New Look, Same Attitude
Written By: Scott Lobdell
Art By: Pete Woods, Troy Peteri
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 12, 2018
It's a fresh start for our Outlaw in this issue. No Artemis, no Bizarro, no Roy and no Gotham as Jason Todd uses his free time now to hunt down members of the Underlife, the criminal organization that Arsenal was looking into before he decided that he needed some time away at the Sanctuary..... (Don't be dead Roy!) Alright, let's jump into our new status quo for Red Hood and see what's what. Let's check it out.
Well......... I don't like it. Yeah, we have Red Hood getting back to his more brutal roots as he goes through this issue, which may appeal to some fans, but we had what I would like to think, one of the most human feeling characters in Jason Todd previous to this that this feels like a completely new character and just a no note one at that.
Really though, we spend this issue just getting used to the word Underlife as Jason stumbles upon some of the baddies that belong to this group and we spend the rest of the issue showcasing Jason's new costume and seeing that he's willing to go that extra step that Batman won't. It's not bad for this type of comic, but for what we were getting previously, it feels like a bit of a back step. Hopefully, more to this story is unveiled as the series progresses and it becomes something that feels exciting, but as of right now I just want my old Red Hood back because not only do I not like the costume......... which for some reason everyone looks at and just knows that it's Red Hood, but I don't really care for taking the character in this progression after having such a familial feel to the book that combined with the action and humor was the driving force that made it so enjoyable.
Bits and Pieces:
All in all, the art is okay, besides for Jason Todd in my opinion, but the introduction to this new status quo for the character left me wanting and I'm afraid that this iteration of Red Hood is going to alienate old fans more than bring in new readers. Hopefully I'm wrong and this new feel of the book is just as enjoyable as the old. Only time will tell.
6/10
I'm an old fan and this new direction doesn't alienate me at all.
ReplyDeleteLoved Rebirth RHATO so far and this fresh new take is putting a new life in the series.
I worry that you will be the minority. This may be too much change for rebirth fans who kumped on for the team and jason being a bit more in bat family and having an outlaw family.
DeleteI both like and dislike this issue. I'm a red hood fan pre flashpoint and this Jason is 100% Preflashpoint Jason Todd. But the the reason I dislike it is because I love N52 Red Hood twice as much as I like Preflashpoint version. That aside this wasn't a bad first issue to show where Jason is right now, to show just how much he's been holding back against evil people. If the Red Hood walks towards you with a road flare, run for your F@cking life. Art this issue was serviceable, not bad but not great either.
Delete7/10
But in truth, Jim's right. If your a N52 Jason fan, this should be a shock to your system. I'm going to have faith and say this is only going to last one arc, he'll find a way to that alternate future to get Artemis and Bizzaro back. Good thing for them is that since he'll have to get there by time travel they won't have to wait long, hell he could show up one minute after we last saw them. Downside for use readers we have to take the long way.
RHATO has been a favorite on my pull list lately. It is hard for me to form too much of an opinion about the new direction yet, but I'll give the book a few issues to get to know this version of the character. Is Pete Woods the artist moving forward? His version of Jason might take me a little while to get used to... but at least he is trying to differentiate him from Dick and Tim? Sometimes they all look the same. (I knew they were going to cross out part of the title to spell out 'Red Hood Outlaw' but crossing out the batman branding symbol for the book made me giggle because that is how petty I could imagine Jason would be.)
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, for some reason I felt like the scene with him waving a flag around was a weird choice.
Him Stabbing someone withe the flag is my panel of the week. Merrica!
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