Outsiders (comics)
Encyclopedia : O : OU : OUT : Outsiders (comics)
The Outsiders are a DC Comics superhero group. As its name suggests, the Outsiders consist of superheroes who do not fit the norms of the mainstream superhero community, namely the Justice League.
The Outsiders have had three different incarnations over the years. They were founded by Batman, whose ties to the League have always been strained. In its most recent formation, the group is lead by Nightwing.
Batman and the Outsiders (1983-86)
They first appeared in the final issue (#200) of The Brave and the Bold in 1983. The team were given their first comic, Batman and the Outsiders, which debuted in August 1983, created and originally written by Mike Barr and illustrated by Jim Aparo, and then later illustrated by Alan Davis.
Founding members
Adventures of the Outsiders (1986)
After Batman quit the group in issue #32, the title was changed to Adventures of the Outsiders and lasted until #38. After that issue, the book started reprinting stories from The Outsiders (1986) until it was cancelled on issue #46.New members
The Outsiders, volume 1 (1985-88)
This series featured again the original group and lasted 28 issues, plus an Annual and a Special.New members
- Windfall II (a clone)
- Windfall (Wendy Jones)
- Atomic Knight
Outsiders, volume 2 (1993-95)
This revival of the title in 1993 lasted 24 issues and was written by Mike Barr, with most of the issues pencilled by Paul Pelletier.
Declared a traitor on his native Markovia, Geo-Force is forced to seek the help of old and new Outsiders to battle the vampire lord who controls his country. This was coupled by the framing of the Outsiders for the slaughter of a Markovian village, and the Outsiders were forced into hiding.
The new members who joined the team in Markovia were the magician Faust, the warsuit-wearing engineer and industrialist Technocrat, and Wylde, a friend of Technocrat's who had been turned into a mountain bear by Faust's uncontrollable magic.
During the initial confrontation with the vampires, Looker was apparently killed. Hiding out in Gotham City, the Outsiders took another loss, as both Halo and Technocrat's wife Marissa were killed. This happened during a fight with 'Batman', or rather the man standing in for Bruce Wayne: Jean-Paul Valley. However, Halo's spirit survived in the reanimated body of Marissa. For some time afterwards, Technocrat had trouble accepting that his wife was dead; after all, her body was still walking around but the spirit was that of Halo.
It turned out that Looker was not dead, but undead. The Outsiders found her in her native land and free'd her from the vampire king's control.
After the defeat of the vampires, the team was split in two as the Outsiders were still considered fugitives for some time, thanks to some questionable tactics by their new members. The unstable Eradicator, whom the Outsiders had battled in Markovia, was now a member of one of the teams. During this time, the team learned that Halo's original body had been brought back to life by the Kobra terror organisation. In control of the body was Violet Harper, the evil woman whose body Halo originally inhabited. She now had abilities similar to Halo's.
The team reunited to confront Felix Faust, father to the Outsider Faust and his sister Fauna Faust, who has the ability to control animal life. During the confontation, the bear-like Wylde betrayed the team when Felix promised to restore his humanity. Wylde eventually became an actual a bear, without the ability to speak and locked up in a zoo.
The title ended with the wedding of Geo-Force and Denise Howard.
Members
|
Outsiders, volume 3 (2003 - Present)
Cover to Outsiders #1 (2003). Art by Tom Raney.
Outsiders volume 3, almost completely unrelated to the previous series, was launched in 2003, featuring new members, some of whom had previously been part of The Titans. This series is still ongoing.
This new team was put together in the wake of the Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day crossover that dissolved both groups. Arsenal accepted the sponsorship offer of the Optitron corporation and used the money to buy an enormous bomb shelter that used to belong to a multimillonaire and renovated it to create the group headquarters. He recruited a group of young heroes, the last of them being his friend Nightwing, who joined reluctantly.
One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, the team has now become a covert operations team.
Original members
- Arsenal
- Grace
- Indigo (left in Teen Titans # 24, died in Outsiders # 25)
- Shift
- Thunder II (Anissa Pierce)
- Nightwing
- Jade (died during Infinite Crisis)
Later members
- Huntress (temporary replacement for Arsenal)
- Starfire
- Captain Marvel, Jr.
- Katana
Infinite Crisis
Former Outsiders Technocrat and Looker were in close proximity of Breach when he exploded in the Battle of Metropolis. Their fates remain unclear.One Year Later
Currently, the Outsiders are no more. Because of the Freedom of Power Treaty, the Outsiders have been operating covertly outside of the United States. Most of the members were presumed dead until a botched mission forced them to reveal their presence. The team now exhibits tactics (especially concerning interrogation) that go , though Nightwing justifies them by referring to "the big picture" and that they "can't afford to pull [their] punches".New members ''
- Captain Boomerang II (Owen Mercer)
- Metamorpho
Trade Paperbacks
The current run of the Outsiders has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:
| Title | Material collected |
|---|---|
| Looking for Trouble | Outsiders #1-7 |
| Sum of all Evil | Outsiders #8-15 |
| Wanted | Outsiders #16-23 |
| The Insiders | Teen Titans #24-26 Outsiders #24-25 & 28 |
| Crisis Intervention | Outsiders #29-33 |
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.