Red Hood and the Outlaws

Red Hood and the Outlaws
Cover for Red Hood and the Outlaws #1.
Art by Kenneth Rocafort and Blond.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
Schedule Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Publication date (vol. 1)
September 2011 - March 2015
(vol. 2)
July 2016 - present
No. of issues (vol. 1): 40 (#0, and 2 Annuals)
(vol. 2): 24 (as of July 2018) plus 1 Annual and a Rebirth one-shot
Main character(s)

(vol. 1)

(vol. 2)

Creative team
Created by Scott Lobdell
Kenneth Rocafort
Written by (vol 1 and 2)
Scott Lobdell
Penciller(s) (vol 1)
Kenneth Rocafort
(vol 2)
Dexter Soy
Pete Woods
Inker(s) Blond
Colorist(s) Blond

Red Hood and the Outlaws is a superhero comic book published by DC Comics. Commissioned in response to the growing popularity of the character of Jason Todd, a former protege of Batman who took a turn as a villain following his resurrection, the book depicts Jason's continued adventures as the Red Hood, on a quest to seek redemption for his past crimes, forming a small team with two of his fellow anti-heroes.

Red Hood and the Outlaws debuted in 2011 as part of The New 52 event, which rebooted DC Comics continuity, creating a fresh jumping-on point for new readers. Writer Scott Lobdell chose to dial back Jason's recent villainy for the character's first starring book, pairing him with the characters of Arsenal (Roy Harper), and Starfire, and retroctively establishing a long friendship between Jason and Roy. The title also retold Jason Todd's history in a simplified form, and explored his complex relationship with his former mentor Batman and his "brothers" (and fellow Robins) Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne. The series also debuted a new costume for Red Hood, drawing from previous iterations, featuring his classic biker helmet look but a clear Bat insignia on his chest, placing the Red Hood more emphatically in Batman's family of supporting characters.

The title's initial featured Lobdell as writer with art from Kenneth Rocafort,[1] and generally received mixed reviews, drawing particular ire for its confused continuity and accusations that its depiction of Starfire was sexist. For volume two, relaunched as part of the DC Rebirth initiative, the lineup of the Outlaws as changed to reflect the DC Trinity (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), with Jason joined by Superman's failed clone Bizarro and Wonder Woman's friend and rival Artemis, an Amazon.

Plot

Vol 1

Jason Todd leads The Outlaws, a team that includes established DC character Princess Koriand'r and Roy Harper as Arsenal, Green Arrow's alcoholic ex-sidekick.

Leading up to a run-in with Killer Croc, Roy was talked out of suicide. Croc became his sponsor in recovery, but that did not keep Roy from getting into trouble.[2] Jason, after coming back from the dead, was trained by an order of warriors known as the All Caste that taught him humility and respect.[3] Jason was a part of the order for an unknown amount of time before he was exiled, partially by choice.[4]

After his exile Jason became Red Hood, returning to Gotham where he was at odds with Starfire's ex-lover, his predecessor as Robin, Dick Grayson, as well as their mentor Batman. He soon gets tired of Gotham and leaves, organizing the group, after accidentally encountering Starfire at her home base, then breaking out Roy from a Middle Eastern prison.[5] The group travels to a tropical island as Jason catches Roy up; the two start on friendly terms. Jason learns that the All Caste have been slaughtered by a group known as the Untitled. He learns about the events from another All Caste exile named Essence, while Roy tries to jog Kori's memory. He ends up boring her and sleeps with her.[6]

After finding out that he is no longer a killer, Jason takes his group to All Caste headquarters where they discover that the bodies are becoming zombies. Jason destroys the bodies of his teachers and friends, after some encouragement from Roy; he swears revenge for them after the task is complete.[4] The team is led on a wild goose chase across the globe as they come across an Untitled, who was in hiding in the middle of Colorado. Jason fights the creature alone after Starfire is attacked by Crux and Roy leaves to assist her. The Untitled tells Jason that they were set up to cross paths, but still fight him. Jason kills the creature, strengthening his resolve to take revenge. Crux's attempt to drain Starfire's power fails due to procedures performed on her during her slavery.

