Outsiders is sort of a weird mix between old school superheroes and something a bit newer. Winick is playing around with a lot of the old school conventions, like guest stars, classic villains, costumes and codenames (Thank God) but the book has a modern edge in terms of Whedon-esque dialogue and a loose approach to continuity and consistent characterization. This makes it a bit of a hard pill to swallow at times, as my inner fanboy machine tells me "that character is all wrong!" but for the most part I find the action intensive stories to be a refreshing change from a lot of modern superhero comics, and I do really like most of the characters that Winick has brought into the book. Not to mention that Tom Raney and Scott Hanna are doing career best, flat out gorgeous artwork.
There's a terrific mix between older, established characters and new more original characters in Outsiders. I love Grace, as she is outside the standard hero mode, in that she loves to fight, curse and fool around (kind of like JSA's Wildcat.) This issue sees plenty of fighting and cursing, and since Winick has built her up as something of a combat monster, when she gets taken down, it serves notice that the bad guy is really bad. That is, if his wanton murders, easy disposal of Jade and Thunder and intent to summon a demonic army didn't do it. The new Sabbac comes across as a kind of fun villain. Oh, he's a despicable murderer who needs to be taken down, but the joy he takes in his transformation is kind of infectious, and I'm reminded somewhat of the Mayor from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Lots of fun to watch, but you can hate and fear him at the same time.
Of course, the trouble with that is that Winick may have painted himself into a corner. He makes a big deal about Sabbac being able to put the hurt on the team because he's magical, but this seems to be a misunderstanding of the way magic works in the DCU. It's not that magic makes you able to beat up on superheroes, it's a specific weakness of Superman. My hope is that Sabbac will be a formidable foe who can take on the whole team, and not that he'll be more easily defeated by the surprise guest who shows up at the end, both because that surprise guest is kind of a lame third stringer and because the "magic fights magic" thing doesn't really wash with me.
There are some spectacular conflicts this issue between Sabbac and the Outsiders, though, depicted in fine form by Raney and Hanna. They give the character a real sense of size and power, and I loved seeing oversized powerhouse Grace go toe-to-toe with the villain. Gina Going also deserves plenty of credit for her work on that opening fight, with little touches like the luminescent effects of Jade's powers or the glowing symbol on Sabbac's chest. Raney is a perfect choice for this book, because he does a good of making the superheroes in their costumes look cool instead of goofy, bringing a classic sensibility to the artwork as well as the writing.
Just as he has with Green Arrow, Winick has turned the Outsiders into a superhero book that celebrates hero tradition without being too stodgy or traditionalist. Certainly the notion that the team is made of a bunch of screw-ups is an interesting notion, and kind of hard to argue with at some points, which is also reminiscent of the deeply flawed Oliver Queen in Green Arrow. However, while they may not be the world's best crimefighters at this point, the Outsiders are always entertaining to read about.
