In their first encounter with the powerful maniac who's pursuing runaway meta-human Sofia Barrera, Black Lightning and the Outsiders were absolutely humbled. Does everyone on this team have what it takes? Or did Batman make a catastrophic mistake when he entrusted them with Sofia's life? Plus, ousted from power and stripped of wealth, Ra's al Ghul is a broken man. But Lex Luthor has a plan for how the Outsiders could be Ra's' new League of Assassins!
This issue is transformative. It's a realization of what this cast of the characters were always capable of producing in the capable hands of Hill and Soy. This is where things get exciting. This is where things get oh so much more fun. Read Full Review
Dexter Soy's artwork is fantastic. There is a fluidity to the action and the character designs that give the panels a sense of motion. Every panel is full of rich detail and are beautiful to look at. Read Full Review
Dexter Soys artwork is so fittingly moody that it complements the tone of the story beautifully. Soys style is uniquely suited for street level vigilantes where establishing the mood with dramatic angles in dialogue heavy scenes is just as essential as the action sequences. Read Full Review
The theme of the Outsiders as a broken team continues this issue and, while that's a point already made in the previous two issues of Batman and The Outsiders, this week the story shifts towards healing even as, in a paralell plot, the person the team has been charged with saving falls further towards darkness in the hands of Ra's Al Ghul. Read Full Review
The character work in this comic is much more effective than the plotting, and that's enough to keep me hooked for now. Read Full Review
It's hard to get a feel for where the story is leading, but Hill has given it a running start. And Dexter Soy's outstanding art is a perfect fit for the book. If they can keep up this level of quality, then this book has the potential to be one of the frontrunners in DC's lineup. Read Full Review
You know that line in season one of Young Justice where Robin ponders why people are always overwhelmed or underwhelmed but never just whelmed? Well read this issue and you'll discover he wasn't totally right about that concept. Cuz "meh" basically sums this up in one word. But hey Dexter Soy and Veronica Gandini are still killing the art though so that's a plus! Read Full Review
Sofia is in the clutches of Ra's Al Ghul and the Demon's Head is trying to corrupt her in order to turn her into one of his minions. Meanwhile, The Outsiders process their defeat by regrouping under the orders of Batman. Can the team come together under the guidance of the Dark Knight? Or will Ra's Al Ghul succeed in corrupting another soul. Read Full Review
Batman & the Outsiders #3 isn't great, but it's solid. Hill continues to struggle to find a balance between team dynamic/ character exploration and plotting. Ra's al Ghul's arc in this chapter is sheer perfection as he psychologically manipulates Sofia to bend to his will and mission. Unfortunately, the titular team's plot turns out to be a little lackluster. I still have hope that the book will only improve over time, and I feel confident that Hill and Soy will deliver. Read Full Review
While I have enjoyed this series so far, this issue falls flat. While watching Ra's Al Ghul work his evil magic on Sofia was really good, the parts with Batman and the Outsiders felt unnecessary and really slammed the brakes on the building tension. I loved Dexter Soy's art as usual and while I think that Bryan Hill will get back on track quickly, I can't give this issue the high marks this series has been getting from me up to this point. Read Full Review
The fact that Batman's exercise helped begin to allow Signal to heal is a nice moment (as is the fact that its Cassandra who is the first to embrace him), but I'm not sure Batman's head is in the right place where Sofia's well being is concerned. One would think Sofia's life would be at least as important to Batman as the feelings of his fledgling team. Hit-and-Miss. Read Full Review
One couldargue Batmans team building exercise tried to do that, but its not somethingthat happens in a single issue. It requires several adventures. The charactersneed to be in the action, the heat of battle, and given the opportunity tosucceed or fail on their own merits. Read Full Review
Soy's art continues to impress me. Also enjoying the series. This was a bit slow but I look forward to the next three remaining issues.
Good issue. Ras is trying to get him Sofia on his side, while Batman is trying to keep the team together. I like the way Ras was portrayed in this& the interaction between the team is also interesting to read. Sofia makes an interesting new character. So overall I‘m looking to the next issue.
La mecánica de Ra's adoctrinando es interesante, sin embargo, un poco apresurada y sin tacto. Es decir, la moralidad de los personajes podría ser mejor explotada, y aquí se toma un poco muy a la ligera. Sin embargo, una buena historia que continúa muy bien con el arco.
Interesting. Also am I the only one who keeps expecting The Offer drones to be a massive Legion of Doom ship? But then it gets close and it is super tiny, and I am like oh... oh right.
I found Sofia to be more interesting protagonist than anyone from the main team of heroes, Batman including, to be honest. Parts where Ra's messes with her mind, twists her and slowly turns into a weapon under him were intriguing, tense and quite dramatic. She's going through a meat grinder, and while I'd expect her to have more, if any, personality, as I said, I found her panels to be more engaging than adventures of The Outsiders, which in comparison feel shallow. That's decent build-up for her character - time will tell if she becomes a tragic, scarred villain, an antiheroine, a team member under Batman's command, or maybe disappears not to be seen ever again. Who knows?
This issue felt weaker. I don’t really feel like I’m seeing a reasonable character journey.
This issue feels very average. All the al Ghul parts were great. It’s interesting to see why he wants Sofia. However the rest doesn’t have that feeling and feels like filler.
This industry trend of writing for trades instead of for self-contained issues is killing me. Both storylines running through the book appear compelling, but I'm getting lost in characters and unspoken motivations (because they would have been explained earlier in the trade...no reason to repeat, right?).
In general, the book seems a tad heavy for me. It goes over the top in terms of the psychological issues of Duke/Signal and Sofia. I know it's a totally different book than Barr/Aparo's BatO book of the 80's, and the times are indeed different. Still, it's OK to lighten the mood a few notches.
The art is far from amateurish but doesn't grab me in any meaningful way.
The Year of the Villain "offer" sec more
This issue was rough. The training exercise felt like padding, and didn't really work for me at all. I'm actually really disappointed because I mostly liked the first two issues.