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scans_dailyAt the request of yaseen101 , some choice Mike W Barr, Alan Davis "Batman and the Outsiders", well... sort of.
As luck would have it I found issues 32 to 36 of
#32 has, plastered on the front cover that it is the LAST issue of "Batman and the Outsiders" for reasons which shall become clear.
We open in Markovia, the fictional Western European country which is ruled by King Gregor, the older, and non-powered, brother of Brion Markov, Geo-Force of the Outsders, and also the half-brother of Tara Markov, but she doesn't feature in this, having been dead for some time.
Princess Ilona of... actually I don't think that's mentioned anywhere, is the bride-to-be of her childhood friend Gregor, and is being escorted by the military to the capital of Markovia when the limousine she is suddenly struck by a minor earthquake and stalls.
She exits the car....
The Masters of Disaster certainly know how to make an entrance no? And also rack up a bodycount. (This is not their first appearance, but it is their first appearance drawn by Alan Davis, rather than their original designer Jim Aparo.
A quick summation of the team; The leader is New Wave, who is more than a little psychotic and sadistic to boot. Windfall is her younger sister, not naturally violent but very much under her domineering sisters sway (Think of her as Stormer to New Wave's Pizzazz, if you're of a mind for a Jem metaphor) She also has a soft spot for Halo (as in the Outsider, not the videogame). Shakedown is the not-so-gentle giant, he's got few scruples about hurting people when paid to do so, but doesn't enjoy it particularly unless he is being attacked, and would much rather spend time with his plants. Coldsnap and Heatstroke were lovers, and want to be again, but their powers mean they can't touch without severely hurting the other, they're mercenaries, like the others, but are only on the team so they can earn enough money to get their powers removed. Thus endeth the intro...
I like Ilona though, who doesn't wait around to be rescued, she's out the other side of the car before they've finished threatening her.
And yes, those are Soviet markings on the tanks (This is 1986, pre the dissolution of the USSR)
Meanwhile in Gotham, we come across the Outsiders on a mission, a long mission, it's been two solid days of working the underworld for Gotham, maintaining radio silence. It's a fun sequence, showcasing how effective this team has become, but alas, it's way too long and I felt this next sequence was worth more (It's also a 15 page story because of a (pretty good) backup story involving Looker, so I'm really limited as to what I can show)
Eventually Geo-Force calls in to the embassy to let them know he's back in the country, only to find that they have been trying to get in touch with him repeatedly.. Markovia has formally been invaded, and invaded more than forty-eight hours ago. Which, on top of the whole "radio silence" and "complete isolation" kick that Batman has been on, leads Brion to a shocking realisation....
I love and hate this next panel. Hate it because of the manipulative SOB that it shows Batman to be (He WANTS them to say they need him), love it because of how expressive it is. Of course... the best laid plans of Batdicks and Men...
As exits from a team he helped found it's a rather hasty, clumsy one, but given the scenario they set up, it WAS inevitable. Batman's reasoning was sound TO HIM, but Brion would never be able to trust him again.
Geo-Force is set to go off to Markovia on his own, but the others tell him that after all this, they're not going to leave him.
So we then move on to issue #33 of the retitled "Adventures of the Outsiders". The team touches down in Markovia (Their plane is blown out of the sky, but with Metamorpho forming a protective shell and Brion's anti-gravity powers, it's easy enough to make a soft landing) They find a battlefield, with Markovian soldiers bodies littering the place. (We also discover via another scene that America cannot be seen to send troops in to assist Markovia, as it would be interpreted as a declaration of war with the USSR that could escalate to nuclear exchange)
The Outsiders, now move towards the large Russian encampment they come across... Metamorpho turns himself into invisible gas to investigate unseen, but hadn't counted on Windfall being sensitive to errant air movements... And then let the fun begin!
I LOVE this next scene...
And the Outsiders are carted off to be imprisoned...
Because I've been focussing on the Masters, I've had to overlook the rest of the plot. There are a number of recurring characters from earlier stories (and those who would become recurring) showing up here. The Bad Samaritan makes his debut here. That's the codename for a non-powered, behind-the-scenes Soviet liaison (Who would resurface recently in Checkmate as White Queens Bishop, where we find out he's a Georgian national).
Baron Bedlam is revealed as the major player on the bad guys side, he's the son of Baron DeLamb, the puppet ruler installed by the Nazi's during their Occupation of Markovia in World War II. He thinks he has more of a claim to the realm than the monarchy and has some private reason for wanting the Soviets to assist him in this, his second attempt at claiming the throne, which we are about to find out.
When the Bad Samaritan is sneaking around the Baron's private tents in the compound, checking things out for his masters because he trusts Bedlam about as far as he could throw a tank, finds out what Bedlam is doing, even HE is appalled, but before he can act...
Yeah, this is going to end well isn't it.
In Part 2, the plot thickens, and Looker steps into the fray.
yaseen101 , some choice Mike W Barr, Alan Davis "Batman and the Outsiders", well... sort of.As luck would have it I found issues 32 to 36 of
#32 has, plastered on the front cover that it is the LAST issue of "Batman and the Outsiders" for reasons which shall become clear.
We open in Markovia, the fictional Western European country which is ruled by King Gregor, the older, and non-powered, brother of Brion Markov, Geo-Force of the Outsders, and also the half-brother of Tara Markov, but she doesn't feature in this, having been dead for some time.
Princess Ilona of... actually I don't think that's mentioned anywhere, is the bride-to-be of her childhood friend Gregor, and is being escorted by the military to the capital of Markovia when the limousine she is suddenly struck by a minor earthquake and stalls.
She exits the car....
The Masters of Disaster certainly know how to make an entrance no? And also rack up a bodycount. (This is not their first appearance, but it is their first appearance drawn by Alan Davis, rather than their original designer Jim Aparo.
