Let’s wax nostalgic for a moment or two, shall we?
It’s the mid 1980’s and I’m doing my best to convince my younger brother to spend his money on the monthly series, Batman and the Outsiders, so that I can read it.
I had already spent all of my coin on Star Trek, Batman, Detective Comics, Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld and Atari Force comics. Besides, the first issue of Batman and the Outsiders had a cover showcasing the Dark Knight dissing a bunch of his old Justice League pals in favour of a younger, fresher, rag-tag but cooler, bunch of heroes that were slyly grinning like they just won the lottery at the expense of Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and…the Elongated Man. Losers.
By hook or by crook, I had to read it!
Man alive, that was a great time to be reading monthly comics – and the great times look to keep rolling this month with the release of Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #1.
Follow me after the jump to find out why the Outsiders were (and still are) better than any two-bit Justice League!
Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #1
Written by: Marc Andreyko
Illustrated by: Carlos D’Anda
Published by: DC Comics
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the great Jim Aparo was drawing Batman and the Outsiders on a monthly basis. He was the artist responsible for creating the iconic cover to the first issue of the series. That image was so striking, it still hasn’t left me, over thirty years later! Classic! Eventually, the artistic chores would fall in to the hands of the great Alan Davis! Really, in terms of art, Batman and the Outsiders couldn’t get any better.
In any case, it didn’t take much to convince my brother, seven or eight years old at the time, to collect the series. That cover – and the Outsiders themselves – drew him in. And I was the lucky beneficiary.
In the story, Batman quits the Justice League because of that institutions diplomatic posturing. Instead, he led and tutored the younger Outsiders: Geo-Force, Katanna, Metamorpho, Black Lightning and Halo, in order to defeat evil in spite of political correctness – and national borders. Here, the team went up against villains with names like Baron Bedlam, the Bad Samaritan, Agent Orange, the Masters of Disaster and Adolf Hitler himself!
Batman and the Outsiders was crazy, fun comics for any young man to read.
Of course, they don’t make comic like that any more. But with this spring’s ongoing Convergence crossover event from DC Comics (which you can read about here and here), the publisher of those once crazy and fun comics has the opportunity to return to the 1980’s and bring back beloved characters for the enjoyment of men, now approaching middle age.
And that’s exactly what Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #1 does. For more than a year trapped under Brainiac’s domed prison, Batman must form and lead the Outsiders team once again! Do they still have what it takes to be heroes?
Spoiler alert: you bet they do!
Take a trip down memory lane by making the run to your local comic book shop today and pick up Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #1.
Even if it’s only to see Black Lightning’s awesome fro one more time, it’ll be a wild ride and a fantastically nostalgic read!
