Red Hood and the Outlaws #7:
Summary: Good god, I actually have to review this... *sigh* Well, let's make it quick... Red Hood breaks the sedated Crux out of Arkham Asylum since he felt Crux wouldn't be properly punished for what he did to Starfire(which was what exactly? Because she seems fine here...). Hood, Arsenal and Starfire fly around in Crux's spaceship(yes, really, his spaceship), until Jason starts talking to Essence(remember her from the first issue? Yeah, I hardly do either), who Arsenal and Star can't see. Jason reveals that Essence betrayed the All-Caste, and we get some horrible story about Essence being Ducra's daughter(which means nothing since we barely know anything about Essence or Ducra as it is). Hood makes his magic sword appear(I can't believe this is happening in a Bat-book) and attacks Essence, who appears before Arsenal and Star. Essence beats everybody up, at least until Jason... um, teleports(?) or disintegrates(?) Essence with a gun not “made by man”... Essence is gone, and this issue ends with the fat woman from a few issues ago waking up in Gotham swearing revenge on Red Hood...
Thoughts: Sweet Christmas, this was absolutely horrendous! I don't have the slightest idea what the hell Lobdell is going for in this series anymore, and quite frankly, and it pains me to say this, I don't think I care anymore... After this absolute catastrophe of a comic, I am seriously considering dropping this series... And THIS is a series I NEVER thought I'd drop, no matter how bad it got, due to the characters in it. But this? I mean, words can't even describe how bad it was. This All-Caste garbage has gone on long enough... Please, end it now! There was just so much wrong with this issue, starting with the cover, which claimed in bold letters, “At Last! The return of Essence!” at which point I honestly wondered, “Who the hell is Essence and why should I care?” We quickly learn she was the woman from the first issue who informed Jason that the All-Caste had been slaughtered, and then NEVER APPEARED AGAIN! She was on like 3 pages tops, and we get an “At Last!” on the cover of this issue? And then we learn that apparently she betrayed the All-Caste to the Untitled? So? Seriously, we have NO reason to care about Essence(she was on like THREE pages in six issues!!!), and little reason to care about the All-Caste since they were all dead by the end of the first issue. Again, so? I don't get why I'm supposed to care in the least about Essence at all. And then there's Starfire... Wasn't she mortally wounded, depowered, hurt, something by Crux? This issue she seemed fine... She was fighting Essence, blasting her, the whole nine yards. Didn't Crux say something to the effect that he had made Starfire “human”? Well she sure as hell didn't seem like it here, what with her blasts and flaming hair and all. I don't even have anything positive to say to end this post... Um, at least there won't be another issue of this series for another month? That's about the most positive thing I can say...
Score: 0 out of 10. Yep, the imperfect score. Congrats, Red Hood, you earned it.
Mayhap this was the worst comic I've read thus far this year.
Sigh...
ReplyDeleteFuck. You. Scott. Lobdell.
damn Essence's ass in that pic makes up for it all
ReplyDeleteSo, as the resident ultra-Jason fan JT, I'm dying for your assessment of this one! :P I was half hoping you'd give it a review of your own!
ReplyDeleteHA! Sadly nothing could make up for this one for me...
I would but you mentioned everything I would. Where the fuck did he get that sword from? How did he KNOW Crux had a alien gun hidden on his alien ship, why the random heel turn by Essence? Also, BEFORE the book came out, Lobdell said a black cast member would join the team. So, did he just randomly change his mind and make Crux a member of Arkham so he could write him out for good? Because if that storyline was building from him seeing a pic of Star in issue one all the way to now with him being drugged up and dropped off at Arkham, then that's even dumber than I thought. God I... It... I.. Where's Winick when you need him?! Winick, Miller, Meltzer, hell even Geoff Johns, SOMEONE!!!
