I had such high hopes for Red Hood And The Outlaws as a series. I have the first ten issue of the series in physical format because I thought, at the very least, that the artwork was sharp and vibrant. There was a lot of possibilities for the character of Red Hood to break away and be something different from the other (what are there now, like 19) bat-books on store shelves. Well, I was right as this is something quite different, but not in the best way.
Red Hood And The Outlaws #38 (a surprisingly high number for any series) once again has a really cool cover that makes you want to pick it up. Problems arise quickly though as the cover is a ruse, just like those old stories where it seemed like Superman was being a total douche when in reality the cover had nothing to do with the story. Getting past that, he little details on the cover are almost laughable, with Starfire and Harper looking like knockoff stickers that have been left out in the sun too long. As I can’t see a specific cover artist on the book, I can only assume the rest of this read will be, at best, a shaky affair.
The problem with this issue is that while Red Hood And The Outlaws can be a really fun book when the action is high, and Red Hood is babbling about like some second-rate Spider-man, when it slows the action down and tries to go the more serious route, the flaws begin to really show. The artwork flows well within battle segments, but fails to adequately capture any feeling when characters aren’t battling all sorts of space aliens.
I’m going to spoil the ending here, so be warned if you don’t want anything ruined, but I just can’t avoid talking about it.
You have been warned
The entire book culminates on a single page spread featuring the return of Starfire’s sister, Blackfire. While this is no great shocker (at least not to me) what is shocking is in the books depiction of Blackfire. Look, I’m one to let some basic art issue slide from time to time, but I just can’t this time around. Not only does Blackfire wear an outfit that makes her look like a B-squad golem stripper, but I can’t even begin to explain the problems with her proportions in relation to the scene. Not a great way to end a book if you want readers to come back.
As the books blurb would lead you to believe, Crux is indeed back, but his presence, outside of a really fun fight scene (see, the art can work here) his presence isn’t that of an antagonist, at least not for the time being. Scott Lobdell storyline is really the only thing holding this book together. While the comedy elements do feel a little forced, the overall handling of dialogue works well. In fact, the best part are when characters of waxing poetic with internal dialogue and not having trite conversations.
I want to really like Red Hood And The Outlaws, but every time that I jump back into the series the art leaves me wanting. For a book that has lasted this long I think it’s currently the weakest (as a whole) of all the offerings from DC. Maybe it’s because we have to many Batman based books, or that there is just so much good stuff coming from smaller publishers, but I still can’t recommend picking up Red Hood And The Outlaws.
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