Originally Posted by
DrNewGod
Absent a role as Batman's Backup, The Outsiders have always struggled to find a raison d'être. Yes, their original title did spend some time on the question of who Katana and Halo were, but that wasn't the "why" of the team. Batman's needs motivated the original group, and (for a time) Geo-Force's motivated it after Batman left.
That is one thing The Outsiders do have in common with the classic Defenders. As I think about it, a Batmanless-Outsiders might work best if they were less a team, and more a cooperative, more similar to the early JSA. If the members are characterized mainly as independent operators - especially, street-level characters - who cooperate as needed, the "why" begins to make more sense. You need an initial arc to explain them coming together, but then the title might work more like an anthology book, or crossover book.