Outsiders # 43
DC COMICS
WRITER: Judd Winick
ARTISTS: Ron Randall, Art Thibert
COVER: Matthew Clark

The Outsiders learn that Dr. Sivana is the man who has been manipulating the group since its inception. He then invites the team to join him in his latest world-conquering scheme and amazingly, some of the Outsiders are actually tempted. This is pretty despicable behaviour for a group of superheroes but as Sivana makes clear to the team, -- (and the reader) the Outsiders aren't exactly very heroic anymore. As if we needed further proof of this, we get a story brimming with sudden violence and heightened emotions and artwork that plays up the dark furies of the protagonists. Of all the mainstream comicbooks, this is the rare title where female superheroes look so unattractive-- intentionally or not. Perhaps this was the masterplan that DC had for this book all along-- to give us such a morally-ambiguous super-team that we would actually wonder which side they were on. This is an interesting book and there is some genuine suspense over which hero will defect to the dark side. At the same time, except for old standbys like Dick Grayson and Rex Mason, few of these Outsiders are very likeable and it is doubtful anyone will shed any tears over most of them if they were killed off in the next Crisis. Or if they suddenly turned evil next issue.

Outsiders # 41