[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Dexter Soy
Colorist: Veronica Gandini
SummaryÂ
In the world of Rebirth, Jason Todd is working in the Gotham underground as Red Hood. When we first meet him, he is still a solo artist. The reader is taken back to the time Jason first meets up with Batman and is shown how he becomes Robin. The story arc swings between the golden years of Bruce and Jason and the current time where they are constantly at odds as Batman and Red Hood.
The Positives
In the long convoluted history of Jason Todd’s life and death, not much has stayed the same. Did you know that the first origin was almost exactly like Dick Grayson’s? It is a fact. Post-Crisis, Jason was a street rat with terrible parents. He was nabbed jacking up the Batmobile. That origin makes way more sense and that is the origin we see here. Hooray!
Back in the day, fans voted to kill of Jason, so there is not a whole ton of love for him. Yet Scott Lobdell seems to have a deep seeded love for the character. He keeps coming back to him and he keeps making us try to understand the horrible life that Jason had and why he deserves some love, or at least some like. The coolest thing Lobdell does is show us Jason’s bookshelf. When you get to that page, don’t just look at the amazing artwork, read the book spines. Pretty clever.
Dexter Soy’s cover is amazing. The Hood is contoured; the Outlaws are in Jason’s gun sights and bullets are flying. There is no way to see this cover and not want to pick it up. The work inside the book is just as sharp. He has panels inside panels so the reader gets twice as much story. Colorist Veronica Gandini makes the flashbacks hazy and wonderfully realistic. If your memories were in a comic panel, you would want Gandini to ink them.
The Negatives
There are no Outlaws. Grrr.
The Verdict
The story has an excellent twist that sets Jason on a mission that kick starts the first story arc. Red Hood is in the right hands. If you have not tried Red Hood and the Outlaws before, this is the perfect time. If, like this writer, you unabashedly like Jason Todd and voted to keep him alive, you are going to be thrilled.
