Outsiders #1 by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, with art by Robert Carey, isn’t what you think it is. In fact, the title is a stealth reboot of the classic Wildstorm title Planetary — and even features a major plot point from The Authority.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Outsiders #1 Review:
In DC Comics‘ new title, Luke Fox recruits Batwoman to investigate weird multiversal mysteries. That starts with the corpse of The Carrier, the ship from The Authority. Only whether they know it or not, the title is actually a reboot of Planetary… Which may mean some bad things coming down the road.
“This is wild,” host Alex Zalben said of the stealthy reboot.
Justin Tyler agreed, saying that he liked the book, and that it is “coming in under the DC radar.” He also compared it to some other books that incorporate Wildstorm elements, noting that this book is “a much better way of incorporating the worlds, as opposed to slamming them together.”
For Pete LePage, the highlight was the looming threat of Batman — versus the usual Outsiders M.O. of working for the Dark Knight. “Once Batman finds out about this, he’s gonna be pissed,” LePage said.
Tyler pivoted off of that, noting that he liked how the title focuses on characters on the periphery of the Batman universe like Lucius Fox, Luke Fox, and Batwoman, calling it “cool.”
Zalben did think that Luke Fox is “a weird fit here, I don’t know if he fits into that role of the enigmatic leader,” but added that the gender-flipped Drummer character is “very interesting.”
Zalben continued to be excited about the possibilities of the title, and the riff of this new team investigating oddities in the DC Universe, versus the analogs for pop culture items the original team looked into. And in addition, he speculated that we might see some riff on the villains of the original series, The Four, who were in themselves a riff on Marvel’s Fantastic Four.
Finishing up, Tyler felt that there were similarities between this title and Kelly and Lanzing’s work on Captain America, which also dealt with secret societies. “Moving over here… Is really cool.”
Outsiders #1 Official Synopsis:
EXPLORE THE FORGOTTEN CORNERS OF DC’S MULTIVERSE WITH BATWOMAN AND LUKE FOX! A universe of secrets is about to come to light. Batman protects Gotham City from evil. Batman Inc. protects the rest of the known world. But what of the unknown world? What of the ancient evils in hidden tombs and forgotten tragedies from a magic-and-mad-science fueled super-heroic century? Using his fortune, Luke Fox launches a new organization dedicated to shining light into the world’s darkest corners.
His first recruit: Kate Kane, the Batwoman—who will re-embrace her military background to protect Luke’s dream and encounter every bit of strangeness the DCU has to offer. And just wait until you meet the Third Man…or learn what universe-shattering secret they’ve discovered buried under Antarctica. Outsiders is the return of comic book archaeology, digging into all the forgotten corners of DC’s history to preserve, record, and better understand the true nature of the DC Multiverse…and the forgotten stories that make up its fabric.
