Outsiders, Vol. 3: Wanted

Outsiders (2003)

by Judd Winick, Carlos D'Anda (Illustrator), Karl Kerschl (Illustrator)

Presents the adventures of a new group of heroes, including Grace, a bouncer working at a metahuman club; cyborg girl Indigo; Thunder, the mass-changing daughter of Black Lightning, and the shape shifter, Metamorpho.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Batman, LGBT

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Judd Winick is an American cartoonist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and former reality television personality known for his diverse contributions to storytelling across multiple media. He first entered the public eye in 1994 as a cast member on The Real World: San Francisco, where he formed a close friendship with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, an experience that deeply influenced his later work. Winick memorialized their bond in Pedro and Me, a critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novel that earned several literary awards and became a staple in school curricula.

Winick's career in comics took off with The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius and continued with major runs at DC Comics, including Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman. His stories often explored socially relevant themes, such as HIV, homophobia, and identity. He was recognized for introducing gay characters and tackling difficult subjects with empathy and clarity. His work on Batman notably included resurrecting the character Jason Todd as the Red Hood, a storyline later adapted into the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, for which Winick wrote the screenplay.

Beyond comics, he created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network and served as head writer for Hulu's The Awesomes. In 2015, he launched the Hilo series, an all-ages sci-fi adventure inspired by his own children. The bestselling series has been widely praised and is expected to reach its eleventh volume in 2025.

Winick lives in San Francisco with his wife, Pam Ling, also a Real World alum, and their two children. He continues to create heartfelt and imaginative stories for audiences of all ages.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this the Outsiders or Teen Titans-lite? Or both? Or neither?

That’s the struggle in the first issue collected here. Do the kids do this Titan-family style or is this all superhero bad guy beat down bidness? Let’s let Nightwing and Arsenal decide.



On second thought, just put Jade in charge.



Winick et al tries to tackle the issue of child abduction/slavery and bravo for the, uh, trying. The group even enlists a real life fictionalized (huh?) John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted in the attempt to track down the ring leader of this sordid business.



Of course this affects one of its members on a personal level and also predictably impacts the only member with a child.



*sigh and ugh*

Again, kudos for the manipulative and contrived attempt.

Somebody is funding the Outsider kids and Arsenal is getting tips on bad guys on the sneak and because he’s on the back cover all plot roads lead to the Batman.



Nightwing takes issue with Bats meddling effrontery…



…while at the very exact same time Arsenal is chatting it up with Batman.



Jeff, I’m really confused!! Is this possible!?!

*hands random Goodreader a paper bag*

Breathe into the bag my random delirious acquaintance, and no, it isn’t.

Arsenal is actually talking to Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke

Cue some punching and stuff.



After getting a thorough ass-kicking, Arsenal probably isn’t firing on all rocket thrusters and assumes that there’s a traitor in the midst which leads to a resolution that you won’t find in regular Outsiders continuity.



Wait…what?

Bottom Line - Winick’s run on this title has been pretty much a mixed bag. When he’s not weighed down by the constant crossover events, he can deliver an entertaining story; otherwise, you’ll need to set your comic book GPS to the land of confusion.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, this is the best of this series so far! The character work for Roy, Dick, and Grace was honestly astounding to me. Every so often, I’ll read a volume of a team book that so perfectly understands how to give a few members of the team complex characterization and still keep it interesting.

Grace Choi has been my fave since I started this series. I’m so in love with a woman of color that doesn’t exist to be sexualized. She towers over everyone and she could kick everyone’s ass. On top of that, she does have emotions. Usually, female characters are presented 3 ways: cheerleader/damsel, sexpot, fighter with no emotion. Grace is none of those so kudos to Winick for giving us a well rounded, well fleshed out character. I fell for Grace even more in this book and we get a better understanding of why she does this job.

Granted, I was fresh off reading a Marvel book before I picked this up and I had to readjust again to the fact that DC discusses darker crimes. I don’t think I’ve read a Marvel arc where the Avengers take down a child sex trafficking ring. It’s a very dark storyline and the fact that Grace suffered at the hands of this monster was heartbreaking. I have to hand it to Winick: he told this story in a respectful manner. Tanner’s crimes were taken seriously, the victims were never sexualized or condescended to. At the end of this arc, this is about Grace and her finding peace (or attempting to). This is a storyline that didn’t use sexual assault of a main character to fuel manpain.

Sure, Lian was also taken in the process and that brings pain to Roy but the overwhelming majority of this story is focused on Grace.

