Who's This? A Japanese Outsider.
The facts: One of the characters created for Batman and the Outsiders by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo, Katana therefore first appeared in the Outsiders insert in The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983) and goes on to become the most naturally appealing of the lot. She was an Outsider for the length of the original series' (plural, really) lifetime, and in the New52, not only joined the Birds of Prey, but also had her own solo series. In Rebirth, she served with the Suicide Squad on the back of a certain movie.
How you could have heard of her: She joined the most recent iteration of the Outsiders, but I don't know many people who read that. Rather, her legacy was secured by her alt-media appearances. She was a member of the Suicide Squad in that first, disliked but Oscar-winning film, and teenage Outsiders in The Brave and the Bold. She's also in Beware the Batman, DC Super Hero Girls, Suicide Squad Isekai, and puts in non-speaking appearances in Young Justice (as a Justice Leaguer!) and Harley Quinn. Back in live action, yes, she was on Arrow and her ancestor on Legends of Tomorrow. Her strong visual and simple premise keeps her in the game even when other Outsiders are forgotten.
Example story: Batman and the Outsiders #21 (May 1985) "The Silent Treatment!" by Mike W. Barr, Jerome Moore and Al Vey
Mike Barr sometimes gave short solo tales to his Outsiders, and that's a good thing because it meant Batman wasn't breathing down their necks, telling them they were doing it wrong. I quite like the experimental tack he takes for his Katana story, too. It's essentially silent, as all the dialogue is from the radio broadcast of a football game, the star player of which is named "Cutter", which is sure to offer parallels with the sword-wielding heroine (not that she ever "cuts" anyone, you understand). So we have to understand the story from visual cues alone - our "coach", Mike Barr, offers no commentary per se - but that can include a newspaper headline.
I think you'll agree, after a couple of examples, it's pretty clever storytelling device.
Now, that guy with the boom box isn't just a sign of the times, he's also important to the story. He leads a gang (let's call them the Meteors, since that's who the Gotham Goliaths are playing, i.e., Metropolis) that robs the armored truck that was SUPPOSED to bring the priceless vase to the museum. With the drivers under threat, Katana may need to take a detour and get involved.
The Meteors avoid her blade right into the guards' hands (she was never going to slice 'em open, for fear of snagging their souls into the blade), and she's off with the "football" again. Unfortunately, the leader calls his "coach" who sends more "players" to "intercept" Katana. They catch up to her on museum grounds, and I'm sure she could have handled them without pulling THIS crazy move:
But I guess the football theme had to be paid off! It's not that I don't trust her aim - she is a superhero, after all, and without a doubt Barr's greatest addition to the team - but we're putting a lot of faith in the curator's catching abilities! And then Katana lets the Meteors run after that poor dude, into the museum and the police's waiting arms, sure, but I feel like she should have put a few of them down somehow (it's definitely the same guys, and not a second group. And THEN she walks in, very calmly and takes credit for saving the piece. Well, so long as everybody's happy.
Snuck off without Batman's knowledge, took risks but they paid off, and now she curls up in bed with a good book and hot cup of tea, a cat purring at her feet. Katana kind of does it the way I would do it, honestly. Give or take listening to sportsball on the radio while trying to do other things.
A positive review of an Outsiders story?! Will wonders never cease?! Well, like I said, I think Katana is built different.
Who's Next? An evil locksmith.
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