Outsiders, Vol. 1: Looking for Trouble

Outsiders (2003)

by Judd Winick

In the intense action-adventure OUTSIDERS: LOOKING FOR TROUBLE. Green Arrow's former sidekick, Arsenal, creates a new superhero team as a proactive force against the villains of the world. Recruiting both battle-tested veterans and inexperienced rookies, the expert archer forms a volatile team of personalities and powers that includes Thunder, the density-controlling daughter of Black Lightning, Metamorpho, a shape-shifting elemental man, Grace, a super-strong female bouncer. Indigo, a futuristic cyborg girl, Jade, the powerful girlfriend of Green Lantern, and Nightwing, the former Robin the Boy Wonder. But now, before the team can get acquainted, they must first defend Manhattan from a coordinated gorilla invasion and rescue President Lex Luthor from the clutches of the Joker.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

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

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty great.

Admittedly, I don't know much about the Teen Titans run that sets this up. I don't know much about the Teen Titans, period.

The Good:
- This a new turn for Dick Grayson. My husband is usually super bubbly and sassy. In this book, he's dealing with a world of guilt after losing Donna in an avoidable incident. He's short tempered, impatient and doing his best to avoid attachments. Roy has to work really hard to get him on board. It was really interesting to see this side of him. He's actually quite brutal in some ways. He's a lot angrier and he seems a lot rougher with the bad guys.
- Related to above: Dick beating up Brother Blood after Roy’s shooting was such an interesting scene.
- Anissa/Thunder: I really liked her! I liked the concept of her powers and that she struggled with getting her father to accept her. I can't wait to see more of her!
- I loved Grace (and had a bit of a crush on her, not gonna lie). I like how matter of fact she is and that she kind of tells everyone exactly what's on her mind. I loved her chemistry with Anissa.
- Roy: I've only read bits and pieces of him in Red Hood and the Outlaws and saw him in Young Justice. He's an interesting guy. I like his personality and I felt for him at the end of this book. He reminds me of Ollie in the way they do their jobs. He really wanted to put the team together so this whole thing is kind of his baby.
- The plot lines were interesting. I liked the quipping for the most part. Really enjoyed Luthor taunting Joker with “Does it big you that Batman will always love Catwoman more than you? He’s never going to take you to prom.”

The Bad:
- I couldn't really find anything wrong with this, to be honest.
- I wasn't the biggest fan of the art
- There was some slutshaming going on and I felt like there were too many jokes at Indigo's expense. I know she's not human but it still seemed unnecessarily rude at times.

So, overall, it's a recommend from me. I came into this and the only 2 characters I really knew anything about were Dick and Roy and I never felt lost or confused. The plot is entertaining, the team dynamic is interesting and Winick is one of my favorites from DC.

4 stars.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nightwing leading a team of fighters after the loss of two friends? Uhhhh yes!

This is basically a hit team. One who hunt and take down villains, hard and fast. They don't care about press or good looks, this isn't the Teen Titans or even The Titans, these are the team who handles shit others can't. Nightwing, at first reluctantly, joins Roy as they build a new team of superheroes. This has multiple personalities and powers ranging from robotic warrior to lightning's daughter who can take a lot of damage and dish it back. This is broken into two arcs and then a one shot.

Good: Really love the dialogue back and forth between everyone. It feels like a team but a really shaky one. Not everyone just getting together and working well because they're heroes. I also thought there were stakes, as one of the main heroes gets injured REALLY badly. I also think it deals well with finding your place as heroes like these don't always fit into normal teams. Art is solid too, with some over the top fight scenes, including a fun and crazy plane crash.

Bad: The villains could have been better. Adding Joker and Grodd in for big names was okay but felt bit forced. I didn't love Black Voodoo either, he was kind of lame.

Overall, super fun. I hope this series continues as I heard great things for Titans, the followup series I plan on reading. I really love a lot of Judd Winick work. I hope he returns one day to create more. A 4 out of 5.

[Lono · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up Outsiders:Looking For Trouble because I’m a fan of both Judd Winick’s Batman stuff and most things Nightwing. This is some of Winick’s early work with DC comics and it does come off a bit rough around the edges or dated at times. Enjoyed most of the bits with Nightwing and Arsenal. Their relationship is key to the series. Grace is a badass. And there is a twist involving Metamorpho towards the end of the book that was sorta cool. Not crazy about most of the remaining supporting cast though. Most of the villains are 2nd or 3rd stringers that I never heard of. The entire “cult” storyline was just weak.

The art in this volume is a collaboration of several different artists. Ivan Reis’s contribution appealed the most to my tastes out of the bunch. Unfortunately he only draws a small portion of the book. Tom Raney is just alright and I did not care for Chriscross (that is how he spells it) at all.

