The Summit Of Black Lightning And Lady Shiva: ‘Batman And The Outsiders #10’ Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Batman meets with Sofia about her future before Bruce Wayne makes contact with a journalist he paid to investigate the Markovian black market. Elsewhere, Katana, Signal, and Orphan discuss what to do about Black Lightning’s disappearance. In Cambodia, Black Lightning talks with Lady Shiva. She claims to want to connect better with her daughter, Cassandra Cain, aka Orphan. Jefferson is suspicious, but Shiva also claims to be willing to help the Outsiders bring down Ra’s al Ghul. She has a lead on a weapons dealer who recently sold to Ra’s and Shiva wants to help Jefferson bring her in alive.
Batman and the Outsiders #10 continues the team’s war against Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins. Ra’s is planning something big and he recently killed a close friend and colleague of Black Lightning to hurt him. This led to Jefferson going AWOL from the Outsiders, but that doesn’t mean Black Lightning isn’t still working against Ra’s.
Batman and the Outsiders has, since issue one, been weaving a vast and complicated conspiracy originating with Ra’s al Ghul, the League of Assassins, and the nation of Markovia. This has resulted in a story that has often felt a bit slow-moving. This issue continues that trend, but it manages to provide the right amount of action and intrigue as to keep the book from feeling boring. The series as a whole has sustained that amount of excitement and twisting and that’s one of the things that has kept me reading (as well as the presence of Black Lightning and Katana).
Dexter Soy has been another grand boon to the series. His art style is unique and it fits the covert and gritty nature of Batman and the Outsiders excellently. He also knows how to make a fight scene both exciting and satisfying, especially whenever Black Lightning cuts loose. Veronica Gandini gives the book a stellar color palette, balancing the shadows and darkness with strong injections of light.
Batman and the Outsiders #10 continues to build the conspiracy between Ra’s al Ghul and Markovia. We also get to see Black Lightning team up with Lady Shiva, which is pretty damn cool. All in all, this book earns a recommendation. Pick it up.
Batman and the Outsiders #10 comes to us from writer Bryan Hill, artist Dexter Soy, color artist Veronica Gandini, letterer Clayton Cowles, cover artist Tyler Kirkham with Arif Prianto, and variant cover artist Michael Golden.
