Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1

Hey blog readers and true believers, JT here, back from a brief hiatus due to injury. This issue should pick up where we left off, with an amnesiac Jason, Roy feeling betrayed, and Starfire feeling despondent. Also, a bunch of assassins are after the team, so unbeknownst to them, Green Arrow is coming to help, so let's get to it..

Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1

Summary: This issue starts with Jason sneaking into a room with a master computer to look up the Red Hood, and he's shocked to see numerous pics of him killing people, and his confirmed kill count at eighty-three, which I thought would be higher. From there we see Roy thinking about his past sessions with Hugo Strange as well as when he designed tech for Oliver Queen that Ollie never used but Ollie wouldn't let him come into the field. He eventually goes to check out the alarm that goes off but first tells a pretending to be asleep Starfire that he's not happy about her lying to him about her memories. Roy goes to investigate and finds Green Arrow, who warns him that Roy and his friends are in danger with 500 Million Dollar bounties on each of them. The talking is put on hold as there's an explosion with Starfire enters a room looking for Roy but instead finds a bunch of gasoline left as a trap which explodes when Starfire tries to illuminate the room with her flames. Roy arrives to seemingly see Starfire dead, after inhaling a Toxin by her attacker, Cheshire! Roy and Cheshire fight as Ollie goes to protect Jason at Roy's request. Cheshire and Roy's fight is laced full of her hitting on him and making sexual innuendo, which allows her to subdue Roy and take his hat as a trophy. Cheshire tries to attack her old pal Jason, they've worked together before but Jason doesn't remember, but Ollie and a poisoned Roy try to run interference, but Roy gets poisoned even more as a result. Ollie saves him with some anti-toxin as Cheshire prepares to paralyze Jason and take him with her, but Starfire returns and scoops Cheshire up, flying away with her but Cheshire manages to disappear (she can teleport or become intangible or something now), but not before saying she's keeping Roy's hate to remember him, and next time she may take one of his strong arms. (Ah, nice one Tynion.) Afterwards, Jason yells at Roy for telling him he was good, when he's a killer, and walks off, then Roy yells at Ollie, saying he never trusted him but apparently no one does, as he directs that comment at Starfire and walks off. The issue comes to a close as Roy and Star find a note saying Jason's leaving and not to come after him, we see him stowing away on the bottom of Ollie's helicopter, as well as the next threat for the Outlaws, the League of Assassins, lead by Bronze Tiger!

Thoughts: Does anyone else find it a bit... surprising that Roy invents tech when he was basically a class clown type character for a majority of this series? Also, someone wants to pay One Billion and Five hundred Million dollars for Jason, Starfire and Roy?! WHY?! That stuff aside, I enjoyed this issue. I was a bit wary of Tynion after all the bad stuff we've dealt with during Lobdell's run but this story was fun, it had jokes, we got to see more arguments of the team and it introduced a lot of threats like a bad ass Cheshire that I'm totally a fan of, Bronze Tiger, Roy's time with Strange which will surely come up more in the future. All in all, this annual felt like it was worth it, and I enjoyed it more than the I expected I would.

Score: 8.5/10

Red Hood and the Outlaws #20

Hey Todd Squad, JT here with my first review of the week, James Tynion IV's second issue as writer of Red Hood and The Outlaws. After the last issue where Jason gave up his memories completely, by mistake of course, Roy and Starfire are trying to help get them back from S'aru, aka Aang, because I forgot his name while doing this review.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #20

Summary: This issue continues where we left off, with Roy and Kori trying to get this floaty magic guy that looks like Aang from Avatar to give Jason his memories back. He tells them when Jason said he wanted his bad memories removed, that counted as all of them, since they're linked. He shows them Jason's bad memories but Roy said Jason would never have wanted this, and demands his memories are returned, but Aang says no. He shows them one of Jason's memories, where we see Roy getting beat up outside of a bar in Gotham when he was a junkie, but Jason shows up, introducing himself to Roy as Robin, Version II, and saves Roy from the goons. He tells Roy that if he needs a friend, he's there for him, since his predecessor said he was a good friend before Roy became a Junkie. Roy says friends always let you down, but Jason keeps the invite out there before taking off into the night. From there we see Jason and a gang of mercenaries (including Cheshire) doing what Jason thought was the right thing until he realized they were there to steal an artifact and felt betrayed. Roy tells Aang that although they were far from perfect, this is why the team got along so well, and Aang says Starfire has more secrets than them all. Starfire gets defensive as he says Starfire has selective amnesia, and remembers far more than she lets on. He pulls up one of her darkest memories and we quickly see her shooting energy blasts at Nightwing for some reason, before she stops him from showing the memory. Jason, still with no memories, says he's sick of everyone fighting over him, and if he did this he must have had a good reason. He asks Roy to respect that but Roy says no dice, and shoots him with a tranquilizer in the neck, causing Jason to pass out. Roy threatens Aang to return Jason's memories but he's nowhere near intimidated by him and banishes him, Starfire and Jason to outside in the snow. While recovering, Roy starts to breakdown, feeling betrayed by Starfire's lies about her memories and getting no answers when he asks her about Grayson, as they crouch over an unconscious Jason Todd. Unknown to them, Ducra, Essence and Aang are above them, as Essence says that she won't stand by while Jason and his friends are attacked by the evil coming their way, but Ducra and Aang says they know what they're doing by putting the Outlaws through this. The issue comes to a close as Green Arrow finds out that the baddest assassins from around the world are coming to collect a bounty on the heads of the Outlaws, and he says he'll have to save Roy once again.

Thoughts: Man... I enjoyed this issue a lot! It was cool seeing Jason's memories so we can still get a sense of what's happened and what hasn't in this not so New 52, and I really liked the addition that he's saved Roy before. It shows why Roy is so loyal to Jason, it shows how optimistic a younger Jason Todd was, and it was just a great scene with those two that adds to their friendship. I also really liked that they put out there that Starfire can remember things and has been playing dumb this whole time. It makes her more interesting and makes me wonder what she's been hiding and why she attacked Grayson at some point. Plus, seeing Green Arrow, Cheshire, Deathstroke possibly and a host of other people popping up in this comic is definitely a plus in my book.

Score: 8/10

Red Hood and the Outlaws #19

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with today's review, RHATO #19(X here as well!  I'm crashing this bad boy and JT has no clue!  MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!!!). This is the first issue with the series' new writer, James Tynion IV so let's see how Jason, Starfire and Roy fare under his pen(They have to fare better now that Lobdell is gone!).

