Weekly Comic Book Discussion 6/8/2006

Outsiders - I’ve been defending this series for a long time.

I can’t any longer.

The timeline is absolutely irreconcilable, and, unlike Shadowpact, the Superman appearance can’t be dismissed as inconsequential.

Outsiders is happening One Year Later. Shadowpact wasn’t.

Superman’s appearance is consistent with what is occuring currently in his own titles. One would presume that this Outsiders story arc happens (just?) after the “Up, Up, and Away!” story arc.

The discrepancy in timelines is between Outsiders and Teen Titans – as the former is lagging behind the latter title.

The descrepency is between Outsiders and everything else that any of the other characters have appeared in.

Alan Scott’s wearing an eyepatch with his costume - which he does not in JSA or JSA Classified. Only in 52, and here. This could be anther case of ‘not sending the artist the updated model sheet’, like Alan having both eyes in the last issue of JSA, but given the other point it suggests the happens before Alan realised he could make a fake eye.

The Outsiders have been in Africa for months - which does not sit with Nightwing being recently arrived in New York. Which it has to come before, or else the timeline gets completely desynchronised within the Batfamily related titles - putting Nightwing months before Outsiders, which is before Teen Titans, which likely comes before Robin. It also causes problems with Batman, either way.

And, let’s not even mention the question of why - and HOW - Dick’s got kryptonite when Superman’s been depowered until recently.

Superman could, potentially, come first, but that means shoehorning it into the timeline.

I’m thinking Robin comes before Titans. Titans seems to be the latest-set of the bunch.

Also, based on some information in Previews, the Outsiders’ timeline problems may have a perfectly rational explanation… we’ll see.

Still, any perceived discrepancies are nothing compared to Shadowpact (or, before the Crisis, Robin).

As for Alan’s eyepatch - he was in a Checkmate meeting (where he wears the patch) … he needed to chat with the Outsiders in a hurry and zipped off, changing into costume - except he’s kinda old, and forgot to remove the patch. Easy peasy. :wink:

Well, as to why, Supergirl was still around, right? (And as to how, he’s Dick Grayson, in the running for “most competent human on the planet”: just like Batman, only with better social skills and a knack for landing an extra aerial somersault.)

What did Alan have to say to the Outsiders? It seems to me that Checkmate’s entire purpose is to prevent things like what the Outsiders are doing right now. I’m waiting for the inevitable crossover.

There was a stern lecture and a veiled threat - but they called him in because they’d been attacked by a speedster who appears to be a clone of Jay Garrick.