[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Dexter Soy
Inker: Veronica Gandini
Summary
In this installment of Red Hood and the Outlaws, we learn a lot of things about the history of this team and we learn a lot about what the future holds. We learn that Artemis is even more clever than we first thought. We learn that in the Rebirth world, Jason Todd does not “exist” so Bruce’s magic DNA vanishing devices are still in place. We learn that Black Mask is a master of manipulation that may or may not know Red Hood is a double agent. Finally, we learn that Bizarro is a pretty good guy. Maybe.
Positives
Dexter Soy, take a freakin’ bow man. Wow. There is a scene about halfway through this book where Bizarro busts out of the case he is in. Lab techs scatter. Soy catches the panic. This scene is inter-cut with flashbacks to Jason’s actual Rebirth in the Lazarus Pit. Jason has some pretty heavy memories that force him to deal with some real pain. It is intense. Soy makes the reader the pain and anguish. There is water everywhere. They are choking. Black Mask has a close up. Damn, Soy’s has that mask hooked up. It is so real and so scary and simply devilish. Bizarro turns white. He grows massive. He is bulging out of his Superman suit. The reader wants to panic. Jason panics. He rushes to Bizarro’s side as he collapses on the floor. There is a puddle of water on the floor and instead of showing a reflection of Red Hood and Bizarro, we see Talia holding Jason. Thunderous applause.
What do you know about Frankenstein’s monster? Not the member of S.H.A.D.E, but the actual character as created by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The character’s name is “Frankenstein’s Monster,” but really he is not a monster at all. He did not ask to be created. He did not ask to be given emotions. He did not ask to feel love and hate. He did not ask to be made with freakish strength that he can not control. He wants to be accepted. That is all he wants. Scott Lobdell taps right into that narrative and gives us a Bizarro that is everything that Shelley dreamed the Monster could be. In the book, Victor Frankenstein is the real monster and in this story, Victor’s counterpart is Lex Luthor. So well done Mr. Lobdell. So well done. Lobdell and Soy even pay homage to the most famous scene from the 1939 Frankenstein movie. Keep your eye out for that. Simply amazing.
Negatives
MORE Artemis! You can’t just give us this strong, brilliant bad-ass character and then literally put her in a box. I know, I know, it is plot point. Be patient. OK. You are right. It will be good.
Verdict
Tell your friends. There are only a few issues so far. Catching up will be easy. Get on board. This book is in the perfect hands. Fingers crossed that this dream team stays together for years to come.