Roy. I’ve come to love this guy so, so much. His job here seems to be pushing Dick to be more of the guy he used to be and trying to keep the team together. He’s trying so hard and it’s compelling. I’m really rooting for him and I’m looking up what to read to learn more about him because he leads an interesting life.

Dick. Poor dickiebird. He is the darkest I’ve ever seen in this book and it makes me wonder what he’d be like if Jason Todd had seen him like this. I know Jason shows up in later issues but this Dick is so harsh. His fight with Roy was shocking. The fact that he threw Roy’s heroin addiction in his face was astounding. He’s so resigned to just being there and not getting close to anyone and it’s a far cry from Dick in other books. That being said: I kind of loved it.

It’s so interesting because Dick is the bright beacon in the Batfamily. The only character that gives him a run for his money for shiny and happiest is Stephanie. Seriously, they’re like the lone Abercrombie fans in a family of goths. After losing Donna, Dick continues to treat the Outsiders like coworkers he hates being around and it’s lead to Jefferson Pierce believing Dick can’t be trusted to protect his daughter.

The conversation with Bruce was one of the best I’ve ever read! Winick‘s take on their relationship was fascinating and felt really real to me. I adored it! Especially Alfred trying to keep it civil. The conclusion, namely Bruce telling Dick not to trust him, was just amazing. Dick’s unbalanced and I’m interested to see what happens next.

So, that’s kind of it. Nothing with the other characters is super worth mentioning.

But honestly, this was just bloody fantastic and I highly recommend it.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series started off interesting right away. There was a new person in charge, a new member and an underground child smuggling ring. A couple of the comics revolved around some of the members that they wouldn't normally highlight and that made it so much more interesting and exciting, to see these characters in a different, more intense way. It also gives us a villain that I haven't read about before, which made that story a lot more exciting! We find out that they have been conducting business with someone that no one on the team wanted that person to a part of the new team (that probably didn't make sense but sure!) and emotions escalate when they find a traitor among them. Weeding out the impostor leads to heart-break and loyalties tested. I am so excited to learn what happens next and how the team can recover after this!

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy smokes, loved this volume.

So first half is all about children getting abducted and brought into child slavery. It's disturbing to say the least, and when well done, like here, it's hard to view but compelling. With so many mediums doing stories on this, a few hit the mark, and this did. Especially getting personal for Roy. The next arc is about finding out who's been feeding the Outsiders their information. Last but not least is the final issue which revolves around a traitor being a part of the Outsiders group!

Good: Art remains good and the fights here and really brutal. A two page I love is when Gracie finds the slave owner, oh man it's great. The flow of this volume is the best so far, giving us interesting plotlines over and over again. Roy and Nightwing relationship breaking, the love relationships growing, the slave storyline, the traitor, the liar who's been giving info, all comes together here with a nice big cliffhanger.

Bad: Almost nothing. I really enjoyed this. Maybe the last issue feeling to close to Identity Crisis but that's it.

Overall, fantastic. This is my favorite volume of the run so far. Judd knows how to balance storylines with character development moments. Lots of sad moments, lots of oh shit moments, and even some humor moments. A easy 5 out of 5 for me.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outsiders: Wanted continues where the previous trade paperback left off collecting eight issues (Outsiders #16–23) of the 2003 on-going series and covers six semi-interconnected stories: "A Change of Plans", "Most Wanted", "Back to Normal", "Silent Partner", "Deep Throat", and "Lockdown".

"Most Wanted" is a three-issue storyline (Outsiders #17–19) that has the Outsiders teaming up with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted fame as together they tried to break up a children kidnapping ring. Matter gets worse as Lian Harper – Roy Harper’s daughter gets kidnapped.

"Back to Normal", "Silent Partner", "Deep Throat" and "Lockdown" are four interconnected one-issue stories (Outsiders #20–23) that has the Outsiders discover that Optitron – the company sponsoring the team is a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprise. Furthermore, the contact that Roy Harper had was Batman – himself, which was actually Slade Wilson in guise of him. Finally, they found that there was a mole on the team – Shift. "A Change of Plans" is a one-issue storyline (Outsiders #16) that has a change of leadership of the team to Jade and Starfire joins the team.

Judd Winick penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written moderately well. Winick handles the character aspects of Outsiders well adding additional dynamics with Starfire joining the team. However, the action sequences are much to be desires and outsides Slade Wilson as Deathstroke in guise of Batman, the rest of the villains they faced was rather forgettable. The integration of John Walsh was rather odd, but surprisingly worked.