A quick summation of the team; The leader is New Wave, who is more than a little psychotic and sadistic to boot. Windfall is her younger sister, not naturally violent but very much under her domineering sisters sway (Think of her as Stormer to New Wave's Pizzazz, if you're of a mind for a Jem metaphor) She also has a soft spot for Halo (as in the Outsider, not the videogame). Shakedown is the not-so-gentle giant, he's got few scruples about hurting people when paid to do so, but doesn't enjoy it particularly unless he is being attacked, and would much rather spend time with his plants. Coldsnap and Heatstroke were lovers, and want to be again, but their powers mean they can't touch without severely hurting the other, they're mercenaries, like the others, but are only on the team so they can earn enough money to get their powers removed. Thus endeth the intro...
I like Ilona though, who doesn't wait around to be rescued, she's out the other side of the car before they've finished threatening her.
And yes, those are Soviet markings on the tanks (This is 1986, pre the dissolution of the USSR)
Meanwhile in Gotham, we come across the Outsiders on a mission, a long mission, it's been two solid days of working the underworld for Gotham, maintaining radio silence. It's a fun sequence, showcasing how effective this team has become, but alas, it's way too long and I felt this next sequence was worth more (It's also a 15 page story because of a (pretty good) backup story involving Looker, so I'm really limited as to what I can show)
Eventually Geo-Force calls in to the embassy to let them know he's back in the country, only to find that they have been trying to get in touch with him repeatedly.. Markovia has formally been invaded, and invaded more than forty-eight hours ago. Which, on top of the whole "radio silence" and "complete isolation" kick that Batman has been on, leads Brion to a shocking realisation....
I love and hate this next panel. Hate it because of the manipulative SOB that it shows Batman to be (He WANTS them to say they need him), love it because of how expressive it is. Of course... the best laid plans of Batdicks and Men...
As exits from a team he helped found it's a rather hasty, clumsy one, but given the scenario they set up, it WAS inevitable. Batman's reasoning was sound TO HIM, but Brion would never be able to trust him again.
Geo-Force is set to go off to Markovia on his own, but the others tell him that after all this, they're not going to leave him.
So we then move on to issue #33 of the retitled "Adventures of the Outsiders". The team touches down in Markovia (Their plane is blown out of the sky, but with Metamorpho forming a protective shell and Brion's anti-gravity powers, it's easy enough to make a soft landing) They find a battlefield, with Markovian soldiers bodies littering the place. (We also discover via another scene that America cannot be seen to send troops in to assist Markovia, as it would be interpreted as a declaration of war with the USSR that could escalate to nuclear exchange)
The Outsiders, now move towards the large Russian encampment they come across... Metamorpho turns himself into invisible gas to investigate unseen, but hadn't counted on Windfall being sensitive to errant air movements... And then let the fun begin!
I LOVE this next scene...
And the Outsiders are carted off to be imprisoned...
Because I've been focussing on the Masters, I've had to overlook the rest of the plot. There are a number of recurring characters from earlier stories (and those who would become recurring) showing up here. The Bad Samaritan makes his debut here. That's the codename for a non-powered, behind-the-scenes Soviet liaison (Who would resurface recently in Checkmate as White Queens Bishop, where we find out he's a Georgian national).
Baron Bedlam is revealed as the major player on the bad guys side, he's the son of Baron DeLamb, the puppet ruler installed by the Nazi's during their Occupation of Markovia in World War II. He thinks he has more of a claim to the realm than the monarchy and has some private reason for wanting the Soviets to assist him in this, his second attempt at claiming the throne, which we are about to find out.
When the Bad Samaritan is sneaking around the Baron's private tents in the compound, checking things out for his masters because he trusts Bedlam about as far as he could throw a tank, finds out what Bedlam is doing, even HE is appalled, but before he can act...
Yeah, this is going to end well isn't it.
In Part 2, the plot thickens, and Looker steps into the fray.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 01:17 am (UTC)1) The Bastard Batman panel begs to be iconned. Think of the many fun ways the community will use it! Snarky response? Bastard Batman! Some wink-wink nudge-nudge say-no-more conversation? Bastard Batman! Any post about Robin? BASTARD BATMAN!
2) Thank you for saying that you'll post part 2, because when you end on Bottled Hitler as a cliffhanger, you have my full attention. I desperately want to see how the Outsiders destroy him/ prevent him from exiting that tube!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 01:50 am (UTC)Problem, DC Universe?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 02:57 am (UTC)I don't think I need to say anything else.
...except U MAD?!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 01:22 am (UTC)Wait...
(Doctor Who reference)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 04:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 05:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 11:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 05:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 06:07 am (UTC)Rereading it as an adult, after seeing many more examples of the Bat being an asshole...well, it was just one more reminder why I no longer liked him in the comics. (He's since been rehabilitated for me. Still not nearly my favourite character, but stuff like this is now 'a mistake - everyone makes 'em', rather than 'the defining freaking point of his character'.)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 12:01 pm (UTC)Except, why do so many villains think that resurrecting Hitler is a good idea? Seriously. He LOST THE WAR, guys. He didn't have supernatural powers, even in comics. He's just a dude. He's not going to suddenly rally a vast force just by virtue of being alive. Unless that force is HIM (see "The Boys from Brazil").
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 12:51 pm (UTC)But just wait for part 2!
And, though even the thought makes my flesh crawl, regretably it would probably be true that a revived Hitler WOULD be a focal point for the kind of neo-Nazi/Holocaust denying... person (I can't use the word I want to use because I'd be banned not just from s_d but the Internet in general) who exist out there in the world.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 03:07 pm (UTC)That's Dr. Evil-level incompetence.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-22 03:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 04:56 am (UTC)