Red Hood and the Outlaws #19

Summary: This issue basically focused on Starfire and Arsenal going after Jason, as he's heading to the old home of the All Caste. On the way there, they run into a bunch or drama(HA!  Love the in depth review here!), including a woman who tells them to turn back, but they don't listen because they're adamant that Jason needs their help.We then see that the woman was actually Essence in disguise, another member of the All-Caste(Yeah, that part was pretty weird...). On the way there, Roy gets sick from the cold...he's with a girl that has hair made of fire... how... whatever(Dude's a junkie, JT!  Obviously he has trouble making good decisions!). Anyway, Essence invades Roy's dreams to deter him by posing as people in Roy's life like Ollie, Hugo Strange (interesting), Killer Croc (Yep...), and his former dealer. Roy beats them all and wakes up refreshed and feeling great(I also wake up feeling great after I dream about beating up Killer Croc and Roy Harper's former dealer.  And Dan Didio.  That's a big one for me.) as he and Kory arrive at the All-Caste home base. They find Jason but he doesn't know who they are. The issue comes to a close as we see that Jason went there to get his bad memories, like Joker creating him(Boo-ya!!), removed, but instead S'aru removed them all.

Thoughts: Alright, well when I first read this issue, I hated it. I think we'd all agree that this team should be doing more things like The Outsiders did, more street level stuff with maybe a big power person to keep Starfire busy(Yeah, like in Judd Winick's AWESOME Outsiders run!). This team isn't the kind that belongs in Space or doing magical stuff, that's like Dick Grayson finding a Genie's lamp(Named Gene Nee!  HAHA!!!!!  Sorry, Inside joke...) or something. Jason and Arsenal work better as street level heroes doing street level things(Screw you and your logic, JT!  DC doesn't deal with that crap!). So when I saw this issue was about the All-Caste, I was disappointed because I expected to get away from that when Lobdell left the book. But while talking to X(Hey, that's me!), he pointed out that by erasing Jason's memories (we all know he's getting most of them back) that he can kind of retcon the stuff with Joker creating Jason, Jason's face almost being burnt off, as well as all of the All-Caste stuff(That X guy is a damn genius!!!  Seriously, that guy...  He should be named king of the universe or something.  He is the man!). Even if Jason doesn't forget that stuff, he was told by S'aru he wouldn't be welcome there anymore anyway, due to the fact erasing memories is against the All-Caste stands for. So, I'm reluctant but I'm pulling for Tynion to give me some good stories starring my namesake and his band of Outlaws(Well he sure can't do worse than Lobdell.  And that makes me happy.  Much like when people mention me in their reviews...  I like that sort of thing...).

Score: 6/10

Jason Todd: My butler would kick your ass all the way back to Gotham City.

Best of the Rest! Week of 3/20/13

Hey all, X here with his final post of the week.  Yes, it's time to take a look at the Best of the Rest!  This time with 100% more JT!  Yes, mi hermano, JT, will be pitching in this week.  Probably to bring the post quality waaaaay down... But at least I'm here to bring some respectability to the proceedings.  Huh, it probably wasn't that smart to insult JT right off the bat since he'll be closing this post out, and as such will get the last word...  If I was smarter I'd delete the insults...  Meh.  So here's how it'll work.  I'll post my thoughts on a few comics, JT will post his thoughts in a different color, and then JT will close things out.  Boom, simple.  Like JT!!!  HA!!!!  *ahem*  Anyway, let's get this bad boy rolling.

Daredevil #24:  This was actually the high-point of this week's BotR post...  Which doesn't bode well as we move forward...  Basically DD is inching closer to finding out who the mystery villain who has been putting the screws to him was.  Foggy learns that he had a rare type of bone tumor, and the doctors weren't sure if it had spread or not.  Yeah, this comic is great, no doubt.  Mark Waid has a little something for everybody here.  Heroes, villains, secret plots, some drama, AND mutated dogs!  What more could one ask for?!  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

X-Factor #253: We get some escalation in the Hell on Earth war, as the various devils begin to wage war upon each other on Earth.  Satana tries to kill Tier(because Satana is frigging AWESOME), but Tier chases her away.  Polaris decides the best course of action was to sic Tier on the Hell-Lords, since he can hurt them.  And Madrox is a demon thanks to Mephisto.  Sadly, this comic didn't really do it for me.  I mean it was all right and all, and I LOVE that Peter David showed that other heroes were involved in battling the demons, which you don't often see in a story like this, but the narrative was kind of spread all over the place...  We were in Mephisto's hell.  And on the streets.  And watching demons fight.  And in a hotel room.  It just didn't gel for me, which is very rare for this series.  But hey, I'm sure I'll be heaping praise on the next issue, so one not-so-good issue isn't a big thing.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Saga #11:  First things first, I LOVE the hell out of this series!!!  With that out of the way, I have to admit, this issue didn't really do it for me.  Basically Marco's father helped the group get away from the space baby, but at the cost of his life.  Marco and his mom naturally don't take the death well.  That's really the extent of the main storyline here.  I've got to admit, Marco's dad dying here was a bit disappointing.  I thought that character had some legs, and figured he'd slowly fade away as the issues progressed.  Instead he popped up a few issues ago and died.  If he would have stuck around a bit, the impact of his death probably would have been greater, but sadly, that's not what we got.  Even though this wasn't my favorite issue of this great series, it still wasn't bad, which shows you the quality of this title.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Invincible #101: So yeah, Eve is pregnant again.  This time though, she has a doctor who specializes in super-human biology, and learns that she can't use her powers while she's pregnant, which you KNOW will come into play down the road.  Robot hates Mark, Cecil hates Nolan, and Thragg hates everybody.  That about sums this one up.  I hate to sound like a broken record, but again, this issue just didn't hit the mark for me...  I don't know what the problem was, but I just never connected to this comic.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great...  Score: 6 out of 10.

Indestructible Hulk #5: Hulk manages to defeat Attuma with some help from Lemurian rebels.  Plus one of the Lemurians makes out with Hulk.  Here we go again, you know the song I'm gonna be playing...  I never connected with this issue...  Yep, again.  There was some good here, namely Attuma, who Mark Waid wrote brilliantly, but I never fell into this story.  It was okay.  But that's all.  Score: 6 out of 10.

Dark Avengers #188: Oh boy, this comic...  Um, the Dark Avengers are still trapped in an alternate Earth.  There's some sort of mystery there concerning AIM(I think...) and the Spider-Man of that world is worshiped as a god by the likes of Shang-Chi and Misty Knight...  But he gets killed by Tigra.  Oh, and Moonstone died, but came back over the course of this comic.  See, now this comic?  This comic was bad.  Not okay, just bad.  I was willing to go along for the ride at first, I've repeatedly stated that I love alternate dimensional tales, but this one simply isn't working for me.  Probably because we have like zero character development going on here. Seriously, I have NO reason to care about ANY of the Dark Avengers.  We REALLY need to get away from the main story here and shine a light on the characters on this team...  Score: 3 out of 10.

