As the Outsiders reel from Katana’s origin they are faced with attempting to save Batman’s life from the blowdart poison he took at the end of their last case.  This forces Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s long time butler and confidante to reveal Batman’s secret Identity as Bruce Wayne to the rest of the Outsiders and to suggest that for Batman’s sake they try to keep his body functioning as a way to burn out the toxin.

Of course the Outsiders manage the task with a little interference from a street gang and Batman himself reveals his identity afterwards to them as a sign of his trust.

And speaking of trust, in 1984, one could hardly go anywhere without a George Orwell reference.  You know, “Big Brother” (not the tv show)… well The Outsiders would meet another group of super-villains, this time a group of patriots that had been conned into believing The Outsiders were simply Unamerican!

Look at them after all….

“…From his accent, this man, Geo-Force, is NOT an American…  This Girl, Halo, is probably an American, and quite possibly the unwitting pawn of these ‘Outsiders’.   These two, Black Lightning and Katana, definitely have some foreign blood in them…. Metamorpho… who knows what he is.. This man (Batman) is definitely considered to be hostile, as he assembled these ‘Outsiders’ after quitting the Justice League of America!”  — B. Eric Blairman

 

Enter the Force of July.

Major Victory – their leader, strong man and can fly.

Lady Liberty – wears a costume similar to the statue in the harbor, her torch can create different visual effects.

Mayflower – a young woman who has control over plants.

Sparkler – a young man who can fly and shoot off fireworks.

Silent Majority – a taciturn man who can duplicate himself many times over.

 

The Outsiders fight and are defeated by the Force of July and we discover Blairman’s plans is to put all Americans under surveillance.  we see him noticing a man reading “The Life and Works of Karl Marx” and he is put under surveillance.   At the same time, he is forging a tape to show how the Outsiders tried to storm the White House but were stopped by the Force of July, with their future in jeopardy, the Outsiders make a grab at freedom and take down the Force of July and stop the plans of Mr. Blairman, keeping America free, until the Patriot Act (/sarcasm).

Also in 1984, in LA, the US was hosting the Olympics, so this makes a great backdrop for a super-hero, super-villain throw down and here we get one of Batman’s lesser rogues, Maxie Zeus.  Maxie thinks he is the real God of Olympus, and his delusions are insane, he views Batman as Hades and their animosity has been set as Hades tries to unseat Zeus.

Maxie manages to get out of Arkham Asylum and goes to kidnap a Greek athlete as his new Hera, along with a group of villains amazingly modeled off of Greek myth.  Diana, Nox, Anteaus, Argus, Volcanus, and Proteus.  Of course as Maxie is bat sh!t crazy (pun intended) a game is set where the Outsiders must fight the New Olympians to free Maxie’s new “wife”.

The reason Maxie needed his new wife was to take care of his daughter Medea, once this was discovered, Batman began the plan to rescue Maxie’s child and return him to Arkham.  All is well that ends well.

In the interim of all the Outsiders cases Batman has yet to discover anything about Halo, or so Katana thinks.  After Halo has a nightmare of hands pointing at her demanding to know who she is and have her face taken off like a cheap Halloween mask, Gabrielle wakes up screaming.  Katana has had enough and goes to confront Batman.

Batman reveals that he knows a lot more about Halo than she thinks.  She is midwestern, probably a runaway, and most likely her real name is Violet.  Batman has placed Jason Bard on the case and Mr. Bard is one of the best detectives around.

Jason discovers Gaby’s home town and her name is Violet, Violet Harper.  He contacts her parents and before you know it Halo is reunited with her family.  However, Mr. Harper seems worried about the sudden reappearance of his daughter.

Katana too is restless and takes to the night for a patrol.  She comes upon a doctor being robbed and punctures the man’s lung.  This act gave Katana fans the idea to start a “Bucket Lung Brigade.”

 

Doctor:  You punctured this man’s lung!

Katana:  That’s what I was aiming for.

Do not mess with an angry samurai, it just is not a good idea.

Metamorpho is finally reunited with Sapphire Stagg however briefly before the possessive Simon Stagg interrupts and kills Metamorpho with an army of men armed with “Orbs of Ra”.   Sapphire is grabbed by Dr. Helga Jace who shows up out of nowhere.  Dr. Jace paralyzes the men and the two women grab Metamorpho’s body and leave immediately.  Dr. Jace is somewhat confident that Metamorpho can be saved, if there is still time.

The rest of the team arrives in Halo’s home town wearing civilian clothes and Batman begins to investigate Halo’s past to determine if there are any issues, sure enough, he comes across a file mentioning a boyfriend who died of a drug overdose.  However, the Outsiders must leave Halo in her hometown to bond with her family.

Next Up:  The Outsiders travel to Egypt, Gabrielle wishes she had never found her parents, and a Christmas surprise brings Superman to town.