Carlos D'Anda (Outsiders #17–19, 21), Shawn Moll (Outsiders #22–23), Dan Jurgens (Outsiders #16), and Karl Kerschl (Outsiders #20) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part the pencilers have distinct penciling styles, which made the artistic flow somewhat rough. It is, however, mitigated that each penciler done one story with D'Anda and Moll sharing the bulk of the work.

All in all, Outsiders: Wanted is a mediocre continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Lono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outsiders: Wanted was pretty much the high water mark for Judd Winick’s run on the title. Judd’s focus was on the members of the team that are personal favorites of mine and there were couple of pretty cool moments. Winick delves deeper into the relationship between Nightwing and Arsenal and there are interesting similarities to that of their mentors. Although they seem to interact more like brothers. And by that I mean they beat each other’s asses. Nightwing has continued to be distant from the rest of the team since Donna Troy’s death and this scrap was bound to happen at some point. Grayson also returns home to confront Bats about his involvement in the Outsiders and is in for a surprise.



I liked the attempt at giving Grace a little more back-story. Her origin remains a mystery at this point and these are some of the first hints as to what she has gone through prior to the series. I thought the Americas Most Wanted angle was a little weird and the way they tied Arsenal’s daughter into that part of the story was a somewhat forced, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. I love what a fuckin bad-ass Grace is here though. She��s a like a redneck looking to throw down at a country bar on a Saturday night. And when something finally does flip her switch, she is stone cold. The bloody battering she gives to one bad guy was ferocious. Love me a tough chick.



The relationship between Shift and Indigo continues to evolve and those naughty kids might finally make it past third base. This has been slowly building over the past 2 books and becomes much more important later in the series.

Finally, a baddy that has been lurking in the shadows Deathstroke finally reveals himself and Arsenal gets suspicious that someone else on the team isn’t what they appear to be. This one ends on a cliff hanger that takes us into Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders .



Loved the art in this one for the most part. Carlos D’Anda provides most of the illustrations and does a really great job. Love his thick-lined, dark style. Wish he would have stuck with the title longer. Great stuff. The other artists got the job done.

3.5 stars out of 5

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upset.

But I'll be okay. let's talk about this. It was a great volume. SO much happens though. It's intense and dark.

There is an arc over three issues dealing with children being kidnapped and trafficked. It was disturbing and really fucked up. I was not prepared. It was handled well, though.

Really can't believe they let it affect Roy in the way it did. Grace's connection to the cause was rough to follow as well.

Then the volume goes on to finding out who has really been giving The Outsiders their intel. Then realizing that there was a traitor in the group. Also super intense.

I'm not okay. Will read on and see where it goes from here.

[Batastrophe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt a little more luke-warm about some things in this volume, but there were also a lot of positives.

The positives: we really got to see Dick hitting his hardest--both physically and psychologically--and directed at Roy no less. It’s always fascinating for me to see those moments when Dick can be an utter asshole to his friends--it’s not everyone’s favorite trait about him, but I find it really interesting when it does show up.





This scene also serves as the perfect counterpoint to this scene in volume 2. And boy, do I love it when an author writes with thematic arcs like these in mind. It's so sad, but it can be a rarity in comics, and I really enjoy it when it comes up.

This is quickly followed by Jenny taking the reigns, which had me cheering. Dick’s really not in the right headspace to be leading the team, and I loved that Jenny and the rest of the team called him out on it and that it works.

The plot is also picking up in this book. There were a few twists I didn't (quite) see coming, and it's clear we're ramping up to a game-changing event in Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that, since I still feel like I'm getting to know this team, but eh, it is what it is.

The negatives: The first plot arc with Grace could have been something really emotionally poignant and served to really develop her character, but unfortunately the tone came off like an after-school special. The inclusion of John Walsh and America’s Most Wanted really didn’t help that. It honestly was really strange and I have no idea why that was a thing. They also brought Starfire onto the team only to do absolutely nothing with her–they could have removed her entirely and it would have been the same book. And lastly, there's yet another example of using a female character as a way to “get to” a male hero in this book–a trope I am utterly done with.

Overall, the weird after-school special tone of Grace's arc really threw me in this book, and is mainly what had me knocking it down a star from the last volume.

[Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is WEIRD.

For starters, the series managed so far to create a rare situation where new and lesser-known characters (Indigo, Shift and Grace) are the heart of the team whereas popular ones are lagging behind because of their own baggage. The solution? Bring in more popular characters. So Starfire enters the team and obviously they feel a little too much like the Teen Titans now.

