Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Fernando Pasarin, Scott Hana and Prentiss Rollins

As far as event tie-ins go, Blackest Night has been fairly non-intrusive. Since the invasion of the Black Lanterns is happening everywhere in the DC Universe, we actually expect more titles to get in on the act, and if Outsiders #24 is any indication, their transition to the Blackest Night storyline will be seamless and, above all, will (I hope) make sense within the confines of the book. I guess it helps that Outsiders is being written by Peter J. Tomasi, who has been knee-deep in Black Lanterns from his work on Green Lantern Corps and the recently wrapped Blackest Night: Batman miniseries. Here,  he offers an interesting angle to fit the book into the event.

The main storyline in this issue centers around the resurrected Terra, who invades the Outsiders’ base of operations and confronts her brother, Geo-Force. She tells her brother and the rest of the team that she is tired of being controlled by her ring and wants to help them defeat the Black Lanterns and finally be at peace. While Brian gives her the benefit of the doubt, the other Outsiders doubt her, which they have every reason to do so, since Terra betrayed the Teen Titans to Deathstroke before her untimely demise. This is their first encounter with a Black Lantern, so they are unaware of their m.o., which is to appeal to the heroes’ emotions and sympathies.

The other part of the story involves an encounter between Katana and her resurrected husband and children as she, Halo and the Creeper are transporting the captured Killer Croc back to their base. This encounter does not go as well as the one between Geo-Force and Terra, as Kitana eventually sees through the Black Lanterns’ ruse and tries to fight them off. This will no doubt lead to some tension as the Outsiders try to convince Geo-Force to ignore his emotions and realize that he’s being played.

For those following Blackest Night, this doesn’t add anything new to the storyline but rather just shows how more heroes are dealing with the undead invasion. The sequences with Terra are basically meant to help catch the Outsiders up with what’s been going on elsewhere in the DCU, while all the action is handled in Katana’s segments. Fernando Pasarin’s art is as impressive as always without being too flashy, and Tomasi’s script keeps things flowing very well. It may not be enough for novices to pick up further copies of Outsiders, but for those already following these characters, it serves up an interesting character arc that adds more depth to the company-wide event.

Rating - 3.5 out of 5 Gnarly Truck Wrecks