Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Haley Reading Group: Batman and the Outsiders, Part 6

[Haley Reading groups Fall 2020]


Part 6 of Batman and the Outsiders begins with a Signal (Duke Thomas) and Orphan (Cassandra Cain) facing off against Ishmael. After some struggles, Ishmael flees and beckons Signal and Orphan to follow. They end up encountering Orphan's distant mother, Lady Shiva. 

For now, Signal and Orphan are defeated. More important, it appears that they being encouraged to view Batman as deceptive and hiding truths from them. It is revealed that Ra's Al Ghul is behind the plan to raise doubts about Batman. 

This issue is notable in some ways based on absences. Two of the main heroes -- Batman and Black Lightning -- are not physically present. Some readers are annoyed when central heroes are not present in an issue. What difference, if any, did the absence of marquee heroes make for you? Briefly explain why it mattered or did not matter to you. 

17 comments:

Thomas Siganga said...

I believe the marquee heroes being absent made it feel like there was no hope especially when Orphan gets beaten and Signal gets manipulated. This ends up making the multiplying feeling worse since this manipulation is for the very hero that does not come to save them. It's more of the symbolism of coming which made me think both characters appearing would have been better.


-Thomas Siganga

Ishmael Freeman said...

The absence of the marquee heroes did annoy me a bit, but them being absent makes the situation more tense as members of the Outsiders cannot always depend on Batman or Black Lightning to save them when they're in trouble. This matters a lot when we talk about the growth of these characters and how they became their own heroes instead of being a foil to the big superheroes like Batman and Black Lightning. So it annoyed me at first, but I started to appreciate that they were not there so it made the readers be fearful for Duke and Cassandra.

J'kolbe K. said...

I personally really enjoy having the marquee hero's absent. I feel like the story tends to be more unpredictable and dangerous when the unbeatable hero isn't around. Everybody knows that batman doesn't lose and if he was leading the charge every time it would take away the stakes and suspense.

Tyler Bean-Catencamp said...

I feel as though the absence of Batman actually helped the story. It lets the story focus more on the lesser shown characters like Duke and Cass. We get a little bit of information on them instead of Batman monologuing at someone. Obviously, marquee characters need to be present in the story, but having chapters that focus on side characters is a must as well.

Jalen White said...

I thought it was a clever choice to forego the mainstream heroes for such an important sequence. It subverts the expectations of the reader in a way that is rather risky. While I must admit that I might not have been as emotionally engaged, I do have to say that it made the story less predictable.
It's usually not the case that Batman will die in a comic, but nothing is really off of the table when it's a minor character, and I think that's what the writers played off of.

Phoenix Johnson said...

The absence of important heroes did not bother me. The reason is because the absence raises suspensions. It keeps you intrigued and makes you wonder why Batman did not go on the mission?. Batman is very intellectual and known for his secrets and usually the secrets are made for precautions if things go wrong. Therefore, important figures being absent help represent the personality of the heroes.

Isaiah J. said...

The absence of the marquee heroes is always welcome to me. It allows the other characters to shine as they become the temporary protagonists. Whenever the main heroes are the focus, we tend to ignore the other characters, even if the authors put a lot of effort into them.
I can also understand why we may do this sometimes. As a reader, you may enjoy the main heroes so much that you are only really reading to see them. It would make sense, then, to feel cheated when they are not present. But here, I enjoyed the absence of Batman and Black Lightning.

-Isaiah J.

Anonymous said...

The marquee difference is the narrative impact on orphan and signal not having the support they need of the big hero's. Though it might annoy some people that the major players are not present, it is a story about more than just two characters so seeing what would be considered minor characters under such stress is important for their development.

Chris W.

Devin Ellis-Martin said...

I think not having those heroes physically present produced a lack of hope, and that the only way out would be doubting them, and turning against them.

-Devin Ellis Martin

Anonymous said...

I feel that it was odd that Batman and Black Lightning were not present, and it was the Finale. I would think that they should be more present. I do think it did highlight the growth the other characters had though. I think this was overall just an interesting deviation from the normal way comics storylines go. - Noah Jones 11/14/20

Donovan Washington said...

I appreciated the absence of the marquee heroes throughout this part of the comic. This allows the secondary characters to have the spotlight. Also, I think this helps develop the story line of these heroes outside of the shadow of the marquee heroes. This matters to me because this comic is about more than just the marquee heroes and their absence forces the reader to really get to know the rest of the characters in the comic.

Justin Jubert said...

Personally, I am not annoyed with the absence of the marquee heroes because it allows the writers and illustrators to focus on other characters. Although I enjoy when heroes like Batman are involved, it is also very interesting when other characters are focused on and develop. I can see why others would find it disheartening that the main characters did not have an active role because that is how stories normally play out. -JJ

Torian henry said...

I liked that the main heroes of the story Being absent was very good for letting the secondary heroes get some shine in the story. I think it helps add to overall characterization thus making the storyline more complete and not main protagonist dominated.

Torian henry

James Beverly III said...

Honestly, I am not annoyed with the absence of these marquee heroes. For probably the fourth time I will say that I do not like Batman, so his absence is fine with me. Also, I like it when the background characters get a chance to shine and develop in a story. I'm really enjoying watching the other characters advance their storylines. Of course, we will soon see the presence of Black Lightning and Batman, so I will enjoy this part with their absence.

-James Beverly III

Youssef H said...

The difference for me is that The story has not yet been able to make me connect with the characters in each moment. I never really connected with the two characters until this issue since the writers allowed them to shine. I am not completely sure however, on why one of the marquee characters, batman, has not physically been a part in any conflict yet. I am sure that will be resolved as the story develops.

William Shanklin said...

I thought that it was very important that characters like Batman were absent. I feel this way because it makes the other characters be able to get more attention from the reads. Also, we have seen Batman’s backstory multiple times through different movies and it is not necessary for his character to be on the pages as much as the less known characters.

Kendall Dow said...

The absences of batman was notable to me, because it finally shed light on the other which is what this comic is about. This comic talks about the lesser heroes, and this part show the lesser of the lesser.
-Kendall Dow