Outsiders, Vol. 6: Pay as You Go

Outsiders (2003)

by Judd Winick, Carlos Barberi, Ron Randall

The Outsiders are a unique team of superheroes that handles threats before they become a global problem. They don't wait for trouble to find them, they go looking for it. Members of the team include team leader Nightwing, Batman's former sidekick, Grace, a super-strong bouncer; Thunder, the mass-changing daughter of Black Lightning and the shape-shifting being called Metamorpho. This volume features the return of the team after they spend a year off the grid pretending to be dead in order to strike at evil clandestinely. Now they're back on the trail of mad scientist Dr. Sivana in order to stop his worldwide high-tech assault on science. Plus, the events that led to the "death" of the Outsiders are finally revealed.

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

150 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2007

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

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is near the end of Winick's run on Outsiders (The next one is a crossover with checkmate) So how does it wrap up? By going back and telling us what happened within that year 1 timeskip.

We go back to why the old gang decided to split. We had little nips of information and call backs to what happened but this time we get the whole picture. Want to know what happened to Shift? Read here. Wanna know how Gracie and Thunder fell inlove? Read here! Wanna know why Roy is gone and Nightwing returned as leader? Guess what folks? You'll find out here!

Good: To have the old gang back, even in a flashback, was really nice. I love almost all the characters so that was enjoyable. I also thought the reasoning of why members left, why some stayed, all worked well and true to the character. The art was solid here and no complaints there.

Bad: It felt odd this was near the end of their run as it leaves the new team kind of pointless in a way. I also didn't like the whole "he didn't do it storyline" felt a bit cop-out.

Overall, really interesting flashback and chemistry was great, even if the storyline itself was a little weak. I'd still go a 3.5 out of 5.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'm so sad to see this come to an end. This series was such a blast!

While there were two volumes that didn't do much for me, this volume was pretty damn swell. I got everything that drew me to the series in the first place: Dick's complex morality, the team's unorthodox methods, Grace and Anissa's chemistry, and Roy's soft love for his family (both blood and chosen). I am so sad to see this series go and I'll definitely be rereading soon. I have such a love for everything I got out of this series.

The reveal of Sivana's plan was interesting. I'm semi wondering how that ended ultimately but this was definitely the weaker aspect of this volume.

In an odd way, Winick takes us back to the time lost between Crisis on Infinite Earths and volume 5. We get the lost year which explains why everyone thought the Outsiders were dead, when and how Anissa and Grace got together, what happened to Shift and Roy's official departure. Honestly, if someone were to ask me the reading order, I would just tell them to read this volume before volume 5 because I saw no real reason for Winick to give us the "suspense" of making us wait for this explanation.

I'm pleasantly surprised by how well done Grace/Anissa was. I loved that Anissa had to keep working her way up to making her move. I adore the height difference between them. Grace is a total babe and I would climb her like a tree. I liked the after sex conversation that basically explained that Grace is a homoromantic bisexual (from what I've seen, that's the correct terminology). It's a surprisingly progressive conversation and the fact that I'm reading this in a team series was even more impressive. Kudos, Winick. I love seeing them together and I wish I could've gotten more of them. They're super supportive of each other and the surprising shyness between them (and Grace admitting to pigtail pulling) was just fantastic. I would look for them on the tv show but it's my understanding that CW's Black Lightning's Grace isn't quite as large there?

Anyway, the bit with Roy going to his brownstone/safe house after work and seeing Lian made me tear up. Not only was it hard to see him with her knowing what's to come, but Roy is so soft with her. The cover of him holding here was so wonderful and heartfelt. And the conversation they had when he put her to bed really got me.

Lian: No, when I go to sleep, you get sad
Roy: I don't get... sad.
Lian: You get sad. I see you. I see you at night. You sit in the den, and you get sad.
Roy: I'm not sad... I'm just thinking.
Lian: No, you're lying. You get sad.

The arc with Black Lightning was really interesting! I actually loved how they portrayed his staunch morality and I liked that Captain Boomerang Jr.'s role in this.

Of course, the Jason Todd issue was wonderful. I always love seeing Jason with DIck. Their relationship is so complex and layered.

So, I honestly don't have any staunch complaints about this.

[Lono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judd Winick’s run on Outsiders ends pretty much the same way it started. Just ok. There were moments when I felt like Judd was onto something cool. Unfortunately, he never seemed to take full advantage of the foundations he took the time to build. That said, I still thought Pay As You Go was a bit of an improvement over the last collection overall. Winick filled in the blanks left by the 1 year jump ahead that was a side-effect of Infinite Crisis. It was interesting to see how the team ended up where they were at in the beginning of Outsiders, Vol. 5: The Good Fight. But, like the preceding volumes, Pay As You Go felt choppy and seemed to lack focus. Judd never found his rhythm and all of the collections just didn’t seem to flow well with one another. Some highlights I did like included the much anticipated conclusion to the Dr.Sivana storyline that started way back at the beginning of Judd’s run, Black Lighting’s trip up-state, and a toe to toe with Nightwing and Winick’s own, Red Hood.




The art also continued to be inconsistent. This problem has plagued this title since Winick took over and did nothing to help him find a consistent tempo for the book. None was out right horrible in my opinion, but there were certainly stand outs in this volume as well as all the others. Carlo Barberi and Scott McDaniel both contributed some cool stuff in this one.

