Batman & the Outsiders Annual #1 (1984)

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Pencils: Jerome Moore, Alex Saviuk, Jan Duursema, Rick Hoberg

It’s often said “truth is stranger than fiction”. In fact, it’s a very popular cliche’. Yet when fiction tries to out-strange “truth”, it gets even stranger. Whether fiction—in this case, a comic book—is trying to send us a Social Commentary, Satire, Moral, or even a Political Statement that strives to apply to the truth—in this case, the “real world”—the results can be messy if the execution fails. To quote another cliche: “there’s a thin line between being clever and stupid”.

Jump back to 1984. The numbers “1984” stirred a lot of fear and trepidation among Americans, thanks to George Orwell’s book of the same title. Originally published in 1949, it portrayed a dystopian “far-future” of 1984 in the state of Oceania, where mass surveillance and a totalitarian regime crushed free will. In the book, constant propaganda with the phrase “Big Brother is Watching You” meant that the government was essentially bugging and watching all households, primarily through the use of “tele-screens”. In the “real” 1984, writers, activists, politicians and the average Joe made frequent use of the “Big Brother” phrase and applied it wherever they saw fit.

Also, in the “real world” of 1984, a sitting Republican president (Ronald Reagan) was up for re-election. Many considered him a right-wing fanatic. His opponent was the Vice President from the previous administration (Walter Mondale), with a female running mate (Geraldine Ferraro). Many considered them left-wing fanatics, since the previous administration (Jimmy Carter) had enacted several environmental regulations, which some viewed as restrictive.

So along comes DC Comics and “Batman and the Outsiders #1”. Not shy about diving into the controversy of the days, the cover boldly states: “it’s 1984…do you know where your FREEDOMS are”? Bonus subtlety: there’s a burning US flag! Whoa… scary! It IS 1984 and we could be head for a totalitarian regime! Help us, guide us, oh DC Comics!

One of these days, the Lazy Writing Staff of Option38 will do a full in-depth review of “Batman & The Outsiders #1” from 1983. But that day may not come until 2084, so here’s a quick primer: “Batman & The Outsiders” was basically Batman’s middle finger to the Justice League. He clashed with the JLA’s ethics, quit, then went off to do things HIS way, with his own team of heroes. He initially recruited Black Lightning, and they soon find themselves joined by Metamorpho, as well as new heroes Geo-Force, Katana and Halo. A similar formula had worked with “New Teen Titans” #1 in 1980 (four existing heroes and 3 new ones), so it seemed like a cool idea to have “Batman, Unleashed” running his own version of the Justice League…at least on paper.

Anyways, jump to their initial annual (FIRST ISSUE). The story opens with politician B. Eric Blairman briefing someone on the Outsiders. He’s worried that they’re not Americans. I mean, that there Geo-force: “from his accent, this is NOT an American”. Blairman then signals out Katana and Black Lightning as “definitely (having) some foreign blood in them”. Plus you’ve got weirdos Halo and Metamorpho and that dang ol’ Batman who recently quit the Justice League of AMERICA. ‘Merica!

To top it off, Blairman says that while the media sometimes calls the Outsiders heroes, “we know how the media LIE, controlled as they are by the FAR LEFT”. Yeah…

To combat them, Blairman has put together his “Force of July”—a supposedly All-American team of “heroes”, consisting of:

–Lady Liberty. Sorta’ like “American Maid” from “The Tick”. Dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume, she can zap you with her torch. She’s French in an attempt to tie her into the actual Statue.

–Silent Majority– Sorta’ like Marvel’s “Collective Man” or “Madrox”… only he’s—get this— mute! Whoa, clever punny name! But hey, he’s on the FORCE of July, so why beat a dead horse?

–Major Victory. Any All-American mash-up of Superman and Captain America, amped up to 11. Probably by design, he’s blue-eyed and blonde.

–Sparkler– A kid who shoots ….fireworks. Sounds ridiculous, but it worked for Jubilee a few years later. I’m also wondering if Sparkler is banned in certain states, over the summer.

–Mayflower– A young girl in a Pilgrim costume. Kinda’ like Floronic Man or Plant-Man/Blackheath… but in a Pilgrim costume. She also speaks in a VERY stereotypical “cockney” accent, for what that’s worth (“‘ello, Guv’nor”, etc.)

May sound like lightweights, on paper, especially when you consider they’re going against a team that includes a guy who can control the Earth’s crust, a guy who can turn into any element, a guy who shoots lighting, a lady who transform into forms of energy, plus a psycho with a sword and a nut-job pugilist in a bat-suit.

Blairman, himself, is revealed to be the head of “American Security Agency” and, with the help of his sister Laraine, is planning on using rocket launches to unleash his “Project: Orwell” satellites. Again: SUBTLETY!

I mention Laraine, because she then makes one particularly poignant comment: “tomorrow, we’ll Make America Great Again“.

Whoa… xenophobic, racist, media-hating douchebags conspiring to Make America Great Again? I swear, this is an actual comic book, published over 30 years ago.

So what is Blairman’s “Project: Orwell”? Once his satellite is launched, he can then reverse the frequency of every (existing) television set in America and spy on anyone, 24/7. Each television set would be reversed and become a camera. Umm…I’m pretty sure that’s not how televisions work.

Of course, the traditional superhero punch ’em up action gets rolling. We even get the time-honored tradition of splitting this story into segments, with each featuring smaller match-ups of good guys vs. bad guys. I can’t remember when/where that formula was started (maybe Gardner Fox with JSA or JLA), but I always appreciate it. Adding to my enjoyment is that each Outsider gets their own LOGO!

You may wonder: where’s Batman? Well, he was recently injured by the villain Blowdart over in the monthly “Batman & the Outsiders” title, so he’s actually on bed-rest for this entire issue. Yet he still coordinates the Outsiders, because he’s Batman.

The Outsiders fly around, fighting the Force members at various locations, then both teams re-form for the big climax inside a secret mountain base. Blairman, being a good villain, captures the Outsiders and even does some monologuing by revealing his Secret Origin: he was a big Orwell fan and named himself after Orwell’s real name. Okay, I honestly did not know that…

With the help of Halo, the Outsiders are able to escape their captivity and proceed to pummel the Force of July.

Geo-Force then flies into orbit and destroys Blairman’s satellite, as the day is saved. Major Victory concedes the battle, but says that his team will “take the war”…as he blows up the entire mountain base.

The whole thing ends with an uplifting quote fromnone other than Langston Hughes: “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed. Let it be that great strong land of love, where never kings connive, nor tyrants scheme. That any man can be crushed be one above”.

When this book came out in 1984, it probably failed at being the timely political allegory it set out to be. Yet with Blairman’s motives and word balloons, it touched upon some VERY real and relevant topics for 2020. Usually comic book villains are amazingly outlandish and not exactly based in reality.

Yet, to paraphrase an early paragraph…consider that in the “real world” of 2020, a sitting Republican president is up for re-election. Many consider him a right-wing fanatic. His opponent is the Vice President from the previous administration, with a female running mate. Many consider them left-wing fanatics, since the previous administration had enacted several environmental regulations, which some viewed as restrictive.

So I can’t put this book down without thinking: “is truth really stranger than fiction”?