I think it is somewhat deliberate. Hill appears to be trying to capture the feeling of watching Batman work when he's on page, we rare ever approach the story from Batman's perspective, and I believe that's so we can relate more closely to the Outsiders; which is a good thing imo. I always love whenever we have a book that's purposefully rejecting overplaying the bigger characters in order to focus on lower profile characters. if DC were smart they'd do a throwback (and you know how DC loves a throwback) and drop Batman and make this a straight up Outsiders title. they should be closing the book on the Ra's al Ghul arc not too long before 5G comes up, they could do the turnover then.
THE SIGNAL (Duke Thomas) is DC's secret shonen protagonist so I made him a fandom wiki
also, check out "The Signal Tape" a Duke Thomas fan project.
currently following:
- DC: Red Hood: The Hill
- Marvel: TBD
- Manga (Shonen/Seinen): One Piece, My Hero, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, Reincarnation of The Veteran Soldier, Oblivion Rouge, ORDEAL, The Breaker: Eternal Force
"power does not corrupt, power always reveals."
this issue was frustrating for me as a fan of Duke. I'm genuinely starting to believe Hill just doesn't like this dude. Every single character on the team (and even the villains) has had a cool "whoa" moment except Duke. now he gets his big confrontation with his attacker and he just serves as a distraction so it can be Cassandra Cain that actually beats him; if you just look at this fight you'd have thought it was Cass that had an axe to grind with Karma. this issue really hammered home for me where Duke stands in the hierarchy of this team's narrative importance, it appears to be BL>Katana>Sofia>Cass>Ras>Shiva>Kaliber, Duke, & Ishmael with Batman as the framing device but of no immediate focus.
that aside, I enjoyed pretty much everything else about this issue. Black Lightning always looks awesome when Dexter Soy and Veronica Gandini are on the pens, I like that he continues to emphasis his autonomy from Batman I'm still waiting for his actions and leadership to really define the differences from Bruce. I'm still suspicious of Shiva but I like the idea of her joining the Outsiders, and I'm intrigued by who Sofia will become and affect the story going forward.
THE SIGNAL (Duke Thomas) is DC's secret shonen protagonist so I made him a fandom wiki
also, check out "The Signal Tape" a Duke Thomas fan project.
currently following:
- DC: Red Hood: The Hill
- Marvel: TBD
- Manga (Shonen/Seinen): One Piece, My Hero, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, Reincarnation of The Veteran Soldier, Oblivion Rouge, ORDEAL, The Breaker: Eternal Force
"power does not corrupt, power always reveals."
I think this team is way too Bat-centric.
I'd love to see a new Outsiders team that's independent from Batman, lead by Katana, Black Lightning or Green Arrow.
The Batfamily should have a Gotham Knights book or return to 'Tec like in Tynion's days.
Ra's is in Markovia, so I'm wondering if Geo-Force will show up? He and Halo are the only original 1980s team members unaccounted for, as Black Lightning and Katana are on the current team and Metamorpho is with the Terrifics.
And I'm glad to see Cassandra's codename get called out. She needs a new name and has done since her relationship to Shiva was restored to continuity.
Appreciation Thread Indexes
Marvel | Spider-Man | X-Men | NEW!! DC Comics | Batman | Superman | Wonder Woman
Bruh, I tried to warn everyone about this from the beginning but no one listened to me. It's still a good book, but it's been a horrible rendition of the signal. I'm loving what he's doing with Kitana, Black Lightning and Cass, but it's clearly obvious he has no real interest in the signal, and is only giving enough nuggets to not be too obvious.
That shouldn't matter. And it shouldn't be a case of him not being in New 52/Rebirth either, as his existence was effectively confirmed as soon as Terra showed up.
Appreciation Thread Indexes
Marvel | Spider-Man | X-Men | NEW!! DC Comics | Batman | Superman | Wonder Woman
the run of Outsiders where Dick and Roy were leading the team was the best!!
THE SIGNAL (Duke Thomas) is DC's secret shonen protagonist so I made him a fandom wiki
also, check out "The Signal Tape" a Duke Thomas fan project.
currently following:
- DC: Red Hood: The Hill
- Marvel: TBD
- Manga (Shonen/Seinen): One Piece, My Hero, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, Reincarnation of The Veteran Soldier, Oblivion Rouge, ORDEAL, The Breaker: Eternal Force
"power does not corrupt, power always reveals."
At this point, I think I just want Duke written off of here. Thirteen issues and Hill hasn’t done squat with him.
Imagine being proud to have negative traits. I can’t relate.
DC: Justice League, The Flash, Justice League Dark, Superman, Action Comics, Green Arrow, Justice League Odyssey, The Terrifics, Teen Titans, Titans, Brimstone, Female Furies, Damage, Heroes In Crisis
Marvel: The Punisher, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Venom, X-23, Cloak and Dagger, Jessica Jones, Sentry
Indies: Unnatural, Jeepers Creepers, Project Superpowers, Black Hammer, Ninja-K