DC Universe Presents: Starfire #18: Basically we see Starfire as a slave, then free, then allowing herself to get caught so she can free more people. The former top dog that wanted to free everyone was jealous, so he attacked her and she sliced his hands off with his sword. Upon gaining the chance to free everyone, the slaves were so afraid of Starfire they just wanted her to go, which she did. So... useless story sadly, nothing really happened, if only it showed that Star's a tough S.O.B. and scares people. Sad thing is, Joe Keatinge's last issue that starred Roy Harper was pretty good. Score: 2/10

Captain Marvel #11: Captain Marvel's been diagnosed with a lesion on her brain that expands every time she flies, it's not fatal but if she continues to fly it'll wipe away her memories, so now she's using a hover-bike, which she hates. We find out that she has some mysterious man stalking her, and he's been sending a new Deathbird, dubbed Newbird by Carol to her apartment building. Carol heads off to find Newbird and engages her in a fight in the sky, with her hover-bike of course. This was a pretty good issue, Carol continues to be written likable and fun, and the story of her not being able to fly, after putting so much emphasis on her love of flying throughout the series has been great. Score: 7/10

Justice League #18: The League is looking for new members because a few of them are busy with their cities or ruling Atlantis. Possible recruits are Black Canary (She's on the BoP...), Black Lighting, Blue Demon, Element Woman, Firestorm, Goldrush, Nightwing, Vixen, Zatanna and Platinum of the Metal Men. Platinum goes crazy, predictably, and the League and candidates take her down, with the help of The Atom. By the way, Atom is a Hispanic woman now. The League ends up picking Atom, Firestorm and Element Woman over Vixen, Zatanna and Canary because they're stupid, and Nightwing isn't interested in joining. The issue ends with them finding out their recruitment files have been hacked, so someone has info on all these heroes now. Oops! I was flabbergasted that they didn't pick at least one of the three women I named... but whatever. That aside, this issue was kind of predictable, especially with Platinum's heel turn. Score: 5/10

New Avengers #4: With time running out until Earth crashes into another Earth, the Illuminati decide to go to the other planet and try to use their Infinity Gems to blow it up, since the Illuminati's Gems broke in the last issue. Once they arrive, they see on this planet the Statue of Liberty is replaced by a statue of the Master of Magnet himself, Magneto. They also see Galactus is already about to eat this planet, but instead of counting this as a win, they decide to fight his Thanos-like herald, because why not? This issue was fine and dandy until the weird ending where they decided to fight a villain on a planet that's dying... the same planet they came to destroy. Also, I was expecting more with the fallout of them mind-wiping Captain America but not too much came of that. Score: 6/10

Red Hood and the Outlaws #18: This is Lobdell's last issue of RHATO, and after surprisingly enjoying issue 19, I was looking forward to this issue. Jason came to the realization that the reason he has lashed out at Bruce and the rest of the family is because he was trying to escape his past, but he needs to embrace it instead of run away from it. We also find out his face is going to be fine in the future thanks to Alfred's handiwork. We end things with Jason finally waking up and he's about to apologize but Bruce cuts him off and hugs him as the issue ends. I really enjoyed this issue, Jason finally being welcomed back to the fold is something I've wanted for a while as a Jason Todd fan, so this issue was a huge plus for me. Plus it really made sense for Bruce, after losing Jason once, then losing Damian, I doubt he wants to risk being distant with Jason any longer. The only thing I really had a problem with was this being billed as "Requiem" issue and Damian was never mentioned once. Score: 9/10

And THAT'S how you do a best of the rest post! Not like that farce X did last week. Anyway, I can see this being a weekly thing if mi hermano is up for it, so we can knock out even more books, considering sometimes people want info on books we read but don't review. So, look forward to me guiding X like the giant idiotic man-child he is through these posts on a regular basis. So that's it for me, until my final review of the week tomorrow. So til then, for myself and X, this is JT, signing off!

Red Hood and The Outlaws #17

Hey guys, JT here(and X! Yep, I'm crashing another review!!) with my second review of the week, and it's Red Hood and the Outlaws! Now you all know how I feel about Lobdell's work as of late(hint: it sucks!!!), but I figured with him on his way out(huzzah!!!) and James Tynion IV on his way in, I'll read the last few issues as I await Tynion's work, so let's see how things work for Jason after the events of Death of The Family.

Red Hood and The Outlaws #17

Summary: This issue basically focused on Jason dealing with the fallout of the recent Joker events(Huh, that makes sense... In a Lobdell book!?  The hell?!?). He sends an automated car for Roy and Kory, to bring them to meet with him at Wayne Manor, as he goes around the house tying up loose ends. Jason talks to Damian for a bit about how he knows how Damian feels, trying to live up to the Robin legacy and basically tries to bond but Damian(his son!!!!!) doesn't wanna hear it from Jason and brushes him off. Roy and Kory arrive and are happy to see Jason, with Kory hugging Jason and flying him into the air while Damian and Roy waste no time insulting each other. Jason invites Kory in but she thinks she should wait outside, obviously not wanting to run into Dick, who confronts Jason upon his entrance and tells him to promise he'll watch over Starfire, to which Jason agrees(what is she, a stray cat or something?). From there Jason runs into Bruce in the Batcave, and tells Bruce that Superman said Bruce vouched for him, to which Bruce says he doesn't approve of Jason's methods but he can't argue with his results(Bruce would never say that!). Jason then asks Bruce is Joker was right about creating him(dammit Lobdell, stop with this already!), to which Bruce says Joker didn't make him, neither did Bruce, Jason made himself, which Jason seemingly takes to heart. Outside, Arsenal and Robin have finally stopped attacking each other, so Roy throws a football to Damian, and he blocks it, not knowing how to play catch...even though he played with Bruce in Batman and Robin... but... you know Lobdell doesn't read other people's stuff(HA! He took the joke right out of my mouth.). Jason also runs into Alfred, who basically tells him he always has a place in that home and he's always welcome there. As Jason leaves he finally puts on his helmet(big mistake), which he'd recovered from the batcave, and suddenly a hologram message from the Joker pops up on it. He says Jason played a joke on The Joker by coming back from the dead, and he's not laughing. He says since Jason is so determined to be his own man, he'll start him with a clean slate, and Jason's mask releases some kind of acid that burns Jason's face, causing him to scream which brings Arsenal, Starfire, Robin, Batman and Alfred running. The issue ends as Batman removes Jason's helmet, showing his face to be badly burned as a result of The Joker getting the last laugh(ugh...).