Roy takes down Crux long enough for Starfire to regain her composure and the three leave taking an unconscious Crux with them.[5] Later disguised as a doctor, Jason puts Crux into Arkham Asylum, where he says to keep Crux heavily sedated. The group has appropriated Crux's personal modified War cruiser, which Roy instantly falls for. Essence confronts them. At first only Jason is able to see her, knowing she set him up to fight the Untitled. When the others see her, it causes a fight within the cockpit. During the fight, the source of Essence and Ducra's powers and long life are revealed to be the same as the Untitled's. It is also revealed that they were mother and daughter. The group is able to defeat Essence by using one of Crux's weapons.[7]

Reception

Vol 1

Reviews of Red Hood and the Outlaws have been negative, with complaints often being filed towards Lobdell and Rocafort's interpretation of Starfire. Most reviews disliked how she was represented, although her portrayal has been defended. Jesse Schedeen of IGN.com remarked that Kenneth Rocafort's penciling affords Scott Lobdell the opportunity to emphasize Starfire's sex appeal: "She alone seems to have been completely rebooted for the relaunch."[8]

Mathew Peterson of MajorSpoilers.com stated that a "juvenile treatment of sexual matters here renders one of the main characters into nothing more than a punch line, and in a book with only three characters, that’s unforgivable,"[9] referring specifically to its sexualized portrayal of Starfire as a "'perfect-10 love doll imaginary girlfriend'".[9] Andrew Hunsaker of Craveonline.com said that writer Lobdell's take on Tamaraneans (Starfire's race) "has reduced Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran into essentially a highly advanced Real Doll. Complete with installing a lack of memory of anything related to humanity."[10] Hunsaker further opined that it "seems as if Lobdell has taken great pains to strip all the emotional motivation behind Kori's gregarious outlook and reduce her to nothing more than a sex vessel. It is pretty insulting not only to women, but to male intelligence to boot."[10] Hunsaker concluded that it "makes you want to punch the entire comic book industry."[10]

Laura Hudson, editor-in-chief of ComicsAlliance, wrote that "There's a difference between writing a female character as sexually liberated, and writing her as wish-fulfillment sex object, but Starfire sure is making a case for the latter in [a] charmless scene"[11] wherein Starfire defends her offer to have sex with one of the characters by saying that "love has nothing to do with it".[6] Hudson also cited this characterization of Starfire in a later article, remarking that portrayals of women as sexual objects "don't support sexually liberated women; they undermine them".[12]

Houston Press writer Jef With One F countered that "you're not dealing with the point of view of someone who grew up here with our Western social norms." and contended that Starfire as portrayed in Red Hood and the Outlaws is "not a sex toy, she's someone from a very different culture attracted to two specific men."[13]

Newsarama included Red Hood and the Outlaws in its list of "10 Worst Titles of DC's New 52 / DC YOU Era". Oscar Maltby writes, "Always explosive but rarely coherent narratively, Red Hood and the Outlaws was lurid, puerile and occasionally even embarrassing."[14]

Vol 2

The relaunch of the title featuring Red Hood, Artemis, and Bizarro received mixed to positive reviews, with praise for the artwork, and criticism aimed towards the story and dialogue. Mark Stack of Comics Bulletin writes, "[t]he dialogue is on-the-nose, the flashbacks oddly-paced, and there’s some weird out-of-character stuff with Batman. Red Hood looks good to the detriment of Batman... and it strains credibility given how far out of its way this book goes to try defining these characters." [15]

Collected editions

This series has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:

