A Whole New World: Reviewing ‘Outsiders’ #1

There are more things in heaven and Earth, and DC Universe than are dreamt of by those who live there. While Gotham City is the domain of most within the Batfamily, turns out some have a vision for those things that exist far beyond.

Strap yourselves in to begin some of that exploration with Outsiders #1 from Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Robert Carey, Valentina Taddeo, and Tom Napolitano.

Superhero comics tend to follow a few overall paths or trends. Not that they are all the same but there are threads that tie them together, especially if they are part of the same family of titles. Sometimes a title comes along that plays within that sandbox, but aims to check out a less explored corner. This is where Outsiders is.

First of all, if you’re doing something different than most super books, choosing the right art style helps. Carey’s style really works here. We see a danger and roughness reflected in the artwork, with plenty of rough sharp edges complimented by smoother kinetic energy. Plenty of great facial work and details to really reflect how lived in and unexplored and magical the universe can be.

Framing choices allow the action to breathe and create the right sense of movement. Many of the choices keep us right there with the characters, beside them rather than being far away or looming over them. Others pull back again, reminding us how big some of these things they’ll be facing happen to be in actual scale or in scope. This is especially evident in spread pages, where the characters are deep within the facility. It feels actually deep and wide.

All the colors that Taddeo brings also have that right rough edge to them, while feeling quite naturally heavy. The palette choices are a bit toned down or natural in quality, making this world feel like one we can see outside. This allows elements that are more super or fantastical to pop, because of the more vibrant or stand-out colors they bring.

Lettering from Napolitano always brings great energy to a series. I became quite the fan covering his work previously on Catwoman. Characters have a lot to say in this issue. There is a lot of plot, theme, and other things to convey. It’s delivered in a smaller font that is smooth and readable but allows the words to fit and flow better on the page. Plenty of great uses of modifiers like bolding or censor bars to really add some pop to the right moments.

I especially really liked the way that a whisper was conveyed. There are numerous ways to showcase changes in volume or tone, often landing on changing the size or type of font employed. Here though Napolitano tries something a bit different. The bubbles around the words remain the same in shape and style but add some dotted borders within that indicate the characters are speaking softer to one another. It helps that the artwork also conveys this with where the characters are and the beats happening in the moment.

Same thing with the way that the booming loud bits of dialogue were showcased, with the big old font taking up plenty of space. These are the little things that just make lettering and so much of comic book artwork so fun.

Going outside the normal boundaries of shared universes/franchises is definitely something Kelly and Lanzing are known for. Quite a few of their current titles at various publishers, especially Marvel and DC, can fit into that space. So far, this is a fun entry into really exploring the puzzles and mysteries at the core of the DC Universe. We’re going places that either haven’t gotten a lot of attention in years or are being added to the already deep lore of this universe.

Keeping the cast of the title small, and three-fourths being recognized as Batfamily characters, was a smart move. It allows us to focus more on the overall theme of the series, because for the most part, we already know the characters. It’s something that is very much up the alley of Batwing and Batwoman as two characters that are in the Batfamily but often on the outskirts, trying to find their place in things. Also, both are very smart and adventurous, which helps.

It’ll be interesting to see everywhere these characters go, and what the pieces we’ve seen so far end up revealing.

Outsiders #1 is now available from DC Comics.