Outsiders 44
DC Comics
Writer: Judd Winick
Penciler: Carlo Barberi
Inker: Art Thibert
Red Hood made two covers this week. Not bad for a guy without his own title. I can only hope that eponymous monthly will materialize soon enough (death, schmeth—this is comics. If you want someone resuscitated, you’ll come up with a plausible reason). Red Hood is exactly what the DC Universe needs: a funny, no-nonsense, incisive anti-hero with an impressive fighting strategy. DC’s biggest weakness is their tendency to stray into the hagiographic, sanctimonious attitude that made, say, Kingdom Come such a godawful bore to read (though the art was astounding), or any of Jeph Loeb’s Superman/Batman dialogue hilariously predictable. I can only take so many rambling, highfalutin discourses about good and evil and the importance of responsible vigilantism. Have a backbone. If a villain’s going to kill people, kill him first.
Judd Winick, the guy who introduced Red Hood, has storytelling detail for this issue. Nightwing is depressed, Black Lightning’s daughter is despondent, and the rest of the team doubts their mission. Not a bad setup for a story arc, if you ask me. The emotions come across as genuine, which may be Winick’s best quality. And, despite my frustration with his decision to jerk readers around by “killing” Red Hood two years ago, he still gives Jason Todd a delicious wit. Given the similarity between Red Hood and Frank Castle, actually, I wonder if Frank Castle’s newfound sense of humor in Punisher War Journal isn’t a reaction to Red Hood’s tendency to crack wise…
This is my first experience with Carlo Barberi, and he delivers what I bought the book for: the fight between the two former Robins. The scene’s a little clipped, but it’s as impressive as the Red Hood fight scenes in the 2005, pre-Year One issues of Batman where Jason Todd first returned. The style is competent, with an equine edge to most of the faces.
Worth the money? If you like Red Hood, yes. Other than that, the dialogue’s competent, but not astounding.
