to the legacy of Planetary. With a new ally, an older indigenous woman named Drummer, and a living spaceship with deep ties to the Wildstorm universe, they were off on a mission to chart the unknown—and they find it this issue, in the form of a strange never-ending storm in the ocean that Kate and her crew encountered years back. She claims that it’s home to a monster out of the most horrifying legends, but Luke is skeptical. Off they go to engage—but before they can get there, they’re met with another threat in the form of the Challengers of the Unknown. This group of DC adventurers has been through some changes and are now closer to shady reality TV adventurers than their namesakes ever were.
It makes sense that there are less ethical adventurers out there, and Lanzing and Kelly do a great job of explaining how they fell so far. There’s also a very clever and tragic twist as to the sea monster lurking at the heart of the storm, one I definitely didn’t see coming. Lanzing and Kelly are masters when it comes to espionage/sci-fi based writing, but the true star of this issue has got to be Robert Carey, whose illustrations are dark, mysterious, and truly the stuff of nightmares in places. This is definitely not a team book like anything else DC is putting out—it’s far more cerebral, so much more ambiguous, and it works as both a unique next step for Kate and Luke, and for the larger Wildstorm universe that has been floundering since it was sunset as its own thing. This issue gives us our first look at how the book might work as a regular series, and it’s a very promising picture.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
