Outsiders #24

I'm a trade-waiter for this title, so I'm jumping in the middle here for the Blackest Night crossover. I actually would have passed on this, except that my daughter really wanted a Star Sapphire ring.
So I guess the Outsiders are working on gathering up a bunch of the criminals who escaped from Arkham, and some of the team is actually transporting Killer Croc to be locked up. Half the team (Owlman, Metamorpho, and Geo-Force) is hanging out back at some bunker, where Terra shows up and starts manipulating Geo-Force's emotions. She's as cruel and clever as she's always been, even now that she's dead. She lays out a whole lot of emotional talk to get Geo-Force almost obsessed with helping her. Knowing how cruel she is, I feel bad for Geo-Force. He's a big dope who clearly doesn't know who he's dealing with. As always, seeing the color spectrum of the heroes is a real treat. Owlman is all yellow for fear, Geo-Force is all pink for love, and Metamorpho is a mix including green for willpower! Neat.

The other half of the team (Halo, Katana, and Creeper) are riding along with Croc when they are attacked by Katana's dead family. Peter Tomasi gets to write more creepy kids as the two boys go after Halo. She atomizes most of their bodies, but their disembodied hands still make it around her throat. Creepy! Katana is initially stunned, but she quickly overcomes her doubts and is ready to take on the animated corpses of her loved ones. I'm a little surprised at how quickly she comes to that conclusion; I'd think there would be more folks emotionally paralyzed by seeing their loved ones like this.

How about that Tom Mandrake cover? Why doesn't he get more super-hero work? Fernando Pasarin has a nice, clean style that reminds me of Jesus Merino on JSA. He's a great fit for a team book, and seeing this package has me excited for the upcoming Outsiders trades.

Good