ReplyDeleteOkay, good. I was worried that maybe it was just me. You saying this one was awful as well is all I need to hear. The sword, the BIZARRE and really, totally unsatisfactory heel turn(from a character we have NO attachment to!), the transforming space ship, Crux(who I'm not sure WHAT happened to...), Starfire's powers apparently being fine, yeah, brutally bad. Even the art seemed off in parts, and the art is usually the saving grace in this series! For some reason Jason's helmet looked skintight at times... You know what the REALLY scary thing is? I think Chairman Johns WOULD be an improvement! And you KNOW how I feel about him!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was also thinking that about the helmet, but I enjoy Rocafort's art so I ignored that. I think Star's powers were supposed to be better when she got away from that thing in the last issue but I cpuld be wrong, and yeah, I don't know what Scott Lobdell is going for, I just hope people realize its him, not Jason/Roy/Star when the books inevitably falls in sales...
ReplyDeleteExactly, I usually like Rocafort's art, but for whatever reason, it just seemed slightly off here... The helmet thing really bugged me, and you know I hardly ever notice the art in a comic.
ReplyDeleteHA! I like the idea that Star's powers returned when she got away from that device... So basically Crux wanted her to feel human for just a little while? And then? Kill her? Taunt her? Taunt and then kill her? None of the above?
I liked this issue, even laughing out loud at Roy a couple times. I am also not surprised you didn't like it, since I don't think you've ever liked this comic and seem to buy it just so you can complain about how terrible you think it is.
ReplyDeleteUm, that's good, I guess... Good for you?
ReplyDeleteNice reply X lol, personally I'd think if It contains two of your favorite characters you're buying it to give it a chance, and if you don't like it you'd say so, and considering it's YOUR opinion and only your opinion then that's what you do with your money and time is your business. But I guess common sense goes over some people's heads eh?
DeleteTotally agree. I spent a good hour or so last night trying to reconstruct the All-Caste/Untitled story, and I still couldn't make any sense of it. Essence says that the Untitled in Colorado killed Ducra, but she clearly didn't. It's unclear then if Lobdell just forgot that part or if Essense meant it as a sort of misdirection because she killed Ducra. But, since Jason just randomly attacks her (because he magically knew she was a villain all of a sudden), we never get a chance to suss out her motives. What really scares me is that we don't seem to be getting even remotely close to ending the All-Caste nonsense. Lobdell had been establishing, before Essence's heel turn, that another Untitled framed the Colorado Untitled in an attempt to start a civil war among the Untitled. Now, we have the possibility that Essence was somehow the one starting that civil war, but Lobdell doesn't actually say that. So, we've probably got at least two issues before we get some resolution just to the "Who killed Ducra?" story, let alone the issues where Jason seeks his revenge. It's just too much. I hadn't even noticed the Crux problems, since I spend so much time trying to figure out where Lobdell is going with Jason that I haven't even had a chance to focus on Roy or Starfire and their stories (or lack thereof). What a freaking mess.
ReplyDeleteYeah JT. I mean I've never hid the fact that Jason and Roy are two of my favorite DC characters(def top 7), and I always try to spell out exactly what I DIDN'T like about a comic in my posts. It's not like I'm bashing it just for the sake of bashing it, I WANT to like this series. Desperately! That's why I buy it every month. Because I keep hoping it will all suddenly make sense and Jason won't be pulling magical swords out of his ass, but what can ya do?
ReplyDeleteHA! I respect you, JW! You spent 59 more minutes trying to figure out this story than I would have! :D I totally forgot about the fact that the one Untitled in Colorado insinuated that it was another Untitled that was trying to start a war between the Untitled, thus the attack on the All-Caste... That makes Essence's actions/appearance here all the more baffling... It's like Lobdell suddenly didn't think Jason wanting to avenge the All-Caste was enough so he figured, "What the hell, I'll throw in a former love interest of Jason's to make it even more DRAMATIC!!!" I just didn't get the inclusion of Essence at all here... I wish this title would get away from the magic, aliens(or whatever the All-Caste/Untitled are...), and other assorted madness and just start making sense...
Vampires is not at all like in the movies or books. Sure, I understand. You are young you have the whole world open to you. You can be anything that you choose if you apply yourself and try hard to work toward that goal. But being a Vampire is not what it seems like. It’s a life full of good, and amazing things. We are as human as you are.. It’s not what you are that counts, But how you choose to be. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity? contact the Vampires Lord on his Email: Richvampirekindom@gmail.com
ReplyDelete