When the quest for justice drives Batman into some morally ambiguous areas, he calls in the most moral man he knows: Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a. Black Lightning, and his team of operatives known as the Outsiders!
Several years ago Batman personally put the Barrera family into hiding after they suffered through terrible experiments at the hands of an organization called the Ark. Now all but one of them have turned up dead…and Batman needs to locate Sofia Barrera before the wrong people get their hands on her-and her surprising power! But it wouldn’t be Batman without a hidden agenda, would it? And when Black Lightning, Katana, the Signal and Orphan find out what Batman is really up to, their every loyalty will be called into question.
Summary
Sofia and her dad are driving on the
Elsewhere
Orphan and Signal are on a mission while they hide Black Lightning and Katana dispatch the villain, Saint Row. Black Lightning laments that they did not listen to his orders. Signal who is recovering from trauma does not take it well.
Black Lightning has been given this cadre via Batman who wants him to make them into an effective team.
The Outsiders are drawn in and sent after Sofia after Batman confesses to being involved in destroying a programme which was to create its own meta-humans of which only Sofia and her family survived. With her parents dead and the girl missing the team must find her quickly.
Sofia however is found by a “time traveller” who claims she will save the future.
What I thought
I liked the line up. Despite being one of the first people to put up a profile on Signal, I must say I have not followed his career very well. This book gives me the chance to see his character development since his days as a member of the Robins. Like any good comic as well I already know where I should go to get the proper background necessary to bring me up to speed thanks to those hands reference boxes.
Orphan/Cassandra Cain is another character who back in the early 2000’s when she was in the undisputed top five martial artists of the DC universe and had her own title I was in love with her. After the new 52 reboot she lost all her history, is no longer Batgirl and well, I know very little about anymore. This book will again allow me to catch up with an old friend.
Katana was a member of the Outsiders with both Black Lightning and Cassie Cain at a time I also read the title. Always thought she was cool but that’s it, hopefully as I invest in this series she will come to mean more than a “cool,
Huge fan
The art must also be commended courtesy of Dexter Soy. Dynamic and fluid from start to finish!
Overall
This was a solid start with great art, action and while not a groundbreaking premise from Brian Hill, it’s interesting enough that I’m curious to see where this goes. 3/5 stars