Overall, it had enough fun moments that I will return for the next volume in the hopes that Winick builds on that foundation and there will be some villains I give a shit about. I believe new artists start rotating in after the next collected edition, so hopefully the art improves as well.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good fist series to introduce the new characters and the new team. The kind of sad thing is that I read about the original Outsiders team and none of them are in this new team (so basically, did I waste my time reading about an old team that doesn't have any connection to the new one - maybe but I still liked the stories). I very much liked that they explained why they created the team and their intentions for the team. It was interesting to see how these characters interacted with each other and the building of trust between them. Overall, a good story line that really introduces each of the new members of the Outsiders.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was excited to go back to this era of DC Comics because I remember it fondly but unfortunately this book did not hold up. Some team books have a “quippy” problem. Everyone on the team is constantly making quips and they all start to have the same voice. Hoping they get a better handle on that in Vol. 2. The Metamorpho issue was the highlight of the book but was also the last issue. We’ll see how the next one goes. As for the art, starts out strong with Ivan Reis and never quite recovers when he leaves.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Outsiders are a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of superheroes that do not fit the norms of the "mainstream" superhero community or at times act as a Black Ops team. Outsiders: Looking for Trouble collects the first seven issues of the 2003 series with Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Origins 2003 and consists of five stories: "Roll Call", "Brothers in Blood", "Oedipus Rex", "A Day After", and "Who Was Donna Troy?".

"Roll Call" is a three-issue storyline (Outsiders #1–3) has Roy Harper as Arsenal recruiting Dick Grayson as Nightwing into a new team – the Outsiders, which consists of Metamorpho, Grace Choi, Anissa Pierce as Thunder, and most surprisingly, Indigo – the robot responsible for the deaths of Omen and Donna Troy, who has been reprogrammed and wishes to atone for her previous actions. While the Titans were more of a family, the Outsiders would be a group of professionals. Before Nightwing could give his answer, Gorilla Grodd attacks, which pitches the team together for the first time. Jennifer-Lynn Hayden as Jade would join the group after saving President Lex Luthor, but not getting in trouble with the Joker.

"Brothers in Blood" is a three-issue storyline (Outsiders #4–6) has the Outsiders beginning to operate as a team and have brought in a number of super-villains, yet feel that they are constantly pursuing 'small fry' in the evil world. After meeting with a shadowed contact, Roy Arsenal realizes that a number of the villains have been working for Brother Blood and his Brotherhood of Evil.

"Oedipus Rex" is a one-issue storyline (Outsiders #7) has the real Rex Mason as Metamorpho visiting the Outsiders, who explains that their Metamorpho is simply a part of him – not an individual being, and he has come to re-absorb this part of himself. However, the Outsiders will not allow this, as they have come to know this person. Eventually, Metamorpho comes to agree, and allows this offshoot to continue his own life, on the condition that he change his name – Rufus.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Origins 2003 is a collection of two vignettes. "A Day After" takes place shortly after the deaths of Omen and Donna Troy – the Titans and Young Justice has been disbanded and it tells the story of the beginnings of how the Outsiders and the Teen Titans began. "Who Was Donna Troy?" is the story of Donna Troy's funeral and the reception afterward at her apartment.

Judd Winick (Outsiders #1–7 and Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Origins 2003), Dan Curtis Johnson, Geoff Johns and Phil Jimenez (Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Origins 2003) penned the trade paperback. For the most part, it is written rather well. Winick has created an interesting team – particularly in the interactions as it business over personal, which is odd to see Dick Grayson as Nightwing being so cold and aloof, but considering the deaths of Donna Troy and Omen has happened recently it is somewhat understandable.

Tom Raney (Outsiders #1–3 and 7), ChrisCross (Outsiders #4–6), Ivan Reis, Carlo Barberi, and Phil Jimenez (Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files and Origins 2003) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part it is penciled rather well. Each penciler has their own style, which makes the artistic flow rather jarring, but it is rather mitigated that each penciler did a story, so there is a clear break where one story begins and ends.

All in all, Outsiders: Looking for Trouble is a good and promising beginning to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Lightwhisper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't really see it coming.. the titans and this book and it was good to read it. Very complete in many ways.

[Sha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where has Grace Choi been all my life?

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of trouble ;)

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the events of 'Graduation Day', the Titans disbanded as did Young Justice. Cyborg decided to take the heartbroken sidekicks of Young Justice to San Francisco in order to reform the Teen Titans. Starfire and Beast Boy joined as mentors. As for the remaining now adult Titans members, those remainders have gone their own ways.

