Review: Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 3- The Demon’s Fire

Quick Summary

Pros: The rising action is well written and contains many of the same positives seen in previous volumes. The conclusion delivers in many ways, particularly when it comes to wrapping up most character arcs. The artwork looks beautiful throughout the book.

Cons: Some aspects of the conclusion are slightly disappointing.

Overall: This is a fitting end to an impressive series. The volume has all the action, well-written character development, and gorgeous visuals that made previous volumes successful. It also is mostly successful when it comes to giving the entire series a worthwhile conclusion. In the end, this collection is for anyone who has been enjoying the series thus far and wants to see its epic finale.

Story

Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 3: The Demon’s Fire, by Bryan Hill, is a worthwhile conclusion to what has been a seriously enjoyable series. The volume has all of the same positives as the two that came before it. This means fun action, great characters, and an exciting overarching narrative. Then it brings things to a close in epic fashion, with a conclusion that specifically excels in bringing most character arcs to a satisfying conclusion. Unfortunately, not everything about the conclusion works out perfectly, as the final battle feels a bit rushed and it feels like Duke Thomas gets somewhat shortchanged when it comes to character development. However, the volume still works overall and does a solid job in bringing this series to a close.

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The majority of The Demon’s Fire continues the work that was started by the previous two collections. The characters continue to grow, there are dramatic bursts of action, and, above all, the ongoing battle between Ra’s Al Ghul and the Outsiders evolves. This is all very fun and exciting to see and is something that every fan of the previous collections will likely enjoy.

Where the collection gets a bit more mixed is in the conclusion. As a whole, the conclusion to this volume works. It gives a satisfying end to the Outsider’s ongoing conflict and delivers on an epic finale. I also really appreciated the way most of the characters were each given an individualized ending: Cassandra got Batman’s blessing, Black Lightning learned more about his potential, Sophia took her own path in life, and even Shiva got a bit of an antiheroic redemption arc. The characters have been written well throughout this series so seeing them written well in the finale is wonderful.

However, not everything about the conclusion works. I was pretty disappointed to see the final battle boil down to Black Lightning beating Ra’s Al Ghul with a couple of powerful blasts while Orphan took down his henchmen with ease. After a whole series of well-executed action scenes, the scenes at the volume’s conclusion felt underwhelming. In addition, I felt like Duke generally didn’t get as great of a character arc across this book as the rest of the characters. Overall, the conclusion still works but it feels like it could have been just a bit better.

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Art

The artwork in The Demon’s Fire maintains the high degree of quality that was present throughout the series. Once again, Dexter Soy’s visuals and Veronica Gandini’s colors turn out to be a force to be reckoned with. The characters, locations, and action all look great throughout the book. This volume, in particular, also contains several awesome splash pages that really succeed in capturing a specific moment in this adventure.

On top of all of this, the guest artist chapters look nice as well. Gleb Melnikov’s stylized visuals are crisp, clean, and make the Outsiders look good. However, I did find some of the facial expressions to be a bit off. Meanwhile, Marcio Takara’s chapter brings out the same positives while handling expressions better. Altogether, this impressive group of artists create a collection that is almost always a joy to look at.

Continuity

Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 3: The Demon’s Fire continues the story from Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 2: A League of Their Own (Review).

The Batman and the Outsiders series concludes with this volume.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The mention of Luthor’s current plan is a reference to the drama taking place across Scott Snyder’s run on the Justice League (Reading Order). This starts with Justice League Vol. 1: The Totality (Review).