# TitleMaterial collectedPublication DateISBN
The New 52
1 REDemption Red Hood and the Outlaws #1-7 November 13, 2012 978-1401237127
2 The Starfire Red Hood and the Outlaws #8-14 July 2, 2013 978-1401240905
3 Death of the Family Red Hood and the Outlaws #0, 15-18; Teen Titans vol. 4 #16, Batman vol. 2 #17 December 3, 2013 978-1401244125
4 League of Assassins Red Hood and the Outlaws #19-26, Annual #1 June 17, 2014 978-1401246365
5 The Big Picture Red Hood and the Outlaws #27-31, DC Universe Presents #17-18 December 16, 2014 978-1401250485
6 Lost and Found Red Hood and the Outlaws #32-34, Annual #2 June 23, 2015 978-1401253424
7 Last Call Red Hood and the Outlaws #35-40, Future's End #1 January 12, 2016 978-1401258566
1 The New 52 Omnibus Red Hood and the Outlaws #0-27, Annual #1, Teen Titans #16 and Batman #17 October 16, 2018 978-1401284664
DC Rebirth
1 Dark Trinity Red Hood and the Outlaws #1-6, Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1 May 2, 2017 978-1401278373
2 Who is Artemis Red Hood and the Outlaws #7-11 October 10, 2017 978-1401278373
3 Bizarro Reborn Red Hood and the Outlaws #12-18, Annual #1 April 24, 2018 978-1401278373
4 Good Night Gotham Red Hood and the Outlaws #19-25 November 6, 2018 978-1401284886

References

  1. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (June 8, 2011). "LOBDELL Goes for Redemption in DCnU RED HOOD & the OUTLAWS". Newsarama. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ Lobdell, Scott (w), Rocafort, Kenneth (p), Blond (i), Blond (col), Brosseau, Pat (let), Bobbie Chase, Katie Kubert (ed). "Come Fly With Me--Come Die, Just Die Away!" Red Hood and the Outlaws 4 (February, 2012), New York: DC Comics
  3. ↑ Lobdell, Scott (w), Rocafort, Kenneth (p), Blond (i), Blond (col), Brosseau, Pat (let), Bobbie Chase, Katie Kubert (ed). "Cherish Is The Word I Use-- To Destroy You!" Red Hood and the Outlaws 3 (January, 2012), New York: DC Comics
  4. 1 2 Lobdell, Scott (w), Rocafort, Kenneth (a), Blond (col), Mangual, Carlos (let), Kubert, Katie (ed). "Shot Through The Heart-- And Who's To Blame?" Red Hood and the Outlaws 2 (December, 2011), New York: DC Comics
  5. 1 2 Lobdell, Scott (w), Rocafort, Kenneth (a), Blond (col), Mangual, Carlos (let), Bobbie Chase, Katie Kubert (ed). "I'm Free as a Bird -- And This Bird You Cannot Kill!" Red Hood and the Outlaws 5 (March, 2012), New York: DC Comics
  6. 1 2 Lobdell, Scott (w), Rocafort, Kenneth (p), Blond (i), Blond (col), Mangual, Carlos (let), Bobbie Chase, Katie Kubert (ed). "I Fought the Law and Kicked Its Butt!" Red Hood and the Outlaws 1 (November, 2011), New York: DC Comics
  7. ↑ Lobdell, Scott (w), Rocafort, Kenneth (a), Blond (col), Mangual, Carlos (let), Bobbie Chase, Katie Kubert (ed). "???" Red Hood and the Outlaws 7 (May, 2012), New York: DC Comics
  8. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse. "Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 Review Jason Todd assembles his own team of rogue heroes". Comics/Reviews. IGN.com. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  9. 1 2 Peterson, Matthew. ""New 52" Review". Reviews. MajorSpoilers.com. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 Hunsacker, Andrew. "New 52 Review: Red Hood and the Outlaws #1". Comics/Reviews. Craveonline.com. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Hudson, Laura. "Parting Shot: DC's New Starfire, WTF". Opinion. ComicsAlliance.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  12. ↑ Hudson, Laura. "The Big Sexy Problem with Superheroines and Their 'Liberated Sexuality'". Opinion. ComicsAlliance.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  13. ↑ With One F, Jef (February 6, 2012). "Hellfire and Sweater Meat: In Defense of DC's Starfire Reboot". Opinion. Houston Press. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  14. ↑ "10 Worst Titles of DC's NEW 52 / DC YOU Era". newsarama.com.
  15. ↑ "DCU Rebirth Report: 7/27/16". comicsbulletin.com. 28 July 2016.
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