Cover by Jim Aparo

Title: “Bitter Orange!”
Synopsis: As The Outsiders begin to settle into their new lives in Gotham, a terrorist called Agent Orange plans his attack.

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Penciler: Jim Aparo
Inker: Aparo

Review: Let’s get this out of the way early: The villains for this series tended to be pretty lame, as this issue’s disgruntled-Vietnam-veteran-turned-terrorist Agent Orange surely demonstrates. That’s kind of ironic, given that strong characterization, at least in regard to its heroes, is one of the book’s calling cards. Of course, many of the character dynamics seem lifted straight from Marvel’s über-popular X-Men: The murderous but honorable warrior (played here by Katana); the hero with a missing past (Halo); the good natured freak (Metamorpho); the team’s diverse ethnic makeup, etc. There’s little new here, but writer Mike W. Barr handles the interplay well.

Grade: B+

Cool factor: Cool new heroes.
Not-so-cool factor: Lame new villains.

Character quotable: “… Actually, I don’t much like him – but he’s needed.” – Bruce Wayne, talking about some character known as “The Batman” (hmm …)

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