It’s one thing to reboot continuity; on many levels I’m ok with some retcon for the sake of story. It’s another thing to reboot continuity and have one of the Teen Titans of yore turned into Memento, willing to hop into the sack with anyone willing (and if you can see any bit of Starfire’s costume then you know they will be willing).
Since this is really my only gripe about Red Hood and the Outlaws, I think I’m ok. For one, it’s not that bad and will add some humor going forward as Starfire continually “wanders off” when the team is fighting some crime.
‘Red Hood and the Outlaws’ starts out by introducing Roy Harper, Red Arrow, who is about to be executed from some trumped up war crimes. If not for Jason Todd, Red Hood, posing as an overweight and over age preacher type he would have surely been executed.
I really liked how Scott Lobdell just threw us right into the deep end of the story. Sure there was some narration from Red Hood to fill in some gaps, but for the most part we got right to the action. The first few pages were kind of reminiscent of the beginning of the A-Team movie, but in a good way.
With the introduction of the Reds out of the way, all that was left was for Starfire to make her first appearance. And what a first appearance it was… I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of her barely there costume, but seeing it in action makes me believe Tamaraneans have more control over gravity than we humans. Regardless of your thoughts on Starfire and her costume, she is one kick ass chick. She is the real power of the group and I suspect will be the one to do the majority of the heavy lifting when it comes to battles.
In this first issue we learn about the Teen Titans of the DCnU a bit. Starfire did have a relationship with Dick Grayson (Nightwing) in the past, but because of her alien make up she can’t tell humans apart and will forget them after a time. So she is left with no memory of her time with the Titans nor her love of Dick Grayson. I felt like this was a huge cop out and a plot device that will hopefully be remedied at some point in the initial run of this book.
Grayson isn’t only brought up because of his time as a Teen Titan, his time as Robin is always a way to forward the story of Jason Todd, who for the record, is bat-shat crazy! Jason is leading this group of misfit heroes, but he is also having conversation with Essence, a mysterious woman with knowledge of Jason’s past and seems to be contributing (at least a bit) to his crazy.
I enjoyed ‘Red Hood and the Outlaws’. It was fun to read, because it didn’t take itself too serious. Lobdell also did a good job of putting a spotlight on 3 existing characters that, for the most part, have always been supporting characters, bumping them up to main character status. As fun as this book was to read, Kenneth Rocafort’s art made looking at it that much better. His imperfect art and heavy inks seem to fit the style of this “hero of fortune” book nicely.
‘Red Hood and the Outlaws’ is a book you should really consider picking up or downloading. I plan on giving the first handful of issues a try to see where this story goes and how the characters are developed. It also appears we won’t have to wait too long for answers as the cliffhanger ending has a promise of explanation on the final page of the book.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #1
Written by: Scott Lobdell
Art by: Kenneth Rocafort
Colors by: Blond
Cover by: Kenneth Rocafort