The Outlaws
9 years ago - Roy Harper creates his own street-level team in Star City, the Outlaws. In an attempt to stop the growing drug trade in the city in 33-year-old Oliver Queen's absense they attempt to stop 40-year-old William Tockman, but are systematically picked apart. Cisco Ramon & Cindy Reynolds are killed, and in the aftermath Artemis Crock & Grace Choi are both disillusioned with heroics. Roy's self loathing worsens, and his drug habbit becomes more severe. Membership: 16-year-old Roy Harper, 17-year-old Grace Choi, 16-year-old Cisco Ramon, 15-year-old Cindy Reynolds & 22-year-old Artemis Crock
Noteworthy Teams
Complete Membership
While doing Grace Choi's timeline, we found that there was a bit of history missing. She's introduced as a veteran of the 'hero' game, but we don't know when she was active before this. Also, she's developed some healthy cynicism about the whole idea of being a superhero; she doesn't adopt a superhero identity, or wear a costume. What has been her experience that has led to her developing this jaded perspective? We know she has some history with Roy, and we know that Roy has a few years there where he essentially slipped into heavier and heavier drug use. What happened to him during those years when Oliver left Star City?
Pulling the thread of these questions led to the creation of a whole team that never actually appeared in comics but that immediately made so much sense that it felt like it should have been there the whole time. Even the name we chose, from another team in DC's modern history, just immedately fit this idea perfectly. Let us know what you think!
Pulling the thread of these questions led to the creation of a whole team that never actually appeared in comics but that immediately made so much sense that it felt like it should have been there the whole time. Even the name we chose, from another team in DC's modern history, just immedately fit this idea perfectly. Let us know what you think!
The Outlaw's Comic HistoryWe are not adapting the actual Outlaws. This team, as depicted in the New 52 launch title Red Hood & the Outlaws from 2011, has some of the most egregious character assassination across the entire reboot. Starfire got the worst of it, but Roy also had a ton of relevant history wiped away.
It is, at least, worth pointing out that the modern interpretation of Jason Todd's Red Hood was basically concieved here; he'd appeared Pre-New 52 as a less relateable and sometimes outright villanous character, but this is where the modern anti-hero version of Jason came together. While Starfire & Roy would leave the series so other books could attempt to rebuild them, Jason would go on to star in another Red Hood & the Outlaws series with new teammates, and even once that series completed, the name the Outlaws would continue to be associated with Jason Todd. For our purposes, the name the Outlaws just happens to work incredibly well for the team we're constructing here. |
Our Outlaw StoryWe know Roy was feeling abandoned when Oliver left Star City. We've also established that during this time William Tockman started amping up his criminal organization, in particular the drug trade. We know Roy already has established friendships with Grace Choi and Artemis Crock, both of whom would develop deep cynicism about superheroics, the latter turning her back on it completely. The path here seems incredibly obvious; clearly, Roy built a small street-level superhero team that tried to stop Tockman and failed horribly, leading to Roy falling heavier into his drug habit and to Grace & Artemis walking away. It works... we just need a few more characters to make that team feel more substantial.
Just like everything else about this team, the answer was pretty much immediately obvious. If we need some teenage street-level heroes to have good intentions and who meet a tragic end, we couldn't possibly find better candidates than Cindy Reynolds & Cisco Ramon. This gives us a perfect chance to adapt these characters that we simply never had a role for before. This whole team fell together so organically, filled a gap in the history of these characters, and gave our DC tapestry just that much more color. This was a really fun one. Also.. Roy would still be Speedy at this point, but if you REALLY want him to be wearing a baseball cap... I guess this is where that can happen. |