After some squabbles the team finds their first case. It looks like a promising setup that allows the team to try and face a crime that isn't the usual kind capes face except... they bring in a TV show host? I don't mean a character who is a TV show host, nope, they create a fictionalized version of presenter John Walsh. The cover where they just stuck a photograph of him on a drawing is hilarious.

So now we have this fictionalized host running around in the book. Remember this is not a comedic title, in fact we're dealing with the topic of CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING. Handled with delicacy and restraint, of course, by showing dozens of kids chained to beds and being branded. I feel terrible about it, but I was constantly laughing because of how strange the setup was, and the writing also kept going into comedic tones on its own through the interactions between the characters, maybe in an effort lighten up the story? Anyway, it was absurd.

Maybe this is a little pedantic to point out, but since this book is trying to deal with such a heavy topic I expect it to use some realism. An alleged child trafficker is identified through "fingerprint analysis" (there were apparently 12 hundred fingerprints on the counter where it was taken), blurry security camera footage and positive identification from a traumatized child. Then, his face is shown on TV so he can be hunted down? That's so flimsy, it's a multi-million dollar lawsuit waiting to happen, absolutely no TV broadcaster would go along with this, especially since it's not the police feeding them information but the Teen Ti- excuse me, the Outsiders.

Now, the second part of the volume is much better. Deceptions are revealed, family members are confronted, people are interrogated, etc. Essentially a good setup for what's to come. But I can't help but feel that the three characters I mentioned before are essentially meat fodder that's being used to get the Titans to solve their issues. That also happened with Anissa in the previous volume, where she gets injured and it's all about how much it impacts Nightwing. Grace is made into a victim so she can push the Titans to care about a particular crime, Indigo and Shift develop a bond just so the Titans can feel bad about breaking it.

[Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am simply loving the Outsiders. Regret no getting into them a lot sooner. I have always love Nightwing and Speedy (Arsenal). I first glace I didn't think The Outsiders make a good team. But, wow do they ever and having members like Jade and shift in the team makes them that much better. This This trade papeback is simply amazing. Great story great art and great super heroes. My one and only problem was the "cameo" the show "Americas Most wanted" did. It took me out of the fantasy I enjoy from comicbooks. This is volume 3 of the paperbacks and this one leaves you with a pretty juicy cliff hanger. The Outsiders are gritty,tough,powerful, and have issues. This makes for a real hardcore team and hardcore stories. Judd Winick you have won me over with them.

[Tim Maidment · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much a volume of two speeds and voices - part of it is the familiar ground of heroics and bright colours, bravery with a quip and ongoing storylines that are neatly tied into wider events happening in the DC universe at the time

The other part is far more somber, dealing with child abduction and paedophilia and the colours and art are far murkier and impressionistic for this part. Its uncomfortable reading, but I didn't find it sensationalistic or insulting - indeed it was a surprise to find 'adult' writing that didn't use the word as an excuse for obscenity or gross-out imagery.

Highly recommended

[***Dave Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this volume is focused on child trafficking -- something with very deep resonances to a couple of the team members. It ends up both satisfying and unsatisfying -- the focus is less on the evils of child trafficking, it sometimes seems, as much as the impact of the case on the team members. Which should be the way it should be, but it ends up feeling manipulative, results (or lack of results) determined to make the players gasp or rage more.

(Plus, the whole presence of John Walsh feels ... weird.)

The second half shows the wheels falling off the team -- the "everything you know is wrong" kind of collapse -- as secrets about who's been funding them, who's been feeding them intel, and who's been betraying the team start to come out into the open, only to turn into further layers of concern. The reveals are pretty good, if at a constant simmer (when not boiling) of anger and violence. I do want it to work, but again, there are way to many moments of people behaving or deciding badly to really build the sympathy I should be feeling here.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot to love here and it outweighs some rough spots. The "Wanted" storyline was powerful and real, much more so for Grace than Arsenal. Indigo/Shift relationship is adorable and possibly sad. Roy getting blindsided by SPOILER was great, especially how it was handled. Winick's dialogue is much better here, grounded. The issues I had were artistic (too many), Batman's reaction to Dick's news, a new team member joining for no reason, and the cliffhanger ending. These are all minor but they added up. Overall, another nice DC team book.

[Matthieu Savignac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allez, je mets 5 étoiles, car après les prémices de récits matures évoqué dans les précédentes issues, on arrive dans une partie beaucoup plus sombre et émotionnellement chargée qu'aparavant.
L'histoire de Grace et l'implication de l'équipe et d'Arsenal est poignante. Cela faisait longtemps que je n'avais pas lu de comics mainstream abordant ces sujets aussi difficiles.

