WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman & the Outsiders #11, by Bryan Hill, Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini and Clayton Cowles, on sale now
With Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning going off the rails, the revamped Batman and The Outsiders has quickly become a project Bruce Wayne has lost control of. He lost a colleague to Ra's al Ghul, who's trying to break the team leader the same way he unsuccessfully attempted to break Bruce Wayne. However, seeing as both heroes have such different backgrounds and degrees of resolve, Ra's is actually pushing Jeff to the limit in a way he couldn't do with Batman.
As the tyrant begins to make his next move using Markovia as a weapon, Issue #11 now offers the Bat and Jeff a glimmer of hope by bringing two new additions to the roster. However, seeing as they're villains who fought against Bruce's army in the past, there is the possibility that this leap of faith could backfire terribly.
This issue focuses on Katana, Jeff, Cassandra Cain and Duke Thomas/Signal going after Ra's' forces in Cambodia. They include Karma, Ishmael and Kaliber, and when the two sides meet it's all-out war. Lady Shiva's addition is very intriguing, though, because she was seen working with Ra's in previous issues to try to break Cass away from the Dark Knight. However, it seems she's had a change of heart after suspecting Ra's might also try to weaponize her daughter as part of his quest to raze the world.
The Outsiders gain the upper hand in the fracas, but there's one constant question throughout -- whether they're willing to kill. When When Jeff takes Kaliber down, Shiva urges him to put an end to the villain's life. But, Jeff insists that while his code remains different from the Caped Crusader's, Karma will be left alive. It could be that Jeff wants to murder him later on, but for now, he needs him to get to the Demon's Head. Shiva's disappointed in the decision, as she's been trying to influence Jeff to become a deadlier hero, but she appears to have a change of heart after seeing how Cass believes in the Outsiders. She tells her daughter she loves her and will join them, not just to repair their broken relationship, but so they can protect each other.
Given Shiva's history of trying to kill the Bat-family, it's doubtful Batman will be too pleased with this turn of events, but Jeff seems to be cool with it for now. Cass does warn Duke that Shiva's shifty, though, so they may be keeping their enemy close so they can monitor her actions. While it appears that Shiva may very well have turned over a new leaf, we're sure everyone will be keeping a close watch on her until they know how genuine she's really being.
As for the other enlistment, after Ra's killed Sofia Ramos' dad, he tried to turn her into an instrument of death called Babylon. Batman broke her free from this life of servitude and gave her a chance to choose her own destiny. Inspired by the Outsiders, Sofia decided she wanted to become a hero too. Bruce takes her to a decommissioned lair that belonged to the Court of Owls. There, Batman shows her an arsenal and tasks her to choose a name reflective of her mission in life. While Ra's will be her first test, Batman is confident she can fortify the Outsiders' ranks and help him deliver justice. We can only hope she's not a double agent or under Ra's' mind control still, but for now, she's ready for the big stage with the blessing of the Bat.