“Just tell me these aren’t Alfred’s waffles.”
It seems as if Jason Todd and the gang have become a little stale the past few months, but I stick with them through thick and thin. Will #8 take a turn for the better with the Night of the Owls event? Find out after the jump…
RED HOOD and the OUTLAWS #8
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Art: Kenneth Rocafort
Cover: Rocafort and Blond
Colors: Blond
Letters: Dezi Sienty
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Asst. Editor: Katie Kubert
Cover Price: $2.99
Previously, in Red Hood and the Outlaws: After some Bat-like detective skills and a history lesson from Essence Jason discovers her true motives and the team successfully takes care of the problem. Well, for the time being that is.
SWIMMING LESSONS: BEGINNER
After having mercy on the 600 pound Suzie Su and sparing her life in Hong Kong Jason learns of his dire mistake. After waking from her Coma Suzie calls in some thugs, takes the children’s wing of Gotham City’s Hospital hostage, and threatens to kill the kids if The Red Hood doesn’t show up in two hours. With only 15 minutes to spare the Outlaws crash the party and prepare for a battle of whale proportions.
Red Hood and the Outlaws has maintained quite a bit of positive consistencies from issue #1. Jason Todd is known to have a unique inner monologue and Scott Lobdell never lets up, adding an enjoyable dynamic even through the less amazing issues. Roy Harper always has a quip locked and loaded but still provides us with a personality different from other comic reliefs and partners. And Starfire still wears clothing appropriately representing her past and character….Yep, just wrote that.
THE GOODS
In my younger years my mother once told me that you can become attracted to someone the more you get to know them. This is how I feel about Rocafort’s art and Blond’s coloring. I fresh from reading RedHood, The Lost Days when I began reading this series and I was a little sad that I wouldn’t be enjoying the style of art, but through the issues I have grown to love it. I have no technical complaints but I can say that the style, harsh lines, and shading may not be for everyone.
Although Jason has a few titles under his belt I feel that all the flashbacks fit appropriately and are masterfully integrated into the story. And speaking of flashbacks, Jason remembers a time he shares waffles with a familiar face from the Bat Family after eavesdropping in the Bat Channel.
As Batman grew increasingly interesting with the Night of the Owls I was ecstatic to learn that there would be an event and that Red Hood and the Outlaws would be in town for the fighty fighty. On top of that I was extremely pleased with how smoothly our team flew into the picture.
BOTTOM LINE: Call Me Bat$#!* Crazy
Roy made a crack in this issue about the lack of tension, but his well placed quip didn’t quite fool me or replace the tension that I would like to keep me on the edge of my seat during the read. Despite a lot of the good and uphill progression this issue brought it just wasn’t as “fun” as I like my Red Hood. I’m one those who doesn’t need a good fight for an issue to good, but the fight found in the pages didn’t propel this issue past a stroll in the park. Give me a fight or give me death! Okay, don’t do that, but I will give you a rating. Red Hood and the Outlaws earns 3.5 out of 5 stars this month. If you aren’t picking this issue you up I suggest you grab the event issues if you are following Night of the Owls, but I would wait to see where the road takes us afterwards before making any life-changing decisions.
3 Comments
You know, after all the bitching that this tittle has garnered, I really don’t see it, it is one of the most enjoyable new tittle the new DCU is putting out, I look forward to it each mouth.
Yeah, it is the first comic I read of the week it is released. I just started reading comics around the release of the New 52, but Scott Lobdell is probably my favorite writer at the moment.
*spoilers~*
Hahah, I loved this issue a thousand times more! This issue is in my top #5 comics of all time. The whole series is probably my #1 on top of that. Why? Because it broke so many conventions and tropes of comics. No one is what they seem, every character and relationship is a thousand times deeper than anything I’ve seen in comics, especially DC comics before.
I personally could care less about fighting-type-conflicts. I think they should always take a back seat to more important conflicts like the incredible internal ones Jason has with himself. Lobdell breaks the mold. Any other author on the planet, even Winick I think, the preiminent force behind the Red Hood’s rebirth and popularity, would not have the wherewithall to write the scene with Tim and Jason. When I heard that Tim was going to be the force behind getting Jason to join (Lobdell mentioned this in a couple interviews) I was a little depressed but resigned to what I felt was the the inevitable exchange: Tim showing up, fighting Jason for no reason other than for the sake of pandering to people that require a fight every issue. And then, most likely Kori but also Roy would pressure Jason into going.
The scene we got instead that recognized their past and the underlying tension in their relationship, showed Tim handling things in a way that shows the distinct difference between him and Batman, and showed a genuine, real moment between reconciling brothers. What Lobdell got as a product was a completely believable shift in Jason’s thinking (which he’s been amazing at depicting during the series in general). I was utterly blown away by the maturity of the issue.