“Nothing ever ends.”
Those were Dr. Manhattan’s final words in Watchmen. Reading the comic as a teenager, it lingered with me – and recently came to the forefront with Outsiders #11, which serves as the conclusion of the series. It’s become the norm in mainstream comics, particularly when it comes to the narratives in DC and Marvel; somehow, someway, a writer will find a way to continue a character’s story.
In true Outsiders fashion, this takes a turn for the metafictional as the last issue saw Jakita Wagner firing a “bullet” into the heart of creation…shattering it and killing everything there ever was. But the Carrier, the sentient ship from The Authority, reaches across time and space itself to find the Outsiders and bring them together for one last mission, with creation itself at stake.
One of the best things about this series has been how Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly approach the very act of storytelling. They tackle concepts we, as comic readers, have come to take for granted including the nature of canon, “crisis events”, and the history of characters and wove a brilliant tapestry that comes together at the very end. Almost every element from previous issues, whether it’s the darker take on the Challengers of the Unknown or the menace of the Final Knight, comes into play; there’s even a nod to another series Lanzing and Kelly wrote that I loved.
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The other half of what made this series sing is Robert Carey’s artwork, and he goes all out for the finale. There’s a big superhero fight, as Luke Fox and Batwoman take on Jakita. There’s a massive future version of Gotham City, all towering skyscrapers and blood-red neon light. But the best pages come when Jakita and the Carrier are face to face, as Carey depicts the Carrier in a silvery female form that feels, for a lack of a better term, godlike. Valentina Taddeo uses a soft white to color in the background, which not only draws the focus to the conversation between Jakita and the Carrier but also sells the whole idea of creation.
The only complaint about Outsiders #11 is that it feels a bit packed. I’m going to chalk that up to the fact that this was meant to be 12 issues but got shortened. But for what it’s worth, Outsiders #11 is both an ending to a great series and a story about the promise of…well, stories. And who knows: maybe one day someone will revisit this story in the future. Nothing ever ends.
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