Batman and the Outsiders #12 Review

Cuts like a Knife...or Sword
Writer: Bryan HillArtist: Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, and Clayton CowlesCover Price: $3.99Release Date: May 6, 2020
It's been a while, but DC Comics are slowing coming back, and hopefully, a book like Batman and the Outsiders will benefit from the sparse release schedule that we are starting with here.  It felt like Bryan Hill was finally able to get to his own story after finishing up the Year of the Villain stuff and then... Shutdown!  Well, we are back and maybe the time off has given people time to catch up on the series and we can all hit the ground running.  So, does Bryan Hill, Dexter Soy, and the Outsiders team fly out of the gates with issue #12?  Let's find out...
We open with the Team back in the Batcave, and while I think that Batman accepted Shiva in a bit too quickly, desperate times...  We already knew from the last issue's cliffhanger that Ra's was upping his game, and after filling in the Outsiders on just that, we see that Sofia is in the house and looking for a new name.  
What Bryan Hill has done best in this series is giving readers good character moments, and he continues that with Bruce and Black Lightning. Hill writes a great Batman, and the talk he has with Jefferson here is fantastic.  Dexter Soy may have made Bruce look a bit like Tom Cruise in the scene, but maybe it fits since they are about to undertake an impossible mission and it feels like Batman isn't sure he will survive it.

While this is going on, Shiva and Cassandra have mother/daughter time, which means punching, kicking, and a whole lot of shit talk!  There is a cool Batgirl reference (please give Cass a Batgirl book!), but if you've been reading this series, you know what this is all about... Batman is no good!  You are better than him! Why don't you bring the kids to see me?  Wait, that last one was MY mother who doesn't quite understand what "quarantine" means!
The character moments continue as Katana and Jefferson discuss what a billion dollars lets you get away with (spoiler - a whole damn lot!), but then get personal...very personal about their feelings for each other.  Nothing comes from it, and I can only imagine poor Maseo breathing a sigh of relief, having just escaped an odd cuckold situation.  As an aside, what the hell happened to Katana's elemental powers she gained and then never used again?
The Team finally goes off to face Ra's, and we get a quick moment between Cass and Duke that was very odd and might establish Shiva's spirit animal as the cougar before they all enter the big, turtle-looking spaceship that Ra's found the last issue. 

After seeing that Ra's doesn't like loose ends when he's planning on world domination, we end the issue with him giving Batman an ultimatum that we know Batman is not going with, but at this point, Batman doesn't have a lot of other options.
This issue is the finale of the "A League of their Own" story arc, but it feels like a beginning.  A beginning of an end.  There is talk throughout that this is the last hurrah, but if that's the case, it feels like a big hurrah.  Other than that, there is a lot of standing around and talking.  I did like the character moments, but Hill has struggled to find the right mix of talking and fighting, and that pops up again this issue.  I wish the book came out swinging to get people pumped up more, but sadly that wasn't the case.  I did like Dexter Soy's art, but it felt a little rushed by the end.  His art will never be  "bad" in my book, but he has set the bar high by being so awesome.
Bits and Pieces:
I love having the books back and am glad that the limited release schedule is giving Batman and the Outsiders a little more attention than usual.  I wish, though, that this issue had a little more action to go along with the (mostly) good character moments.  Still, this issue sets up Ra's as a huge threat, and I am looking forward to seeing how Batman and the Outsiders can save the world from his clutches.
7.0/10