Thoughts: FINALLY! This is what I've wanted since Jason came back. We've seen Jason run into the family a few times, his quick team-up with Batman (Dick) and Robin pre-New 52, him helping out during Court of Owls and the Death of the Family storylines, although he mostly sat in the background with his arms folded, and his awesome reuniting with the other three Robins last year, right before Damian decided to challenge each Robin to prove he was the best. But this was the first time we got Jason at the manor, feeling like a part of the family. He got to play big brother to Damian, he had a talk with Dick and we got a bit more of the Dick/Starfire mystery fleshed out, he finally had a talk with Bruce, no helmet, no cowl, just Bruce and Jason talking, and Bruce, in his own way, kind of supported Jason. I will say it seemed kind of uncharacteristic for Bruce to say "I may not agree with your methods, but I can't argue with the results." to Jason, that seems more like something Bruce would think but never say(thank you!), but that aside, I enjoyed them finally talking. And the thing I've wanted since Jason came back after Under The Hood, we finally got to see him talking with Alfred, which was a great moment between those two when Alfred said with everything that's happened, Jason is still always welcome there(Damned Alfred! That's not his house, who's he to just invite people to live there!?). That's why I enjoyed this comic. I even enjoyed the stuff with Damian and Arsenal(not me, it didn't click like Steph and Damian, it felt kind of forced), as well as Joker getting the last laugh because it fits his character. I knew there was a possibility something would happen to Jason's face due to future solicitations and the fact Joker painted in his mask a few issues back, and while I'd hate if Jason is disfigured now or has to wear that helmet all the time now, so much stuff I liked happened in this issue, it's easy to ignore that for now and see what happens(check out JT! What an optimist!). All in all, I was happy to see Jason be a member of the family, and here's hoping it leads to him popping up more in Nightwing, Batman, and other things that make the character seem less like the black sheep of the group(But that's who he is, the black sheep of the group! I don't know if I'd want to see Jason turning into a mini version of Dick or Tim. But yeah, for a Lobdell comic, this was WAY better than I would have expected!).

Score: 7/10. 

Damian: That hat looks stupid. Who are you supposed to be, Redneck Man?
Arsenal: Name's Arsenal, and whats stupid, is a ten year old boy, who thinks I won't kick his ass because he's a ten year old boy.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #16

So yeah, this comic...  I don't even know what to say here...  I'll just say what I always say before I suffer through an issue of this series...  I love the characters Jason Todd and Roy Harper.  If not for them, I'd have dropped this series 12 issues ago.  Now you know what you're getting into here...  Read on at your own peril...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #16: 

Summary: This issue gets underway with the Teen Titans, along with Arsenal and Starfire, locking the Joker-fied hobos of Gotham City in a warehouse.  From there, Roy uses his spaceship to discover that the bums weren't fully Joker-fied yet(the hell?), as well as a place where Joker had stashed the cure to his Joker toxin...  Because he's a nice guy now or something...  Roy sends away everybody but Bunker to get the cure, while he and Bunker hung out near the warehouse waiting for the Joker-fied goons to break out.  Then Roy has a flashback to Killer Croc telling him to stay in AA...  Good lord, this CAN'T be happening..........  The heroes who went after the cure discover a mess of boxes helpfully labeled, "Cure", and are about to take them.  But wait!  The boxes are wired to explode when touched, so Kid Flash rushes his teammates out of the way of the explosion, before snagging the cure boxes.  The heroes return just before the Joker-fied hobos are ready to overcome Roy and Bunker, and Kid Flash injects them all with the cure, which Joker helpfully had in individually wrapped needles...  Really?!  Oh, and to make matters worse, the cure actually WORKS!  Why would Joker leave the cure to his...  You know what, never mind   So the heroes are triumphant.  Huzzah.  This issue ends with Joker painting a Red Hood helmet.

Thoughts: Yep, Scott Lobdell definitely wrote this comic...  It's always fun when a comic titled RED HOOD and the Outlaws doesn't even feature Red Hood...  At all...  Anyway, I'm honestly of the mindset that Lobdell is messing with everybody now.  That's the only explanation for the Killer Croc flashback here.  He must sit back and laugh at how utterly idiotic the whole thing is...  As for this issue, it was about as bad as I've come to expect from this series...  The explanation for Joker having the cure to his Joker toxin was that he was "probably going to use them(the cure) to hold the city hostage at some point!"  But if that's the case, why make a real cure?  Wouldn't a fake cure work just as well?  But then, why am I trying to make sense of this?  I think I'll just slowly shake my head and move on...

Score: 2 1/2 out of 10.

This has to be a big joke, right?  I mean it HAS to be!!

The Best of the Rest! September 19th edition.

So this was supposed to be the spot I posted my third and final review of the week, with JT closing out the comic week tomorrow with his third review.  But you see, I ended up posting my first review on Wednesday and throwing the whole schedule out of whack(cue JT saying something negative about me...).  Since I've already posted my three reviews for the week, and don't want to leave an empty day(I won't be the first one to do that, JT will!), how's about I cobble together a quick post about ALL of the comics I read this week!  Yeah, that'll work!  Since I didn't really read most of these books with the idea of reviewing them in mind, I don't have any number scores for them...  Instead, I'll use the good old thumbs up/thumbs in the middle/thumbs down system.  What the HELL is that, you ask?  Thumbs up means a comic scored somewhere in the 8 to 10 range, in other words, a good comic.  Thumbs in the middle would be around 5 to 7 1/2, or an okay to meh comic.  Thumbs down?  You guessed it, a comic that falls in the sub-5 range, you know, a bad comic.  I don't really know why I felt the need to explain that...  Oh no, I'm in one of those moods where I can't stop writing!  I'd better get to the meat of this post lest this intro goes on forever!!!

Let's see, we'll get started with Red Hood and the Outlaws #0...  JT pretty much summed up my feelings for this one with his review, so I really don't have all that much to say here...  I will say this though...  If not for the idiotic Joker reveal, I probably would have given this comic a thumbs in the middle.  As it is, it gets a thumbs down and likes it.

