Batman and The Outsiders question.

[Sn4tcH]

I was reading a wiki article about a DC Timeline. Anyway, one of the bullet points was:

Batman quits the JLA to form his own team, the Outsiders.

The way it's stated it makes it sound like there's a story where Batman literally quits the JLA to start the Outsiders. Are there any issues about this?

(This same timeline says the Death of Superman, Paralax, Knightfall, No Mans Land and Hush all happen in the same year... huh)

[Lorendiac]

Originally Posted by Sn4tcH

I was reading a wiki article about a DC Timeline. Anyway, one of the bullet points was:

Batman quits the JLA to form his own team, the Outsiders.

The way it's stated it makes it sound like there's a story where Batman literally quits the JLA to start the Outsiders. Are there any issues about this?

(This same timeline says the Death of Superman, Paralax, Knightfall, No Mans Land and Hush all happen in the same year... huh)

I believe Batman had an argument with Superman and some of the other old-timers of the JLA in "Batman and the Outsiders #1," which would have been published around 1983. I was thinking the other day that it's been a heck of a long time since I read the original series (sometimes called BATO for short).

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Lorendiac

I believe Batman had an argument with Superman and some of the other old-timers of the JLA in "Batman and the Outsiders #1," which would have been published around 1983. I was thinking the other day that it's been a heck of a long time since I read the original series (sometimes called BATO for short).

This is it. Lucius Fox had been kidnapped and taken to the country of Markovia. Batman calls an emergency JLA meeting where he tells everyone to get ready to free his friend at which point Superman speaks up and tells him that they're already aware of the situation. However, Superman has given his word that no member of the JLA will get involved in what could turn into an international incident and therefore tells Batman that they'll have to sit this one out. Batman therefore quits the JLA and heads out alone.

Interestingly, Batman's personality here was heavily influenced by Frank Miller who at the time had yet to write the character. In that issue's letter's page, Mike Barr admits that conversations he shared with Miller led to Batman's (and sadly, Superman's) uncharacteristic portrayal in this story. Despite being released a few years prior to Dark Knight, we have a Batman who is more obsessed rather than determined about what he does, one who is contemptuous of those around him, and one who tells a member of the Outsiders "I like how you think" after he turns a Dictator over to an angry mob to be torn to bits.

[Captain Jim]

And you can read it in "Showcase presents BATO vol. 1"