Independent
It's a bat-team
I'd say, as of late, Black Lightning & the Outsiders should be the direction they take it imo; especially since a version if the team happened in his show. it has been simply 'The Outsiders' before (twice I believe) and the property would've been better off if they stuck to leaving it as The Outsiders and built the team's presence in the wider DC universe as a standalone property that's tangential to Batman.
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 see the Outsiders as the DC version of the Defenders in which anybody could join. I loved the series by Judd Winick. Nightwing, Red Arrow and Jade were great additions.
I think that the book could survive without Batman front and center. Have him as sort of a supporting character.
I’d put Jeff as the leader. Establish a friendship between he and Bruce as equals. That way it would not appear he ‘works for’ Batman.
A lot of heroes work together. I’m not sure when fans got fired up about BL seeming like a lapdog for Bruce.
I'm just very sceptical if the book could survive without a Batman connection.
I mean it has been done several time, and it never lasted all that long.
And the most popular Outsiders run by far seems anyway to be the Judd Winick Run, that had barely any of the Original Outsiders on the team and started more as a continuation of the Titans (with Nightwing and Arsenal as leads).
The end of the Outsiders story in Batman: Urban Legends #3 says their story will be continued Fall 2021. It appears the line-up will be Black Lightning, Katana, Metamorpho, Duke Thomas, and a mystery fifth character.
Is it just me who always found "The Outsiders" name a bit bland? For example with Teen Titans or Suicide Squad you can kinda get the impression what the book is about by simply readings its name. And Justice League is an institution by now so that name works as well. But Outsiders? Whats that? With Batman being added to the name you can get some idea what it is about. So yeah, I'm fully behind Black Lightning and the Outsiders name since it also provides some clarity.
It is a bit generic, I agree, and also implies rejection. Not so entirely different from Misfits, although there was a television series called that, and that title worked because they really were misfits.
I'm not sure if all of the characters in Outsiders are truly outsiders or not (I haven't read the series). I don't see Duke and Cass as outsiders from the Bat-family anyway, possibly Jason depending on where he is narratively at any given time. Even with the very short-lived team The Unknowns, the title gives a sense of a bunch of heroes who aren't famous - although if that team had become popular the title would have become nonsensical over time.
"It's fun and it's cool, so that's all that matters. It's what comics are for, Duh."
Words to live by.