Avengers #30 was your basic Bendis/Avengers comic book.  Spider-Woman and Hawkeye discussed their relationship while fighting Mr. Negative's goons...  It was as exciting as it sounds.  Honestly, I wasn't sure what the hell Bendis was going for here, since Hawkeye hadn't actually done anything to wrong Spider-Woman...  Basically she was pissed that Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch MAY have unresolved feelings for each other...  Yeah..  If you like bad soap opera-esque comic books then THIS is the comic book for you!  For me, it was a thumbs in the middle, mainly because it(kind of) focused on Hawkeye, no matter how thin the story was.

Ah, finally a good one!  Daredevil #18 was probably the best comic I've read this week...  No, scratch that, it WAS the best comic I read this week, and if I was giving out scores this one would very likely get a perfect score.  Seriously, this issue was fantastic.  Mark Waid is(unsurprisingly) crafting a wonderful story here, as this issue actually makes the reader doubt DD's sanity.  The entire series has been seemingly building towards this storyline, and I have to say, this issue would be a great jumping on point for new readers...  Just sayin'...  Oh yeah, thumbs WAY up.

Next up is Dark Avengers #181.  All I can really say about this comic is that it happened...  I think I've reached the point now where I just want the Bad Bolts to return to the present and the Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts/whatever they're called to finish their mission.  Thumbs in the middle.

Rolling along it's Mighty Thor #20!  I don't know why I added an exclamation point to that, nor why I'm thinking out loud, but let's go with it...  This was another really good issue in the Everything Burns storyline(I really love that title, btw).  Asgardia is still being hammered by Surtur's forces and Thor is still down and out. However, there was a slight glimmer of hope for us Kid Loki fans, as this issue kind of makes you wonder if Loki betrayed Thor, as it seemed in the prior part of this storyline, or if Loki is actually planning on saving his brother.  I'll go thumbs up for this issue and fingers crossed on Kid Loki not going full blown villain.

New Mutants #49 had Nate Grey in it...  That's pretty much the only positive thing I can say about it...  Well, that and the fact that this issue ended the whole Evil Doug Ramsay from the future story.  I've never cared for Doug no matter how much Marvel tries to show he's more than a guy with sucky powers.  This story did nothing to change my opinion of Doug.  Thumbs down...  Sorry Nate...

Ultimates #15 was a comic I seriously considered giving a full review to, mainly due to the fact that it was getting mainstream press attention.  But as you can see, I decided against that course of action...  So yeah, anyway, this comic.  I have to admit that I enjoyed this one.  I've been enjoying the direction the Ultimate Marvel U has been going for a while now, and this was no exception.  This issue, especially in the way it was told, kind of perfectly led to the whole, "Captain America is the president now!" thing.  It didn't seem forced or anything, which was something I was afraid of.  And I can actually see Cap, especially the Ultimate version, ESPECIALLY considering the way things have been going in the Ultimate U, deciding to become the president.  It'll be very interesting to see how this experiment works out going forward.  For this issue though?  Thumbs up.

Oh god...  Not THIS comic...  Ugh, it's Venom #25...  I'm actually surprised, horrified and yes, a bit impressed at how quickly Cullen Bunn took this series from a book I always look forward to reading, to something I barely want to open...  Why would you want to add a supernatural element to this series?!  Who sat there and thought, "You know what this series is missing?  DEMONS!!!"  This is kind of like the mess that Scott Lobdell made out of Red Hood and the Outlaws, in that you take the lead character and put them in a situation that makes no sense...  I don't get why Daimon Hellstrom was used in this mess, I don't get why a battle between the Hell Lords is taking place in this series, I don't get any of it!  Hopefully things straighten out with the upcoming Minimum Carnage storyline...  Thumbs down.

And finally we arrive at X-Factor #244.  This was, as usual, a good, solid issue of this series.  It wasn't as good as some of the prior issues, but it was solid.  I will say this though...  I'm very curious to see where Peter David is going with this story...  He's really breaking the team apart here, it'll be interesting to see how things shake out and who's left standing.  Thumbs in the middle.

Sweet, I'm done!  That means I can go back to playing Borderlands 2!  Huzzah for me!  Until... Um, whenever the hell my next post is supposed to be, X out!

Red Hood and The Outlaws #0 Review/Rant

Hey guys, I'm, not going to give you any false hope. This is probably 20% review, 80% ranting. So if you're not up for that, I'd recommend ya skip this post. So, let's get to it so I can get out some of this anger.

Red Hood and The Outlaws #0

Summary: We start things off with Jason being born, to a red headed woman named Catherine Elizabeth and his father, Willis Todd. They have sex in an alley, which I guess leads to Jason's birth. Jason's life sucked because his dad was a petty criminal and his mom was a drug addict. Willis Todd eventually gets arrested so Jason has to watch after his apparently pregnant mom (?), until she apparently OD's. Jason then lives on the streets, steals, and gets beaten up one fateful night where he's nursed back to health by Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Jason, taking after his parents, steals some prescription drugs from her clinic when he's caught by Batman. Thompkins talks to Batman and convinces him not to take Jason in, and Jason is soon adopted by one of Thompkins rich friends, Bruce Wayne. After some time, Bruce tells Jason he's Batman for some reason, and trains him to take over the role of Robin, to which Jason excels at but plays a bit too rough for Bruce. One day, Jason uses the Batcomputer and comes across a photo of his mom, alive and well in the Middle East and heads out to see her. Three days later he arrives there, reconciles and finds out it was a trap by The Joker. Joker beats Jason with a crowbar and blows up Jason and his mother before Batman can arrive to save them.From there we see Jason buried and he says he eventually came back with use from the Lazarus pit and he says "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." After that, we see that the entire thing, Jason's dad being locked up, Jason's mother "over-dosing" when she was apparently in a state that looked like death thanks to a flower, Jason being found beaten by Leslie Thompkins, and Jason being taken in and eventually becoming Robin was all planned by The Joker, just so he could "giveth and taketh away" to Batman.


Thoughts: Fuck you, Scott Lobdell. For the last four years, Jason Todd has been my favorite comic book character. I've read every Jason appearance from a Death in The Family to now, I've had the highs of seeing Jason, a character everyone referred to as "The Worst Robin" have his own Animated Film with an AMAZING performance by Jensen Ackles that brought Jason to life so much so that when I read a Jason Todd comic I hear his voice. I've had the lows of seeing Jason become a crazy murderer thanks to Tony Daniel, a anthropomorphic blob with tentacles thanks to Devin Grayson, and a pimply faced, red haired goon thanks to Grant Morrison, and I would gladly take ANY of those over what you've done to Jason Todd in the last year. It's not enough you've had this ridiculous All Caste shit, Jason going on intergalactic dates, and not to mention the ridiculously stupid scene you wrote with Killer Croc and Arsenal (another favorite of mine), but now, you write this horrible issue that retcons the entire reason Jason was taken in by Batman, to tell us a story about how Jason's parents met and he was conceived from them having sex in an alley?! Then... on top of that, you tell me, that the reason Jason became Robin, was because of a plan from THE JOKER? The Joker... knows who knows Bruce Wayne is Batman sets out to make a kid so miserable and pitiful that Batman decides to take him in, tell him his secret, then make him Robin, while meanwhile, Catherine, his mother, who KNOWS SHE HAS A SON, is just fine with living in The Middle East for no apparent reason and not asking where her son and husband are. And then, Joker says, ah, enough time has passed, now I'll reunite them and blow them up... Nevermind the fact we apparently just skipped over the whole Jason robbing a store at gunpoint then beating up his colleague for shooting a woman story that was set up in Batman #0, there's no point in even MENTIONING that here.

