Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

Sorry these "Robin" posts have been lagging. M. Deanpool has been playing catch-up for some time now. Enjoy this one on Jason Todd, the second Robin!

Jason Todd's first time putting on the Robin suit

Jason Todd just might be the most controversial out of all the Robins. Known to be a troublemaker (his first encounter with Batman was when he tried stealing the wheels off the Batmobile), Batman took him in and trained him to be a Robin after Dick Grayson’s departure as a way to help the young street orphan from becoming a criminal.

Pre-New 52

Death in the Family

However, in the Batman #426-429 "Death of the Family" run, comic readers everywhere actually saw the death of Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker (he was brutally beaten and left to die in an explosion). Fun Fact: In the issue before Jason’s death, there was actually a hotline number at the end of the issue (younger readers are probably like wtf is a hotline number) where readers could call and actually vote on whether to keep Jason Todd alive or kill off his character. Yeah, it’s safe to say JT (not Justin Timberlake) wasn’t perceived well by the fans. Okay, Deanpool corrected me, Jason Todd was initially popular but his origin was revamped by Max Allan Collins. This revamped version was not received well. Nevertheless, he makes his return as the badass in the red helmet as one of M. Deanpool’s favorite anti-heroish character, Red Hood. Fun Fact: Jason Todd is actually the second Red Hood, the first one... well read here for yourself. Be warned it's a bit of a spoiler, and quite surprising.  He has all of Batman’s training as a Robin, but does the dirty work that Batman can’t do like actually killing the bad guys with lethal force and slingin’ guns. You can get a better picture by watching Batman: Under the Red Hood (it really is a great movie). 

Evolution of Jason Todd.

So there's a brief summary of Jason Todd pre-New 52 without this turning into a full-on Character Spotlight. Let's move into Jason Todd/Red Hood in the New 52 universe.

New 52

Jason Todd finally gets a break and becomes someone the readers can root for. The Under the Red Hood movie probably helped his case in more ways than one, but nevertheless we get to see Jason Todd lead a team in his own series. Less of the anti-hero feel, and putting him on a title with the word "Outlaw" in it is as fitting as it gets. He gets to be a lead character, he gets to have his own agenda, he gets to lead a team, and he gets to stay a bad ass.

Now as far as what stayed in continuity from pre-New 52 (a lot of this intel came from the 0 issue of the Red Hood and the Outlaws series, not the first issue reviewed below): Batman meets Jason stealing medicine from a Leslie Thompkins, after she had treated him from a violent beating. There's also a massive retelling of his origins tying in Joker into all the major events of Jason's life: his father's imprisonment and death, mother's overdose, introduction to this Leslie Thompkins character, and his adoption of the Robin identity. Well, Joker is the one narrating this particular issue so it's debatable if any of it is true. Also his resurrection (after his death as Robin) is simplified to Talia al Ghul putting him into the Lazarus Pit.

Okay, time for the review of Jason Todd's first issue.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1- First off, it sounds like the name of a country band. 

Now pair Jason Todd with Roy Harper aka Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow (whatever he wants to go by, expect a Spotlight on this guy) who became a depressed alcoholic (that and he was addicted to heroin in the 1970s, it was quite controversial) after Green Arrow kicked him out of his sidekick position. No wonder these two became good friends. The whole issue actually starts with Jason breaking Roy out of a Middle Eastern prison (that’s about all the action you get in the whole issue). The start of a great friendship, right? And the third of member of these “outlaws” is Koriand’r aka Starfire. The key difference in her origin is that she was sold away to slavery by her sister in order to save her alien home planet of Tamaran. Other than that, she seems to have the same background story, but has suddenly forgotten about it or merely suppressed the memories of her “old gang,” the original Teen Titans. And yeah there was some controversy (this post is all about controversy huh?) about Starfire appearing more like a sex object than a key female character in the story. Blah blah she’s an alien from a different culture, so comic readers like Deanpool don’t really care, just keep it away from younger readers if it’s that big of a deal and we’re good! As far as the rest of the issue, there's the action prison scene in the beginning but after that it's all dialogue and excellent artwork for the rest. Couple mysterious characters that are likely meant for a bigger story arc but we'll keep things within the frame of this issue. Looks like this issue's purpose was to intro the main players, showoff some of the dynamics between the characters, and briefly touch upon their new origins. Of course, all these are probably further explored as the series goes along.

Deanpool doesn't see the problem with Starfire. She looks good to him.

Jason Todd breaking out Roy Harper

Roy and Starfire bout to get it on.

While it’s unclear what the purpose of this group of anti-hero Teen Titans, there are still some qualities that show promise from this series. We see two male, dynamic lead characters who were in need of a clean slate, or in this case a reboot. Not the typical Red Hood and Arsenal who were always on the fence of villain or hero pre-New 52, they now have more solid roles as good guys we can cheer for. Starfire, on the other hand, gets a complete reboot with the relaunch as she is portrayed more cold and hostile. Her alien nature is exaggerated as she is much more distant from humans than we are accustomed to seeing her in shows like Teen Titans. Also her mind is practically completely wiped from that era’s Titans and doesn’t recall anybody from the old team, even Dick Grayson (who she kind of had a thing with). Oh, and she’s drawn in an incredibly exaggerated sexual nature. Actually her sexual nature is emphasized as a more sexually liberated character. Basically she sleeps with both Jason and Roy (separately) in one issue. In order for this trio of outlaws to gain some popularity and readers, this series is going to have to define more of a purpose for this group in the bigger New 52 universe. If nothing else, fall back on the Batman family crossovers or maybe even Green Arrow.

Overall, potential for a good series as long as the characters gain some purpose. First issue didn't give readers a lot to look forward to, but features a great cast that should come up with some interesting storylines. Also the artwork is great. Deanpool says 7/10.

Jason Todd gets Dick's hand-me-downs.