[ RED HOOD REBIRTH ] |
TO QUOTE Ralph Waldo Emerson: “We gain the strength of the temptation we resist“.
THE REVIEW:
Jason's street cred among the criminals of Gotham has shot up the rankings quite recently, especially since he successfully staged an assassination attempt on the Mayor’s life, before getting himself into a battle with Batman. Now, as the most infamous criminal in town, he has free access to some of the vilest places in the city, where he can gather all kinds of useful information to help him on his crusade.
For reasons of his own Jason has set his sights on the biggest
fish around: Roman “Black Mask” Sionis, the most powerful and evil crime boss
in the city. Making one hell of a first impression, Jason manages to find
employment with Roman but discovers things are much more complex than he
initially thought, and maybe, just maybe, Roman could have a point with his antics.
You might be thinking, “Why? There’s no thunder in this issue whatsoever!”. The answer is simple, dear reader! Jason is the eponymous thunder. Since page one he’s pulling all kinds of incredible feats that leaves the audience with no other option than to stare in awe at his actions, eager to have more and more.
Lobdell keeps the momentum from the
explosive Rebirth one-shot by delivering another high octane, action filled
issue that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Whereas the Rebirth one-shot
focused on giving us the low down on Jason’s past, thus setting up his new
status quo, this issue begins to fill the gaps in Jason’s story and sends him
head-on into his new mission.
Once again I’m surprised by Lobdell. This
time he has brought back a very old character, that, despite being deeply tied
to Jason’s own origin, has been forgotten by pretty much everyone: Fay “Ma”Gunn. The “grandma of crime” makes a surprise return as one of the leads that
point Jason towards Black Mask’s operation, and in just a couple of pages,
Lobdell gives her more depth than in all of her previous appearances back in
the 80s. She goes from a two-dimensional villain into someone who's able to
leave a huge mark on Jason whilst owning a pretty twisted but honorable moral
code.
On a similar note, under Lobdell’s pen Black Mask is a pretty
different character compared to some of his previous iterations. Gone is the amusingly
short tempered crime boss from Under The Red Hood, as well as the sadistic monster from War Games.
This version of Roman is smart, elegant, and incredibly prideful, like he was during the Doug Moench and Kelley Jones run on the Batman solo comic. If Red Hood
is Batman’s twisted reflection, Roman is Bruce’s. This change in tone makes Black Mask
raise his threat considerably and adds a new layer of complexity to his dynamic
with Jason. Especially since Mask is on the look out for a new heir and he
finds Jason as a worthy candidate.
On the whole the series continues to be
Jason's one-man-show, but on the final page of this book, surprise-surprise, one of his future
teammates finally makes her great debut: Artemis, from the amazons. Her appearance is short yet she leaves quite
the impression, and I'd say Lobdell certainly didn’t disappoint with her introduction as it left me wishing this series were bi-weekly.
While Lobdell’s script is wonderful, it
wouldn’t be the same without Soy’s fantastic art and Gandini’s exquisite
coloring. Together they craft some stunning visuals that give a very cinematic
feeling to the series, directly making Jason feel like this bigger-than-life
character, in the same vein as other great action heroes from cinema. Whilst
doing this, they also include small details in the panels -- like Jason
offering his jacket to Ma Gunn, or eating cheap take-out while keeping tabs on
Roman -- that serve to humanize Jason and make him more relatable to the
audience.
Gandini continues her approach of washed
out colors during the flashback sequences, adding an intense hue of red to make
Jason distinctive in every scene. If the final pages of this issue are any
indication, this approach will continue even as Artemis and Bizarro join the
book. By highlighting specific elements on their costumes, each character becomes foreign
elements in the frame, ensuring the reader’s attention will always be focused
on them. A pretty novel approach that perfectly blends with Soy’s anime
inspired art. Together, they turn this series into one of the most unique
visual offerings from the Rebirth initiative.
THE MUSIC:
For this issue, I could only pick one song to match it up with: The AC/DC classic, Thunderstruck!!
You might be thinking, “Why? There’s no thunder in this issue whatsoever!”. The answer is simple, dear reader! Jason is the eponymous thunder. Since page one he’s pulling all kinds of incredible feats that leaves the audience with no other option than to stare in awe at his actions, eager to have more and more.
As soon as we open the book we are greeted by
non-stop action, and then, as we continue to advance through the story, the
stakes only keep going higher and higher, shocking us with the actions our talented
creative team have Jason perform. As I
said above, there’s only one thing I can pick for this comparison, thunder.
THE CONCLUSION:
Lobdell’s clever script, Soy’s fantastic
pencils, and Gandini’s exquisite colors, smoothly blend together to create a memorable
issue that not only propels forward Jason’s story, but also perfectly sets the
stage to introduce the first member of this new team of Outlaws. Definitely, an issue
you can’t let pass.
RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS #1
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
September 05, 2016
Rating:

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