I suppose this is my fault for giving Lobdell another chance after I finally gave up on this series months ago. He's succeeded in making me drop this and Teen Titans, and now, with an upcoming run in with the Joker next month, I should be looking forward to the next issue of this, and that issue SHOULD be written by the man that deserves to write it, Judd Winick, instead it's going to be written by a non-talented hack that isn't worthy of reading a Jason Todd comic, let alone writing one. This issue just solidified the fact that I will not read any comic Lobdell writes again, including this one. As for this rating, It doesn't even deserve one, if I have it anything it would only be for the great art, but Lobdell's writing has even made me unable to enjoy that. So in honor of Zero Month, I think that's what I'll give this comic.

Score: 0/10 

Me: I'd burn this comic but it's not worth the use of a match.

JT's Take: Red Hood and The Outlaws #10

Hey Todd Squad, today we're gonna see what's going on with Red Hood and the Outlaws. Jason's appearance in Batman and Robin reminded me how he should be written, so let's see if we got more of that in this issue.

Red Hood and The Outlaws #10

Summary: We start things off with some big monster dude standing over a sleeping Starfire and Arsenal in a hotel room. From there we see Jason coming home from a date with some chick. Suddenly, the big monster flies through the wall of the hotel, and Jason and his date leap out of the way. Jason puts his mask on and starts shooting at the monster, cause fuck a Secret Identity apparently. Turns out the monster dude is an alien and works for Starfire and is there to get her to come back to her planet of Tamaran for help. She agrees, but only if Jason and Roy join her, so they all get teleported to a ship by her people, who also bring Jason's date. Sigh.... I can't even pretend I care... this comic... which was 2.99... was TEN PAGES LONG. The actual Red Hood story, was 10 pages long... and the comic had a back-up about Essence that was six pages long.


Thoughts: What the fuck, Lobdell? You have Jason Todd, Former Robin, Snarky character, full of potential, Roy Harper, excellent character, potential comedy character, and a hell of a fighter, and Starfire, who has ties to both and is an alien powerhouse. You can also probably pick up any other characters you want, DC isn't using Cass Cain, Wally, Grace Choi, and other great characters that are free, so.... HOW DO YOU CONTINUE TO FUCK UP THIS BOOK?! If Bryan Q. Miller or Judd Winick were writing this book, it would be the best team book coming out of DC. Instead, we get this. Stories about a magic group called the All Caste, The Unwritten, and stories where Jason Todd is either killing police officers with no mask on in front of towns people, or opening fire in the middle of a city and putting a mask on. Did you forget he's fucking famous?! Did you forget he was Bruce's ward, so he's PROBABLY been on TV with Bruce a few times. I've forgiven some of the stupid shit you've done with Jason pulling a sword out of nowhere, the Killer Croc incident with Roy, the stupid storyline with Cruz or whatever the guy who hated Starfire's name was, and everything else, but I'm done with it. You've sucessfully taken a team I was excited for, that had two of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, even when they were a red-headed pimply jerk thanks to Morrison, and a one armed Junkie thanks to Robinson and Krul, and you've made me not want to read about them.

Seeing how well Jason was written by Tomasi last week showed me how horrible he's been written since the reboot started, and to top it off, after ruining this book, as well as Teen Titans, which i dropped months ago, they've reward Lobdell by having him write Superman?! I'm done. As much as I want to support a Jason Todd series, as well as Arsenal, I'm done. I hated this story, and I won't see how it, or any of that All-Caste shit ends. I'm done reading Red Hood and the Outlaws, until they get a new, more competent writer.

Score:  N/A

Me: Fuck you, Scott Lobdell.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #9

So the Nightwing issue of the Night of Owls was okay, let's see if the Red Hood issue can go higher than just okay...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #9:

Story Points:
-The Court of Owls have targeted Mr. Freeze, so Red Hood sends Arsenal & Starfire to save Freeze from the Talons...
-Freeze doesn't appreciate the help.
-As for Jason, he gets to face a Talon who ends up leading Jason to an abandoned circus area.
-The Talon and Jason have a heart to heart about having died and starting over again...
-Really!
-In the end, the Talon doesn't appreciate it's half-life and asks Jason to kill it. Jason does as asked.
-After some difficulty, Arsenal and Starfire save Freeze from the Talons, knock him out and drop him off at the GCPD.

Thoughts: Huh... I don't know about the way Scott Lobdell wrote that Talon here... That was pretty weird... All of the Talons prior to this were pretty much one-minded, emotionless machines programed to follow the Court's orders... Except for this Talon, who wasn't... Like I said, it was weird. For the most part this was a good issue, but that stuff with the Talon really bugged me...

Score: 7 out of 10.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #8

Oh boy... It's time for me to check out the latest issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws... This series? Out of ALLLLL the comics I read? This is the one I WANT to enjoy the most. I so desperately WANT to love this comic book... It should be so good, and yet, thus far, for me anyway, it just isn't. Well, ever the eternal optimist, here's hoping THIS is the issue that turns it all around...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #8:

Summary: We kick things of here with a bit of a backstory concerning Jason. After leaving the All-Caste, he decided to take over the crime families of Hong Kong to make some money that he would use to kill the Joker(what happened there?) and pester Batman for NOT killing the Joker. Needless to say, the crime families of Hong Kong weren't exactly pleased at the idea of an American teenager taking over their racket so they try to kill him. Repeatedly. And fail. Repeatedly. In the end, Jason had gotten the money that he wanted and was planning on leaving, which was when Suzie Su arrived to pick up the pieces. Why are we learning all of this? Because a few issues back Jason shot Suzie(but didn't kill her), so she went to Gotham with some of her goons and has taken the entire children's ward of Gotham General Hospital hostage. Red Hood, Arsenal and Starfire sneak into the hospital and while Arsenal and Star kill Suzie's goons, Hood confronts Suzie by himself. That goes about as you'd expect, considering the fact that Jason is a highly trained fighting machine and Suzie is a morbidly obese woman. In the end, Jason gets Suzie at the point of his gun and asks if she could ever let her vendetta against him go. She tells him no, so he shoots her in the head. From there, Jason gets the call that Alfred put out to all members of the Bat-family in Batman #8, asking for assistance against the Court of Owls. Hood doesn't plan on getting involved until he is asked specifically by Red Robin(?!). It turns out the two have a really good, almost brotherly, relationship going on behind Batman's back(as if ANYTHING goes on behind Batman's back!), so Hood decides to stay in Gotham to help out. His target during the Night of the Owls? Mr. Freeze.

