Red Hood and the Outlaws #33 Review

Aces Wild

Written By: Scott Lobdell

Art By: Pete Woods, Rex Lokus, Troy Peteri

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 10, 2019

Jason Todd has left his Outlaw ways behind him so that he can now run the Iceberg Lounge..... Okay, okay, he hasn't entirely left his outlaw ways behind, especially since he's keeping The Penguin trapped in his own panic room while he takes over his empire.  What I'm getting at is, Jason Todd is a legitimate businessman, who may or may not get his hands dirty while wearing a mask from time to time, along with his associates, Wingman, Bunker and the Su Sisters.  Let's jump into this issue and see what hell comes a callin' as precautions that Penguin put in place if he should ever go missing go into effect.  Let's check it out.

Oh boy, I hope you've been reading Red Hood and the Outlaws since the beginning of the New 52 because goddamn are you going to be getting a bunch of callbacks this issue that you may or may not understand.  That being said, with editor notes and with what Scott Lobdell is doing with this arc, it may or may not matter anyway because it seems that Jason's past with Essence and the All-Caste is catching up to him now that he's become a public figure in Gotham and while this may be cool for a lot of people........ I've never really been a fan of the All-Caste aspect to Jason Todd and this doesn't do a lot for me.  Even with that though, this was a pretty fun drive through memory lane, not to mention a minor character from that New 52 run that shows up here on top of it and who unlike the All-Caste, I was a big fan of.  

With this issue, we see the Five Aces, who are the contingency plan for the Penguin in case he should ever go missing show up and we see what Jason's friends can do when push comes to shove..... Essentially, I'm saying that we get a big ass action scene for this issue, that tries to tie-in to the All-Caste aspect and even though it doesn't feel completely natural........ since we get an opener with Essence and Ducra...... the action itself should be enough to satiate all the fans of this series.  The biggest problem with it though....... there's not a lot of Red Hood in it........ or Wingman at all for some reason.  

All in all, I'm loving the callbacks in this issue, even with the fact that I'm not the biggest fan to what we're calling back to, but that doesn't matter because right now Red Hood is the only book that feels like it has any sense of history and is more than a monthly, wash, rinse and repeat like most of DC's books right now that don't ever feel like they're looking back......... or care about continuity.  The biggest problem with this issue is how much action we get out of it, and how little our main character plays into it as well, but even with that, I had a lot of fun this issue and loved the art by Pete Woods here....... I just wish we could get back to the older Red Hood costume because I'm still not sold on his new look.  

Bits and Pieces:

You looking for a kick ass time?  Well, Red Hood is there for you baby because his new crew and him are wiping the floor with people throughout this issue.  Not only that, they're making you realize how cool continuity is too, while showcasing it with some amazing art.  Is this a perfect issue?  No, but it's fun as hell and I look forward to it every month and this issue is no exception.

7.8/10