ComicsBatmanA major character is officially back in DC continuity thanks to a game-changing issue of OutsidersWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
ComicsBatmanA major character is officially back in DC continuity thanks to a game-changing issue of OutsidersWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: DC)
I’ve been blowing pretty hot and cold on DC’s Outsiderssince its launch last year. The series quickly revealed itself as a sequel to the legendary Planetary in its bold and surprising first issue - an exciting twist if ever there was one! But since then, it’s spent months mostly avoiding the subject, instead focusing on exploring other lost areas of DC continuity in a series of pretty variable one-off episodes. Given that Outsiders is only a 12-issue limited series, that has sometimes felt like a missed opportunity.
With this week’s Outsiders #6, however, the series finally addressed the multi-dimensional elephant in the room. It’s a strong issue in its own right and one that also sets up some potentially game-changing developments for the comic going forward. Let’s get into it…
(Image credit: DC)
Spoilers ahead for Outsiders #6
In ‘The Place Between Pages’ the attention finally falls squarely on Drummer - the most mysterious member of the team. We’ve known since the start that she has an oblique connection to The Drummer from Planetary, while not being quite the same person. Now we know exactly what that connection is…
Before that revelation, however, the gang find themselves in a mysterious realm: “the place between the pages.” This is thanks to a mishap while Lucius Fox is conducting a quantum visualization experiment. The Outsiders - now a very apt name - find themselves outside of reality and inside a “narrative singularity,” one which happens to look like an idealized ’50s-style North American city. In other words, and asLuke Foxpoints out, it’s all veryPleasantville.
(Image credit: DC)
This, we soon learn, is a metafictional realm where comic book superheroes go when their series have either ended or been cancelled. The team meet various defunct and forgotten DC characters including Cave Carson, Zauriel, Rick Dragon, and even the Golden Age Superman. It’s a purgatorial existence, one where these former-heroes live out their non-lives with a certain degree of either resignation or bitterness - and minus their powers. That makes it all the more surprising when it becomes clear that Drummer still has hers and is using them to angrily smash up the town.
Eventually the Carrier (appearing here in human form) manages to take the team back to their own reality, where the Outsiders confront Drummer. She confesses that she is not who she claimed to be noting that “the real one was a sight better on the kit than me.” She is, however,a different member of the Planetary team: Jakita Wagner.
(Image credit: DC)
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But aside from all that, the issue also tees up the potential for a very impactful main character death. Be warned: we’re entering speculation territory…
Possible speculative spoilers for next month’s issue
We’ve known for a while now that a major death is coming to Outsiders. That’s thanks to the cover of next month’s #7 (revealed inDC’s May solicitations) which shows a grieving Drummer (or Jakita as we now know her) holding aloft a body in front of the rest of the team, while the official synopsis states that, “A requiem is held for a fallen friend”.
Our first thought on seeing this was: wait a minute, where’s Batwoman? Kate Kane is one of the core characters in the current Outsiders line-up and she doesn’t appear on the cover. In hindsight, however, that absence feels a little bit too much like an obvious giveaway.
(Image credit: DC)
In the wake of this week’s issue, I’m shifting my bet. There’s such a heavy and mournful focus on Lucius Fox in Outsiders #6 that it’s starting to feel like he is potentially the doomed character.
In the issue Lucius reveals to his son Luke that he had a stroke 14 months previously. Following that, he ploughed his money into an experimental project probing at the borders of the multiverse, trying to understand what lies beyond. This issue confronts him with his own fictional nature, though how much of that he truly comprehends remains ambiguous.
Lucius is also absent from the cover of #7, while his long-time friend and employer Batmanispresent. Bruce Wayne has not been a major part of Outsiders, so his appearance here feels notable.
We could be wrong, of course! Whatever the case, we’ll find out for sure one month from now. In the meantime Outsiders #6 is a big step in the right direction for this strange and singular comic - and #7 has shot to the top of my must-read pile for May.
Outsiders #6 is available now from DC.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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3
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”