An impressive bounce back from the last crappy volume.

We now have ANOTHER new team. Well some of them are the same. After the events of Infinite Crisis one year has passed. The Outsiders are thought to be dead from the event. However, in hiding, they've been working to stop evil. The first arc is getting a more spy style fighting with Nightwing back as the team leader. This time taking matters into his own hands and being a bit darker than most are ready for. We also have a storyline after which revolves around A ape and his lover who is a big brain. Yeah people, things get freaky!

Good: The art is the same throughout and man is it a upgrade. The fights look great, the emotions come through on the page, and everything has a vibrant, darker, gritty feel to it. I never thought I'd say this but I like Nightwing being a little more hard edge in this, worked well. There's a great Superman scene here even. This team is a lot more fun than the last one, least in a way none get along that well but make for funny dialogue. I also thought the emotional moments and mystery to what happened worked well.

Bad: The villains. Well, the first arc was just a Flash-type villain. Or maybe even the real one? You'll have to read Checkmates to find out more! Also, the Ape and his lover...lame.

Overall, a nice jump back. Not as good as volume 3, but leaps and bounds better than volume 4. A 3.5-4 out of 5.