While I wouldn’t recommend this or the other previous collections be read as stand-alone books, I think there is some fun to be had in reading them in order from the beginning. If you’re a fan the characters, Winick, or some of the artists, this trade (along with the previous collections) is probably a good one to check out at the library. Just don’t go in with ridiculously high expectations. Judd’s writing has improved since his work on Outsiders, but it was interesting to see where he started from.

[Liz.Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This comic tells us the story of what happened one year prior to the Outsiders faking their deaths and going rogue.

This was a very good comic focused on the team members's feelings, specifically on Anissa's struggles after her dad, Jefferson Pierce aka Black Lightning, is put in prison for murder. I particularly liked how well written she was, how she fought so hard to prove her father's innocence. Also loved the development of Anissa and Grace's relationship, beautifully written. Anissa was looking for comfort and someone who would listen, and Grace was there for her (in her own brash way).

Also enjoyed the parts about Roy questioning his role as leader, after some very bad stuff happened he felt so guilty. When his little daughter, Lian, told him that she didn't want to go to sleep because he gets sad when he thinks she's not looking it actually made me tear up!

Loved how Jason and Dick's brotherly relationship is written here. Jason calls Dick to Gotham to help him out and, despite Dick being distrustful, he still goes to meet him. They might fight but at the end of the day, Dick knows Jason is trying to do the right thing (even tho he doesn't agree with his methods). Their fights and their banters is all very in-character for them. I love when writers actually understand their nuances instead of writing them as villain VS hero (Jason is not even a villain!).

In conclusion, this was my fav comic of this entire run.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some aftermath of the Infinite Crisis/52 storyline. Ehhh.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outsiders: Pay as You Go continues where the previous trade paperback left off collecting the next five issues (Outsiders #42–46) of the 2003 on-going series with the Outsiders Annual #1 and covers two storylines: "Mad Scientist" and "Pay as You Go".

"Mad Scientist" is a two-issue storyline (Outsiders #42–43) concludes the storyline that was chronicled in the previous trade paperback and has the Outsiders battling Doctor Sivana, who has been controlling the Outsiders behind their backs – since the beginning.

"Pay as You Go" is a four-issue storyline (Outsiders #44–46 and Annual #1) is a flashback story. The tenet of the One Year Later event is that all the DC Comics stories jumped one year ahead with the details to be filled in later. However, readers more or less already know the status of the majority of these characters, making any concern for their lives and limbs non-existent.

Judd Winick penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written moderately well. Winick completely reconfigures the Outsiders and their objective parameters and ultimately finished the storyline that was chronicled in the previous trade paperback and is a decent farewell to the overreaching storyline. The second half of the trade paperback features a flashback story, which doesn't hold much suspense, but it was nice to see a cameo of Jason Todd as Red Hood.

Carlo Barberi (Outsiders #44–46), Ron Randall (Outsiders #42–43), Pop Mhan (Outsiders #42–43), Freddie E. Williams II (Outsiders #45–46), and Scott McDaniel (Outsiders Annual #1) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part the pencilers have distinct penciling styles, which made the artistic flow somewhat rough. It doesn’t help that there are multiple pencilers for each storyline.

All in all, Outsiders: Pay as You Go is a mediocre continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of how the Outsiders learned to stop worrying and break Black Lightning out of prison. I really loved Grace's speech about how Jefferson Peirce was awesome in numerous, under-appreciated ways, because that's entirely true. I was mostly bored by the appearance of Jason Todd, which I suppose is an improvement over the usual annoyance that comes when he isn't directly playing bad guy.

Oh, and the whole Luddite thing is a really stupid culmination of Sivana's overarching plot for world domination. I was really hoping for a better payoff there.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is an odd duck. It starts out with an interesting clash with Dr. Sivana, with the whole city of Sydney losing their memory. Then, out of nowhere, it turns into a flashback where the team breaks Black Lightning out of jail. The flashback wraps up what the team was doing during the "One Year Later" gap, but leaves the entire city of Sydney wandering around aimlessly.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judd Winick does a good job here but DC editorial doesn't do him any favors as this book collects the back half of one storyline and then the "Pay As You Go" storyline. Very odd choice. Readers get to see how the team "died" during One Year Later and how this current iteration formed. I like the new team and enjoyed the jailbreak sequence. I do have a small quibble as to how Iron Heights was changed. The art was decent but Carlo Barberi's art is too cartoony at times. Overall, a good team book that leads into an interesting crossover.

[READERS RETREAT · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read I prefer the original OutSiders

[machado · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[cc · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume serves as a flashback to what happened before the events of One Year Later, and is probably roughly what Winick was planning for the team before 52 dispirited everyone’s plans. It would have been better if he could have told the story in order, but I do like the story told in this volume a lot. It fills in all the weird gaps of OYL and tells the kind of story Winick enjoys writing: action, melodrama, and humor all swirled together in a dysfunctional team that always makes a bigger mess trying to clean up messes.

[J.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story, but i can't stand all the stupid sexual storylines thrown in. Is it too much to ask to keep tje focus on fighting crime?

[Warren]

Events of the Missing Year