Reviews

I dove into this series because I love Duke and Cass. The characters are what are keeping me in it. I want to see them grow and change, but the plot just doesn’t have me hooked.

Content Warnings

baggednboarded's review against another edition

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3.0

The art was amazing but the story progression was slow and underwhelming.

bloodykanary's review against another edition

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2.0

I write this having read vol.2.
I don't love this team, for now. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy all of them are in this book, but there's no chemistry at all. It doesn't even feel like a rough beginning for a team.
I liked that Jefferson wasn't too sure about this, but maybe that part was a bit too long.
I liked the relationship Duke and Cass seem to have.

megankb's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

It's a damn shame that DC basically won't green light a book unless Batman is involved with it because the worst part of Bryan Hill's new take on the classic DC team The Outsiders is ... Batman. Batman's presence in this book only serves to keep each of the four Outsiders attached to him which hurts them all in the long run. Seeing Black Lightning, Katana, Cassandra Cain and Duke Thomas work together as a team is so, so amazing. These are four of DC's best and also severely under-utilized characters and this book is the perfect place for them to shine. Hill does a great job writing each of them - my biggest issues are with his Cassandra, but she's been so mutilated by the reboot that most of the problems aren't his fault. The plot with Ra's and new characters Sofia and Kaliber is mostly just average, but there are so many great interactions between the team members that it doesn't drag the book down too much. It's hard when you love characters so much to fairly rate a book because your hopes are so high that anything less than phenomenal can feel like an utter disappointment. Batman and the Outsiders: Lesser Gods is not a disappointment. It is an amazing concept that clearly suffers from editorial meddling (Batman's involvement and the start of the series being in the middle of the horrendous line-wide Year of the Villain event). Dexter Soy's art and Veronica Gandini's colors are so, so good. Soy can be a little cheescakey at times and his designs for Tatsu and Cass out of their costumes are a little too similar but most of his stuff is excellent. I read this with a note of sadness as the series is ending this month after only 17 issues. The Big 2 comics are suffering creatively majorly because original and diverse ideas like this book aren't given the chance to play out and turn into something truly amazing while Batman and the X-Men get 5000 sub-par books at any given moment. Ugh. Anyways, here's to hoping that these amazing characters aren't forgotten by DC for another few years when this series ends.

kh530's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 Stars

Batman and the Outsiders volume 1 is very much a continuation of Bryan Hill’s Detective Comic run. Even as someone who never finished reading that run (I’ll get to it at some point, I’m sure), it wasn’t TOO hard to understand what happened during that run. That being said, I believe this volume would probably be a more enjoyable/cohesive read having read that, as Duke (Signal’s) role in the story in particular relies heavily on those events.

Having read Bryan’s work with Marvel (particularly his Killmonger miniseries), it’s nice to see him working with DC as well because he’s quite an enjoyable writer. I enjoyed the team dynamic with all the characters and it was a joy to see them actually WORK together to become a team, to see them fail and make mistakes and grow stronger because of them. I love how Bryan writes these characters—especially Bruce. I actually think this might be one of the first times I love Bruce Wayne as much as I love the rest of the cast of characters along side him (historically I do not. Yes, I like the Batfam more than Batman. Yes I know that’s weird). The character writing in this volume is by far one of the best things about it and is an amazing strength of Bryan’s.

As always, it is a JOY to be able to see Dexter Soy’s amazing artwork once again, as his artwork was the star of the Red Hood and the Outlaws series and continues to shine throughout this series as well. It’s a joy to see much a talented artist and writer work together and they seem to make a good team as well.

I also really loved the short issue at the end of the volume with Tatsu and Jefferson. I thought it was really sweet and a very concise short story. Overall, I really enjoyed this volume. I look forward to reading the next one.

angelwolf45's review against another edition

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4.0

I really ejoyed this graphic novel.

This follows the team that Batman created, the Outsiders and how they are to deal with what happened with Karma and the other villians they deal with.

I really enjoyed how this team is working together. I enjoyed seeing the characters learn and trust each other.

The story was interesting and fun to read about.

I would enjoy reading more of this story.

mapatchli's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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