Thoughts: Well I'll be damned! A good issue of this series! Huzzah!!! Yeah sure, it wasn't great, Hood and the Outlaws were more murderers than heroes and the villain of the piece blew chunks(Suzie Zu, the morbidly obese Hong Kong mobster? Really?), but it WAS good! And the ending was, dare I say it? Great! See what happens when you get away from all of that All-Caste/Untitled crap? Jason Todd is such a good character that even with a crappy opponent like Suzie Su, he CAN rise to the top. So this issue told us definitively that yes, Jason WAS killed by the Joker in the post-reboot DCU(we still don't know how though), and that he still has at least one ally in the Bat-family, and an unlikely one at that, in Red Robin. Yeah sure, it would have been nice if this info came out 6 or 7 issues ago or so, but hey, better late than never, right?

Score: 7 out of 10.

Um, not to be a jerk and all, but can somebody explain to me why/how Jason's helmet is so expressive?

Red Hood and the Outlaws #7

Alright, two reviews tonight, both from DC. First off, it's the comic book that stars two of my absolute favorite DC characters(at least pre-reboot...). Unfortunately, that fact hasn't exactly led to really good stories... Here's hoping THIS is the issue that Scott Lobdell gets it all together and the awesomeness finally ensues.

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.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #6

One more comic on tap for tonight, and, to be 100% honest, I'm not sure why it's this high up in my comic pile... I mean I'm a huge fan of the Red Hood and all, but going by the past 5 issues, I can't imagine this issue will score over a 7... Oh well, let's cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #6:

Summary: This issue is exactly what it says on the cover, the first meeting between Jason Todd and Starfire... I bet you can guess how it ends! Anyway, Jason destroys a submarine that was trying to smuggle a nuke into Miami. He's knocked out by the explosion and is found by Starfire, who nurses him back to health. Jason rapidly realizes that Starfire knew Nightwing(really well!) after she offers him some of Dick's old clothes. Jason declines Nightwing's duds, and instead decides to wear pants that look strangely like Lex Luthor's. From there, Jason reveals his connection to Dick and Batman to Starfire, who doesn't care. The two presumably sleep together(a lot I'd imagine), before Jason sees a news report that stated that Arsenal was going to be killed by terrorists in Qurac. With that, Jason and Starfire head off to save Roy.

Thoughts: Eh. This was what it was, a filler issue... BUT, it was one of those rare cases where, while it was a filler issue(as evidenced by the fact that it wasn't scripted by series writer, Scott Lobdell), it was a filler issue that helped fill us in on some of the past of the new DCU... Which is something ALL of the DC books should consider doing! We get to see Jason as Robin interacting with Nightwing, we get to see Starfire, Nightwing and Arsenal working together, we get to see Nightwing and Starfire together, we get to see the meeting between Jason and Batman after Jason's return to life, and more! And all of this is shown in little flashback sequences. Yeah, the Jason/Starfire stuff on the island offered nothing in the grand scheme of things since we knew a) they'd become intimate at some point, and b) they'd end up heading off to rescue Arsenal in the end. But those little flashback scenes made this issue well worth a read since it actually shined some light on the murky darkness that most of the DCU's past contains.

Score: 7 out of 10.

I'd REALLY like to read the storyline where Jason returns and attacks Bats in the post-reboot DCU...

A Quick Look At... Red Hood and the Outlaws #5

Here's a series that's been surprisingly bad considering the character in it... Let's see if things pick up here.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #5:

What Happened: Arsenal arrives on the scene to assist Starfire against Crux, and the two of them manage to take the mutated freak down. Meanwhile, Red Hood kills the member of the Untitled he'd been battling for the past issue or so, but doing so causes the Untitled to revert back to human form(why?). Naturally the townspeople see the aftermath of the battle and chase after Hood with pitchforks and rifles... Yes, really. Hood rendezvous with Starfire and Arsenal with a mess of angry yokels hot on his heels.

Thoughts: Yep, we hit rock bottom here. This was definitely the worst issue of this series thus far. Five issues in and we still don't know what the deal is between the Untitled and the All-Caste, or who broke the truce between the two groups. Hell, the bad guys here, the Untitled, don't even seem to know who broke the truce! This comic is a confusing mess, plain and simple. Really, since you have two street-level heroes, why are we dealing with monsters, magic swords and immortal old women? On the plus side, as usual, the artwork was very good.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Don't ask me. I have NO clue what's happening here!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #4

Well, this comic can't be as bad as the first DC book I read tonight... At least I hope not!!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #4:

What Happened: While Red Hood and Arsenal are battling against a member of The Untitled(who I'm still a bit foggy on...), Starfire is attacked by a big green guy named Crux. During the fight, Crux reveals his origin story(as any good super-villain should), which is basically that a Tamaranean warship crash landed on his parents and killed them, causing him to devote his life to destroying any Tamaraneans who came to Earth. The two battle for a while, but Crux realizes that he can't defeat Starfire and seemingly goes to escape... Or does he?!? In actuality, Crux leads Starfire to a massive Tamaranean... um, something, and the... um, big Tamaranean thing does something not so good to Starfire. Crux smugly tells Starfire that she was now human(or something) before leaving. As for Hood and Arsenal, they basically only manage to piss off The Untitled which leads to the duo beating a hasty retreat. It's at that time Arsenal spots the explosion from Starfire coming in contact with that big Tamaranean thing. Arsenal wants to go to help Starfire, but Hood knows he has to stop The Untitled, so the two split up, with Arsenal going to check on Starfire and Hood remaining behind to battle against the powerful Untitled on his own.

The Good: I'm always happy whenever I see Starfire get smacked around. Sorry folks, I don't like her. Roy Harper and Jason Todd were in this issue, so that definitely equals good to me. I really like the artwork in this series... The cliffhanger was a good one that has me interested in the upcoming issue. Crux is a character I wouldn't mind seeing again.