If Nightwing has anything to say about it, they'll never reform. If Arsenal has anything to do about it, the team will live again. The former sidekick of Green Arrow has picked up corporate funding, secured a new secret NYC headquarters and added a number of cool vehicles and weapons to the coffers. He's even got a name: The Outsiders. The only thing Arsenal needs is a team. Hopefully, Nightwing, will step up to the role.

Traveling across the country, Arsenal recruits a number of superheroes for his new team. He's got a veteran in Metamorpho, strength in the form of Grace, a 7-foot tall former bouncer and Thunder, a second generation rookie hero. He's even recruited the aqua blue android whose malfunctions resulted in the death of two Titans. Now going by Indigo, her presence might be a deal breaker for Nightwing. Luckily for her, a major disaster is breaking out in New York City and the times calls for immediate action.

Gorillas have invaded the city! A suicide bomber destroyed Air Force One. An energy zapping force field has encapsulated the Big Apple and President Luthor's replacement helicopter is going down! It must be the doing of Gorilla Grodd! And that's just the first half of the book!

Judd Winick's Outsiders is a lot like Geoff Johns' simultaneous release of the Teen Titans. Only where Johns' series is a PG-13, Winick's Outsiders is rated R. Sure, this is a DC book from the mid-2000s, so it's tame compared to the stuff Vertigo was releasing at the time. But compared to most of what DC was churning out, the amount of sex, language and violence is on par with the Zalman King original series that would air on Showtime.

Part 2 offers a look at Brother Blood's return to power- before he gets whacked by his son who kidnaps Raven to become his teen bride. So if you're keeping tabs, you need to read Teen Titans Volume 1 then this book and then Teen Titans, Volume 2.

Plus one of the Outsiders is revealed to be an impostor... with a twist!

A good book for comic book readers of an older age because of content, not nostalgia.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this team. More than I thought I would. I really am here for Thunder and Grace. Let's be honest but I like seeing Nightwing and Arsenal coming back from tragedy and doing what they do best. They pull together a great team. one that is going to do the work I can't see other teams doing. They are the hunters. They are going to save everyone and might be hated by many along the way.

The dynamics are rough and I love that. These people don't work well together right away personality wise. That's okay. They still going to get things done.

THunder's powers are so cool. Really love seeing her grow on this team. This is my first time reading a comic with her but I love her character on the show Black Lightning. Excited to read more of her. Same for Grace. She's so badass. Ready for more.

Grodd's storyline was interesting. Great villain. Didn't expect Joker and Lex Luthor to be thrown in right off the back as well. Brother Blood or whatever was an ok villain. I think it was a lot out the gate honestly. A bit too much.

Very interested in seeing more from this team. Will be reading the next volumes soon. Also, the last panel of this volume had me shook to my core. I would read it tonight if I wasn't in the middle of some other reads right now.

[Matthieu Savignac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je n’étais pas très motivé à l’idée de me lancer dans cette nouvelle série, surtout après la débâcle du run de Johns sur les Teen Titans. Mais ma curiosité a été piquée par Graduation Day et le crossover The Insiders, et j’ai finalement franchi le pas.

Et j’en suis très heureux ! Tout s’enchaîne à vive allure, et comme le dit Judd Winick lui-même, on a affaire à une série d’action survitaminée. Pourtant, le dosage est parfaitement maîtrisé : les nouveaux personnages sont bien caractérisés, crédibles, et chacun bénéficie de petits éléments disséminés çà et là qui permettent de s’y attacher, ou du moins de donner envie d’en découvrir davantage.

Les événements et les antagonistes sont bien exploités, et on se retrouve happé par l’action. Les situations semblent ancrées dans le réel, loin de cette sensation de déconnexion que pouvaient avoir beaucoup de séries de l’époque (coucou les Teen Titans).

Dès le départ, quelques intrigues secondaires sont posées, et c’est là qu’on réalise que Winick sait parfaitement où il va. Comme il l’avait déjà montré chez Marvel avec Les Exilés, il prouve qu’il est particulièrement à l’aise pour gérer une équipe de personnages.

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly acceptable superhero punch up comic. I read the introduction from Judd Winick where he writes about wanting to produce something different. I would respectfully suggest that he hasn't quite succeeded here. It's very punch-y, more than a little shoot-y, it even tries to be a little sexy, although it's hard to imagine a less sexy character in the entire DC universe than Roy Harper... The Penguin, perhaps. There is also a superfluity of talking gorillas.

I picked up the first two volumes of this because I found them going cheap. That's probably the ONLY way anyone should read them. Inoffensive tripe.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad. I have a ton more single issues that I own, so I'll probably keep going. Angry!Dick was interesting yet understandable considering the circumstances surrounding the formation of the Outsiders. I really read this in case parts of this series will be used for Young Justice season 3. I wonder if the idea of a team (ie. that covert ops team they showed) that hunts down the criminals in a preventative measure will be used.

