Comics! Red Hood and the Outlaws #0

Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 

Written by Scott Lobdell
Art by Pasqual Ferry, Ig Guara & Brett Booth

The Solicitation
• Learn how Jason Todd came back to life after being killed by The Joker. • Do you really need another reason to check out this issue?

Preview

Why I Bought It
Well, the solicitation was right., that's why I'm here for this comic. So let's get into it!

What I Liked
Y'know, this isn't too bad of an origin story for Jason Todd. The first part of the book reads like total cliche about the bad time Jason had growing up. But when he meets Batman, that's when things take a turn for the better in the story.

There are some changes that are made from his previous origin in the old 52. In the old 52, he boosted the Batmobile's tires and that is what caused Batman to find him out. In this universe, he was stealing drugs and got in the good graces of Leslie Thompkins. Its not really know what happened for Dick and Batman to split, but I understand Bruce's reasoning for bringing Jason into the Bat-family.

The big moment for me was right before Jason dies at the Joker's hand. The inner monologue reveals that he never got to say goodbye, thank you, or sorry to Batman before the bomb went off. That was a nice touching moment for me that matched what we have seen before. Kudos to Lobdell for that.

I am also liking how Todd came back through a Lazarus Pit. It keeps with the origin from Under The Red Hood, the Batman movie that made some changes to the original "re-birth" of Jason to the old DCU. I much like this one better. It is nice, simple, and should have been the obvious way to go from before.

What I Didn't Like
The cliche writing at the beginning. It had a nice moment or two, like when the Batarang bruise was shown, but outside of that it felt cliche. And the art made Jason's mom look pregnant with Jason hanging around, which makes me dread any idea of a future story that has Jason searching for a sibling. I hope that story never sees the light of day, or the dark of Batman night.

The end story of the comic is interesting, and I'm hesitant to dislike it too much or love it outright. The basic idea is that the Joker is the one who set everything in motion for Jason to become Robin, and then killed him. Then Jason had to go and come back and Red Hood, which Joker found amusing. The idea is interesting and paints this Joker as one with a master plan that is just full of crude punchlines. But the linchpin to this whole thing lies in the idea that Joker has to know who Batman really is. That, or he knows that Batman and Leslie Thompkins are connected and is trying to play off that connection.

It is a stretch. A serious stretch. I'm willing to toy with that idea a bit before making a final judgement. My hope is that Lobdell actually has a plan of where to take that idea. If he doesn't then I'll back away from the idea and chalk it up to Joker telling the story and he is just lying about it. But it is a nice twist, just has to have a few holes filled.

Panel to Remember
Jason's face right before the bomb goes off. It hits perfectly with the thoughts that we see in the narration.

Quotable
"Or "I'm sorry"" - then boom goes the bomb.

Grades
Words: 7/10 - Only because the first third is cliche, the middle is decent, and the end needs some time to judge it.
Pictures: 6/10 - The art was a mess to me. Three artists were on this book. How last minute was the script given out?
Buy Next Issue: The next issue won't pick up the story from here, that is where the next Bat-crossover comes in. I'll wait and buy those issues, unless I hear of something good happening in the next issue.