Batman and the Outsiders #1-17, 1983-6 r.

Batman and the Outsiders #1-17, 1983-6 r. - Mike W. Barr

The Outsiders is a fictional DC Comics superhero team. As its name suggests, the team consists of metahuman superheroes who do not fit the norms of the "mainstream" superhero community (the Justice League), and in some ways are similar to the X-Men of Marvel Comics. The Outsiders have had three incarnations. They were founded by Batman, whose ties to the League had become strained. The Outsiders were reformed in the early 2000s by Nightwing and Arsenal after The Titans dissolved following the events of 'Graduation Day', in which the heroine Donna Troy was killed by a rogue Superman android. The intention of this new team was to act as 'hunters', actively searching for superhuman criminals currently on the loose, rather than waiting for them to act and then responding as other super-vigilante groups often do. In its most recent formation the group's leadership was relinquished by Nightwing to Batman, who recruited former members and newcomers. He has stated his intention to use the team as a black ops version of the Justice League, able to take the proverbial "fall" in public opinion when the League cannot. After Batman's (apparent) death in Final Crisis, he posthumously charged Alfred Pennyworth with recruiting a new team of Outsiders for a forthcoming mission of "great importance". **Writer** - Barr Mike W. **Pencils** - Jim Aparo