Eradicated By Doomsday

Outsiders (Volume 4) #37
Written by Dan Didio and Phillip Tan
Art by Tan

 

This is the second part of the Reign of Doomsday storyline that began in the Steel One-Shot. It was okay. Didio’s dialogue is of course horrible and everything, but Tan’s art has improved tremendously even if I did not know what was going on with the fight half the time. It looks like Eradicator is dead but I doubt it. At least we get to see Halo back in action.

Outsiders 34 and 35

Outsiders (Volume 4) #34
Written by Dan Didio and Keith Giffen
Art by Giffen

I like the idea of The Olympian getting involved with the Outsiders – but I don’t know how I feel about him actually calling his men Manazons. That is just dumb. I think we know why that Wonder Woman arc was called Rise of the Olympian despite its focus being on Genocide – Didio. He loves this character I guess. It is great to see Giffen joining the book as artist and co-plotter as it will probably gain some quality.

Outsiders (Volume 4) #35
Written by Dan Didio and Phillip Tan
Art by Tan

Ahh and Tan comes back for one more issue! He is not such a bad artist but he never draws backgrounds and I never know what the hell is going on when he draws this comic. Not to mention the dialogue is pathetically bad once again. Ugh at least Giffen is coming back next issue. Oh and since when does Black Lightning contain Black Lantern energy??

Bringing In History

Outsiders (Volume 4) #33
Written by Dan Didio and Phillip Tan
Art by Tan

The art is still awful…I have no idea what has happened to Halo and why she is a coma – and I see no reason for Geo-Force acting the way he is still, but I got to at least hand it to Didio for his use of continuity – even pulling from the nineties Outsiders series. I like that Didio at least respects the history of the team. But this is still awful storytelling.

Outsiders 30 and 31

Outsiders (Volume 4) #30
Written by Dan Didio
Art by Phillip Tan

 

Metamorpho, Owlman, and Black Lightning must turn to Simon Stagg for help after being deemed enemies of Earth because of Markovia’s alliance with New Krypton. It is an interesting thing this alliance with New Krypton and I love having the Eradicator around but Didio still has yet to explain why Geo-Force is acting like a nutjob and this Freight Train character is about as generic as they come. Wasn’t a bad issue which is saying something because it has been all pretty bad since Didio took over the book.

Outsiders (Volume 4) #31
Written by Dan Didio
Art by Phillip Tan

Okay Halo is back in this issue! Thanks Didio! But she never even went missing, she just wasn’t mentioned. If you are going to make her return a big deal – how about maybe writing people actually wondering where the hell she is? Anyways the Ray shows up and so does a weird succubus lady. This book is way random but at least it has become interesting.

Waste Of Panels

Outsiders (Volume 4) #28
Written by Dan Didio
Art by Phillip Tan

 

As I expected, this book is not getting any better. What the hell is Didio doing?! Still no explanation for Geo-Force’s actions…is he being manipulated? Is Katana? And still no mention of Halo! Where the hell is she? The entire issue was a rather boring fight between Black Lightning and Geo-Force with Didio’s lame narration. What a waste of panels.

Old Booster

Booster Gold (Volume 2) #30
Written by Dan Jurgens
Art by Jurgens and Jerry Ordway

 

This storyline comes to an end as Coast City is destroyed. I understand how hard of a choice it had to be for Booster and he really wouldn’t be the hero he is if he didn’t at least try to save the city so I was glad that he involuntarily left Coast City. It was also cool to see older Booster – aware that Rip was his son – and secretly helping out. I didn’t even think of that! Good issue!

Where is Halo?!

Outsiders (Volume 4) #27
Written by Dan Didio
Art by Don Kramer

 

Didio oh Didio! Why do you write such bad dialogue? Do we need to make fun of you even more then we already do? Black Lightning final line in this issue was so lame. Geo-Force and Katana are acting really strange still (I am hoping that there is going to be an in-story reason for this) and there is no fucking mention or anything of Halo?! Where did she go? Did someone forget about her? What is going on with this book? Where is Phillip Tan, how are we needing a fill-in artist already? Why is this guy in charge of DC Comics when he can’t even keep things together on this one book? Yes it was cool to see classic Outsiders villains the Masters of Disaster and I like the continuity references but this issue is just soo bad. Why is Owlman referring to Blackest Night as Blackest Night? Why not the time where everyone became Black Lanterns? Didio is writing him as if he is aware that it was a comic mini-series called Blackest Night! This is awful. Just awful.

I Wish I Could Say That Didio Proved Me Wrong

Outsiders (Volume 4) #26
Written by Dan Didio
Art by Phillip Tan and Don Kramer

You know…I started this telling myself to keep an open mind. That even though Dan Didio is the man who thought Countdown was better then 52 and many other idiotic opinions, he could be a good writer and I shouldn’t prejudge. One issue in and I have little hope. This isn’t a very good comic. All of the characters are off and are not acting like themselves. Katana just stabbed a guy in the chest and Geo-Force is calling for extreme violence and acting like a completely different character then well…Geo-Force. What the hell? I am hoping this is explained through mind control or something but so far it is just bad characterization. Halo is nowhere to be found except for one panel. The art is just awful and Tan’s anatomy changes from page to page. The only good thing was the Eradicator – a former member of the Outsiders. I do like the acknowledgement of that history and he is a character that has been gone for a long time but… Please, Didio, prove me wrong and show me that you can write a good comic.