[Peter Van Der Raaij · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the disbandment of the Titans, Speedy puts together a new team. He recruits Nightwing as leader. Nightwing is unsertain but eventually is in. However he keeps himself at arms length from his team mates. This is not the Nightwing we know from the teen titans or even the bat familiy, but is more distant. I read this book for Nightwing but in the end it was the rest of the team that made it an engaging read.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what? That was a pretty good read. There was lull or two in a few of the issues, but I'm really digging some of the more out-there characters. The straight-forward or paint-by-numbers ones are fine, but Indigo and a couple of others get me thinking a bit.

I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[LBK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this.

[Guido · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer tomo de la formación 2003 de los Outsiders, conformada por
Arsenal (Roy Harper), Thunder, Metamorpho, Grace, Indigo, Jade, y Nightwing.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of two series to spin out of the death of Donna Troy, the Outsiders is everything i want superhero comics to be; well fleshed out characters (old and new), compelling storylines, and a relatively unique premise. The Outsiders attempt to be a more proactive superhero team, stopping threats before they start, usually to charmingly disastrous effect. In this volume we see the Joker fight Lex Luthor, giant gorillas attack a major city, and more. It’s just a damn good time all around, and the start of one of my new favorite runs from its era.

[Nicholas Palmieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judd Winick created a great cast and concept here. The team is composed of Thunder and Grace Choi, who he created for the series, Indigo, who he created for "Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day" but repurposes here, and a version of Metamorpho that for all intents and purposes is an original creation, as you see by the end of this volume, plus Jade, who he was essentially the sole writer of for the years leading up to this and for the few years after, Arsenal, who was at the time only appearing in this series and occasionally Green Arrow (also written by Winick), and Nightwing, an iconic character to ground the team. That's four characters who Winick created, two with whom he had free creative rein, and one iconic character. As such, the book comes off as Winick doing whatever he wants, and it's a major improvement over anything else he'd written for DC up to this point. The stories are plot-centric, but there's no lack of fun character moments, and the art is a nice mix of realistic and stylized that works well for the title.

If you're looking for something deep and insightful, this isn't the place. But if you want some covert-ops, action-heavy, "edgy" superheroics, it's all right here. Looking forward to volume 2!

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Date read is pretty much a guess. Winick takes the other half of the Titans mess and turns it into something really strong--Nightwing and Speedy try to make a team of mercenaries that will work "outside" the system, whether it's going after Gorilla Grodd or Brother Blood. This is a team designed to only function as a work group--so why are so many family members already getting hurt?

Join Winick as he proves he's a really good writer as he puts Nightwing, Arsenel, Jade, Metamorpho, and some others through their paces in this start to a great series that apparently got whacked by Crisis recently and is now in the hands of the Bat. Definitely recommended.

[Joe Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced and delightfully fun, The Outsiders are a great duo with Judd Winick. While a strange assemble the group members all have their own charm my personal favorite being Metamorpho and Grace Choi. Each issue has just the right amount of dialogue and action to keep it well paced, and makes you want to not put it down. Some of the major villains like Joker and Brother Blood felt a little out of character it terms of dialogue but other then that small bit I highly recommend The Outsiders. Hopefully we see them soon in the new 52!

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea--hunters instead of firefighters--and the characters, especially Nightwing and Roy "Arsenal" nee "Speedy" Harper. I love that Arsenal put together the team and does the leg work to find targets, but Dick is still the leader. I even love that the Outsiders is very specifically a job and not a family like the Titans were. All that said, Roy really needs to get rid of the soul patch.

[Koen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky at times, but fun and action packed!
It's nice to see some other superheroes instead of the "regular" ones ;)
Good thing that Nightwing is leading the team though.. Don't think that anybody else could be the TL at this point..
Hope that on the DC road that I'm walking on (following a specific timeline that i've found), I will come in touch with more from The Outsiders

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun and interesting, imparting information to those who might not be familiar with some characters without making it an entire exposition scene. Despite an interesting premise, I don’t know whether it is enough for me to seek out the other stories, but it was a good story well told.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The backgrounds of the characters are still pretty murky for a first-timer to this group of heroes, but it's a good introduction to a new series. Lots of fighting, and explosions, and spandex costumes!

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not bad. I borrowed this from a friend who said it's one of his favorites. The dialogue was witty, and I love the range of characters and fast paced action. Might read the second volume because why not? Opinion: not amazing, but not bad for a new series.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better than average DC super team book with plenty of humor and good dialog between the action. The first arc with Grodd & the Joker was much better than the second, which just devolved into nonsense & boredom.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a crush on Nightwing. Yes, Robin himself. He grew up nice, man.