Batman and the Outsiders #6: Pages 5-7

Meanwhile... at another enormous building where each story seems to be three people high...Dr. Jace is resting from injuries sustained during the Outsiders-Titans crossover from Dr. Light.
I'm kinda surprised she would refer to the prissy Dr. Light as a "barbarian", but she also says she got manhandled. With hindsight, this conjures some pretty ghastly images. Maybe she blocked it from her mind. Without Zatana's help, no less. Her visitors are Geo-Force and Metamorpho in disguise.
Poor Rex. I mean, he doesn't have much of a secret identity to protect, but he's surrounded by rookies who openly talk about his secrets. So he wants his humanity back, what's so crazy about that, Mr. Handsome Silver Spoon Royal Prince Geo-Force? It's called Ben Grimm Syndrome, and lots of inhuman heroes have it. Before he can indulge in some angst, however, their conversation is cut short by the arrival of a young patient called Anna.
Seems like Jace has been telling tales! The humble GF confirms that he is serving Markovia. Yeah, by staying abroad and letting his brother do all the governing. The country's probably better for it. Anna is in the hospital because her doctor thinks she needs a new kidney.
I'm sure she does, she just doesn't seem sure herself. It's sweet. Oh and the kidney is arriving on the roof RIGHT NOW. I sense an action scene coming.

If they're gonna operate on Anna as soon as the kidney gets there, and it's arriving now, why isn't she already being prepped for surgery? Why return her to her room? I mean, aside from getting to meet a real prince. Girl should be under anesthesia already.
Well, well, speaking of Ben Grimm. No, wait, that's not the Thing...
Who IS that mysterious hunchback? Let me present the newest freezing-themed supervillain on the ice block - The Cryonic Man!
And right away, he's off-theme. His Gas Leak Hand has nothing to do with freezing, nor does giving a guy hallucinations (I assume he doesn't actually have superspeed). All we really know is that he wants the kidney tube! The gunshots alert our heroes:
I wonder what Geo-Force's second guess would have been. Of course, he makes a mistake here.
I wonder how air-tight GF's cover is, anyway. The prince of Markovia is in town, he's got that red hair and Eastern European accent. Guess which new arrival also has those two things? And since Rex doesn't really have a secret identity, maybe he should just let the kid out himself. But not this minute. They're going on down-low.
Geo-Force does what he does best: Strip down in a broom closet with another man.

Next: A fight! Honest!

Comments

smacky said…
I too cringed at "manhandled." All the time he was attacking the Teen Titans and other random kiddie teams he was a mind-wiped rapist. Ick.

Thanks for adding a sick undertone to so many old comics, 21st-century DC Comics!
Siskoid said…
I agree. They turned a lame villain I didn't want to read about into a creepy villain I cringe to read about.

And they did so retroactively.
Lazarus Lupin said…
Your last comment made milk come out my nose.

And I wasn't drinking milk.

Lazarus Lupin
http://strangespanner.blogspot.com/
Art and Review
LiamKav said…
I remember the good old days, when all you had to put up with in the Marvel or DC universes was a 90% chance that your parents were dead. Then someone decided that some parental abuse would make things more fun (although to be fair, it did work for Bruce Banner).

THEN someone decided that dead and/or abuse parents wasn't enough and that what we needed was rape, rape, and more rape. I can't recall if Identity Crisis was the first instance of "OMG RAPE ADULT SERIOUS", but it certainly started the trend.