The Bad: I STILL don't fully get what the hell is going on with the All-Caste and the Untitled... While I enjoyed all of the fight scenes and stuff, I just don't get what the deal is with the main story... If Jason kills this Untitled, then what? Does that mean he avenged the All-Caste? Does he continue going around killing the rest of the Untitled? I just don't get it...

The Verdict: Even though I don't get the main storyline here, this WASN'T a terrible comic book... I enjoyed the fight scenes, I just don't get what the mission here is... While Teen Titans and Superboy are slowly starting to come together and make sense, Scott Lobdell hasn't grabbed me yet with this series. But that's cool, as a huge fan of Jason, I'm here for the long haul. Whether I know what's going on or not!

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.I can tell you from past experience that a sight like that is NEVER a good thing!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3

Next up is the first DC comic I'll be reading this week... Basically the only thing this comic has going for it is the characters in it, as I haven't enjoyed the story one bit. Will that change with this issue? Well I sure as hell hope so, but since this is DC we're talking about, I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3:

What Happened: Red Hood and his gang(do two followers make a gang?) make their way into the secret chambers of the All-Caste to try and catch the Untitled who killed the All-Casters. Before entering the secret chambers, the Outlaws have to leave their best memories with some 4,000 year old boy... Uh-huh... Anyway, the Outlaws end up battling a giant monster in an effort to reach a clue that the Untitled left for Red Hood that would lead him to the Untitled. While the Outlaws are battling the monster, the 4,000 year old is looking through their prized memories. For the record, Starfire's was killing a guard who was watching her after she had been captured, Arsenal's was Killer Croc talking him out of suicide(WTF?!?) and Red Hood's was spending time with Bats back when he was still Robin. Anyway, the trio manage to defeat the monster and get the clue(a snowglobe of Colorado) and leave, getting their memories back, except for Jason, who didn't want his.

The Good: Since we got some action here, the painful dialogue was turned down a bit. Roy seemed like less of a tool here. The prized memories was a novel way to do an origin story.

The Bad: We still don't know anything about this Untitled nor much about the All-Caste. Who exactly was the 4,000 year old and why wasn't he killed by the Untitled? The prized memories were all pretty lame. The story here is just plain confusing...

The Verdict: Eh. That sums up my thoughts on this one in a nutshell. I mean it was kind of cool to see the Outlaws in their pasts, but the story here is still a major letdown. Don't get me wrong, I WANT to like a series that stars Jason Todd and Roy Harper. I really do. But thus far this series hasn't done it for me.

Score: 6 out of 10.Really?

Red Hood and the Outlaws #2

For the first time this week, let's take a gander at what DC has to offer... This is one of the few DC comics that are safe no matter how badly the series is, so that's good... I guess...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #2:

What Happened: We get a few snippets from Jason's past and learn that yes, he WAS still beaten to death by Joker, that he was returned to life for reasons that nobody understood(good old DC...) and that Talia DID toss him into a Lazarus Pit to fix him up. He was taken in and trained by the All Caste to become a better fighter(thanks to Talia). Back to the present, Jason, Roy and Starfire head to the former location of the All Caste's base, where they only find dead bodies and zombies. Roy and Starfire deal with the zombies and Jason talks to the ghost of his old teacher, who tells him the one responsible for the carnage was the Untitled. Needless to say, avenging shall commence next issue.

The Good: Roy and Jason still star in this series, so that's still good. I enjoyed the parts of this story that took place in Jason's past. The art is vibrant.

The Bad: Roy's dialogue annoyed me here, and I usually love Roy... This story is doing NOTHING for me. There really wasn't anything new here, which is weird since this was the second issue of a brand new series. I mean this issue basically ended the exact same way issue #1 ended...

The Verdict: To be honest with you, if Roy and Jason weren't the stars of this comic I would have probably scored it 1, maybe 2 full points lower. I disliked this comic that much. It was just Roy acting immature and spouting bad dialogue, Jason having flashbacks and Starfire... well, I have no clue why she's even here since she seems disinterested in everything going on around her and since she didn't actually DO anything of note in this one. Yeah, this was a pretty big disappointment...

Score: 6 out of 10.So wait, Roy got his arm back but is also one of the more annoying characters in comics now? That's a weird trade off...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

First things first. For those of you who are new around here, I am X, and I have a sidekick fetish... Hey, at least I'm man enough to admit it... Yeah sure, I enjoying reading series's about first-string heroes such as Batman and Spider-Man, but my favorite characters always wind up being secondary characters or sidekicks. That's why THIS is the series I was most looking forward to when the DC reboot was first announced. It stars two of my favorite sidekicks/b-list DC characters, Roy Harper and Jason Todd. So if I enjoy this series, all is right in my world. If I DON'T enjoy it though... Well, let's just hope it doesn't come down to that...

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1:

What Happened: We start things off with the Red Hood or Jason Todd if you prefer, breaking Arsenal(that would be Roy Harper) out of confinement in the Middle Eastern country of Qurac. The two used to be allies, Roy got himself captured and Jason deiced to help his old buddy out. The rescue goes smoothly, until the duo run into a bunch of tanks. Luckily for Roy and Jason, Starfire is on Jason's side(in more ways than one...) and takes the tanks out. From there, the trio head to an island to kick back and relax for a few weeks. Jason is met by some strange woman named Essence and is told all sorts of cryptic stuff about something called the All Caste. Bottom line, somebody was murdered and Essence was asking Jason to avenge the death(or something along those lines). While Roy and Starfire are playing hide the arrow(heh...), Jason heads off to see what had happened to the All Caste. Jason finds a deceased elderly woman and while he is mourning her, he is suddenly confronted by some zombies.

The Good: It's frigging Jason Todd and Roy Harper! There's your good right there!! Scott Lobdell nailed the characterizations here. Roy was Roy again(thank god) and Jason was pretty much himself as well. The breakout portion of the story was well done and a lot of fun. Essence seems like she could be an interesting character. There also seems to be a backstory building with Starfire and some guy from Chicago.

The Bad: The second half of this story was pretty confusing. I didn't like the lips on Jason's helmet.

The Verdict: Hey, Lobdell didn't mess this up! My week is bound to be great now! I am a bit worried about newbies to these characters/this series who may have been turned off by the confusing second part of this issue, but as a fan of both Roy and Jason I'd implore people to stick it out with this series. If the story catches up to the characterizations here, this series should be nearly perfect! Whew... And to think I was worried about the way this issue was gonna turn out...

Score: 9 out of 10.Huh, Starfire is STILL a whore, even after the reboot...