Red Hood and The Outlaws #3

The first two issues of "Red Hood" were good, not great, essentially good enough to keep reading. Issue number thee however, was awesome. In an upset, this comic was better than both Batman and Nightwing, exploring the inner-selves of Roy, Jason, and Kori, while also telling a great adventure for the trio to retrieve ...a snowglobe?

In order for them to retrieve this artifact (calling it a snowglobe makes the story sound silly, it's not, it's a cool quest). They have to each give up their most cherished memory as collateral to "Saru the Proctor" in exchange for their journey to find the artifact. Saru takes a peak at Roy's and Kori's cherished memories, knocking Kori for her overly-violent memory being her most-cherished, and Roy for having too much sympathy.



While these two memories help further establish the state of mind of our two back-up characters, it's the memory belonging to Jason that really hits home. I'm not going to spoil it, but my favorite Bruce moments are when he acts like a loyal, loving family man instead of brooding...well, bat. It humanizes him in a way nothing else can. And in this issue, it humanizes him some more.

But what's more telling about this memory is that Jason has chosen to leave this memory behind, telling Saru to keep it. Jason has obviously turned his back on the Bat-family once and for all, and has no interest in getting it back. On the other hand, something about the Bat-family still intrigues him because he wears a bat-symbol on his armor. As always, Jason is a huge contradiction.

What I enjoyed: This issue worked on deep levels, on shallow levels, and those oh-so-tough in-between conversations. Also, I love Rocafort's art, one really can't complain about anything in this issue, also, great teaser for issue #4, where the story of why they're outlaws is told!

What I didn't: I wish Saru's relavance to the All Caste would have been better explained. Who exactly is he? It doesn't seem like an intentional mystery, it just seems like Scott Lobdell didn't feel like fleshing him out any more.

Conclusion: Comic of the week! Admittedly I haven't read any truly amazing, A-level work this week. 8.6/10 (B).