Red Hood

• Title: Red Hood and the Outlaws #8
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Scott Lobdell
• Artist: Mirko Colak

Red Hood and the Outlaws begins its second arc by shifting focus away from the Red Hood to Artemis. Red Hood and the Outlaws #8 offers a bit of backstory for the rogue Amazon including both in Themyscira and in the desert where her world would come crashing down and eventually put her on a path to meet the other Outlaws.

Flashbacks with her best friend Akila, the reason behind Artemis seeking the Bow of Ra, and her first encounter with Wonder Woman are all included here.

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• Title: Red Hood and the Outlaws #7
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Scott Lobdell
• Artist: Mirko Colak

Jason Todd isn’t know for making the hard choice when an easier path presents itself. At least he wasn’t before the recent Rebirth reboot. Now, things appear to be different. First, the reboot curbed most of his villainous murder history. No it focuses on the man actually thinking through hard decisions and responsibilities rather than shooting first and asking questions later.

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• Title: Red Hood and the Outlaws #6
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Scott Lobdell
• Artist: Dexter Soy

The series’ opening arc “Dark Trinity” comes to a close as Red Hood and Artemis work together to stop Black Mask and break his control over Bizarro. This new Rebirth version of Jason Todd continues to walk the edge of the anti-hero line without falling any further. By the end of the issue, even Batman is impressed with what he accomplished (even if it does take a major Bat-villain off the board for the foreseeable future). Jason keeps his work to the Dark Knight, although he has to rely on the questionable logic of Batman Begins to do so where choosing inaction apparently isn’t a choice.

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• Title: Red Hood and the Outlaws #5
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Scott Lobdell
• Artist: Dexter Soy

Continuing the comic’s opening arc, Red Hood and the Outlaws #5 mainly centers around the Red Hood fighting for his life against the Black Mask controlled Bizarro. Unwilling to let Jason fend for himself, Artemis returns to help even-up the odds allowing the Red Hood to distract the super-villain while Artemis attempts to control his super pawn (easier said than done).

I’m looking forward to see how this plays out. As we’ve seen hinted at in the prior issues Jason is tempted to choose a more permanent solution to Black Mask, but instead chooses to keep his word to Batman. No killing (even if doing so here would have freed Bizarro and taken an unstoppable weapon out of the hands of a sociopathic gangster).

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• Title: Red Hood and the Outlaws #4
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Scott Lobdell
• Artist: Dexter Soy

Red Hood‘s undercover mission inside Black Mask‘s criminal organization is put in jeopardy by the realization that the crime lord has gotten his hands on Bizarro. Jason attempts to make nice with the immensely powerful Superman clone while also attempting to keep his cover intact. Well, one out of two ain’t bad.

The reveal at the end of the issue that Black Mask knows who Jason is and what he’s really after (and has for some time) makes him a far more dangerous adversary (especially now that he’s figured out a way to control his super-human wrecking machine). It also raises questions as to just who is supplying Black Mask with such specific information, and why? I’m not sure the comic has any plans to reveal that information and the final panel suggests a more action-oriented next issue.

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