La deuxième moitié du TPB est plus reposante, même si pleine de révélations sur le groupe, ses motivations et surtout ce qu'il va pouvoir leur arriver par la suite.

Vivement la suite.

[Sha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art style just really ticked me off. Grace went from being badass muscled bodybuilder to wasp waisted big boobed thong lady. Why.

And admittedly the storyline was not that good either. Just as I was starting to have high hopes...

[Desmond Killian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guest-starring John Walsh from America's Most Wanted! You know, the real guy from that true crime TV show? I actually really liked the art, especially with that one page of Shift and Indigo having crazy elemental/cyborg sex all over the team's control panels.

[Guido]

Tercer tomo de los Outsiders de Dick.
Sigue la mayoría de la lista de personajes pendiente.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me get the obvious out of the way: this volume includes the America’s Most Wanted crossover story; if you were reading comics at the time these came out, you probably remember seeing John Walsh’s photo on the cover of an Outsiders comic and you probably remember Wizard making fun of it. But the story itself is actually really great, and ties nicely into Grace’s backstory.
Additionally, Starfire joins the team (yay!), Indigo and Shift further their romance (awww!), and Arsenal has a crisis of faith after he realizes the Batman who has been feeding him tips isn’t Batman at all (yay for readers, boo for Arsenal!).
This volume captures the series firing on all cylinders.

[Nicholas Palmieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

And here's where everything hits the fan. The previous two volumes were fun, fast-paced action, but here all of the sparse character moments of those books finally come together to reveal their greater significance. This volume is heavily character-based, which is a welcome change of pace, and twist after twist is launched at the reader. A wonderful "centerpiece" to this era of the Outsiders. The art also changes here, from the more realistic style of previous volumes to more stylized, angular pencils with "flatter" coloring. It's a great match for this book and works for different reasons than the more realistic style did, but it absolutely still works. The two major downsides here are the potential cheesiness of having John Walsh and America's Most Wanted appear (??), which I thought was unnecessary but used well enough, and the fact that the major reveal of the nature behind the past missions ties into Villains United and doesn't make sense when you look at this series in a vacuum. But nonetheless, the thesis of the Outsiders is played with and challenged throughout the book, pushing it so far above the previous volumes that these problems don't matter too much. I love this little group of misfits and screw-ups. Next up is the "finale" of sorts to this era, Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The theme of this trade is clearly fatherhood, and that increases the awesome tenfold. Perhaps it is my obsession with the domestic, former drug addict now world's best dad Roy Harper that leads me to focus on the parental relationships as opposed to simply the lost childhood aspects. I really liked the child slavery ring as a villain instead of the Joker or someone comically evil, but I liked it best of all because Winick brings it home with Roy. The side scenes with Batman, Green Arrow, and Deathstroke go to reinforce the varying fatherly relationships on a scale of awkward to awful. Still, be it Roy, Bruce, or Ollie, it all comes from a place of love.

Which is why you should all read Kavalier and Clay.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really liking the Outsiders. I admit I was feeling a little sceptical when reading the preface to the first volume, about this being "more grown-up, edgier, darker"... because that sort of thing can backfire.

Well, this didn't. It's an interesting team dynamic, the characters are all believable, and, well, there is Nightwing. And in this volume there is a lot of Nightwing-interacting-with-Batman, which is very possibly my favourite thing in the world right now, especially when Alfred makes an appearance as well.

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Outsiders story. The underage sex-slave ring was quite an interesting angle to tackle. I disliked that they brought in John Walsh and America's Most Wanted for the story. I did enjopy the revelation that Deathstroke was their inside man in intel and the Batman was their financial benefactor. Thias really allowed for the tension to come to a head with the team. Overall it is an okay story.

[Koen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great volume!! Love the outsiders :) Great team, right? ;) seeing them bickering.. just like an everyday couple! :D
And what an ending was that!! Really want to get started on the next one to find out how it progresses..
Going to start now.. Cheers!

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of juvinille. Some interesting twists and powers - but generally too juvineille. Interesting twist about child prostitution.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was hard to get through. There's a lot of dark stuff going on. Not super villain dark but real world dark. Trigger warnings for mentions of rape, sexual abuse, and abuse.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it wasn't bad but it was a far cry from my style. Perhaps if I'd read the volumes leading to here.

Anyway, take it or leave it.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the wanted