Review: Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1- Dark Trinity

Quick Summary

Pros: The formation of the Outlaws is entertaining and organic. Bizarro is adorable and funny. The artwork and colors are great.

Cons: The Black Mask storyline is a little generic.

Overall: Great artwork combined with heartfelt storytelling turns this book into something that anyone can appreciate. Each individual member of the Outlaws is great on their own, but together they provide a wonderful story of friendship and heroics. Plus, abundant humor and touching character moments pervade this work, keeping readers constantly entertained. This is a great story and one of the best Red Hood books in recent memory; do yourself a favor and give it a try.

Story

In Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: Dark Trinity, writer Scott Lobdell takes Jason Todd and gives him the supporting cast and plotline that he truly deserves. This is a wonderful story about a group of outcasts coming together and doing something amazing. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that these particular outcasts have personalities that work perfectly together, providing humor and heart in almost any situation they are put in. Though the Black Mask portion of the story is only average, the real focus of this book is on the Outlaws and that part of the book is excellent.

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The book starts out with Red Hood taking on a position with the supervillain Black Mask. His plan is to infiltrate Black Mask’s organization to learn about and dismantle a large operation they have on the horizon. This portion of the story is alright for the most part but really doesn’t do anything too special or unique.

This changes when Artemis is introduced. Right off the bat, she and Red Hood have fantastic chemistry as friends, even if they start their relationship off with a fight. Their banter is enjoyable, their personalities clash in a way that creates a good deal of humor, and their “outlaw” status lines up nicely. Lobdell starts off the new Outlaws well and the third member isn’t even added yet.

The third member, Bizarro, is added almost immediately after Artemis and Jason meet. Black Mask wants to use him as a living weapon, but Jason sees something more in him. The two start to bond and create an incredibly touching relationship. Bizarro is simple, yet in this simplicity is very sweet. This creates a relationship between the two akin to George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men or Rocket Raccoon and Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. It is heartfelt and touching in a way that too few comic book relationships seem to be.

All of this character development and relationship building crystalizes in the book’s finale, where Artemis and Jason have to stop Black Mask from taking over Bizarro’s mind. Their success solidifies the team as friends and helps set a tone that the rest of the series can follow. With the Outlaws’ relationship being the best part of this volume, having it already established should make the next volume even better.

The ending also sees Jason give Black Mask a surprisingly dark punishment. He cripples the villain and puts him in the tortuous care of one of his own enemies. I could see this being controversial with some readers, however I liked how this was handled. Jason isn’t a perfect vigilante like Batman; his darkness is his unique twist.

Outside of the book’s main narrative is a personalized story about Jason Todd. Flashbacks to his time as Robin bookend the story and seek to further his relationship with Batman. In Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review) Lobdell proved that he can write a great Batman/Red Hood story, so hopefully this is something this series will continue in the background.

The only downside to this volume as a whole would have to be the Black Mask storyline. It simply feels too generic and uninspired to really do much on its own. It is also a little odd in the middle of the story, when Black Mask makes excuses for everything that Jason does. These actions are too unbelievable and alert the reader to Black Mask’s betrayal long before it actually happens. The plus side is that this story is mostly just the background upon which the story of the Outlaws coming together is set, so it does not bring down the overall quality of the volume.

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Art

In our review of Red Hood/Arsenal Vol. 2: Dancing with the Devil’s Daughter (found here), we specifically talked about how nice it was to have Dexter Soy step in as an artist for the series. His more serious and realistic art style matched the “outlaw” vibe of the series and helped in establishing the perfect tone for the work. The way Soy plays with light and shadow also brings a cinematic quality to the title, something that makes the book feel like a big-budget action flick. This praise carries over into this volume of Red Hood and the Outlaws, where Soy steps in as artist for the entire series.

However, Soy’s artwork isn’t the only thing that makes this book look good; Veronica Gandini’s colors bring the book to a whole new level. Her darker tones are what really bring out the essence of Gotham City and each character. It gives the book a personality and then transmits this personality into something that compliments the story.

In addition, this book’s frequent use of flashbacks offers another opportunity for Gandini’s colors to shine. Each flashback is primarily done in black and white, something typical for scenes of the past; however, each one also has at least one trace of red. Red is a thematically important color to the Outlaws as it presents a visual connection between each member: Jason’s mask, Artemis’ hair, and Bizarro’s crest. It is a subtle clue to the bond these characters will share and an earlier indicator of their past trauma each member has suffered. Overall this is just another way that Gandini’s clever use of colors makes this book what it is.

Continuity

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: Dark Trinity is the first volume of the Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth series. Rebirth is not a continuity reset at all; it is more of just a good jumping on point for readers. This means that, although Red Hood was last seen in Red Hood/Arsenal Vol. 2: Dancing with the Devil’s Daughter (Review), an in depth knowledge of his past is not really required to enjoy this series.

The story here is continued in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 2: Who Is Artemis? (Review).

The story still references previous stories so we will still be listing them below.

• Jason’s death and subsequent rebirth are detailed in Batman: A Death in the Family and Batman: Under the Red Hood.
• A few references are made to Batman and Jason’s first meeting in Batman: Second Chances
  • Jason stealing a wheel from the Batmobile is from this story.
  • The villain Ma Gunn is also from this story.
• Joker’s old identity as the Red Hood is detailed in Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year: Secret City (Review).
• Bizarro’s first appearance and the commissioning of a second Bizarro is detailed within Forever Evil (Review).
• Tim Drake’s current situation is mentioned. This is explained by the end of Detective Comics Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen (Review).
• An old ally of Red Hood, Crux, returns in this story. He was introduced as an enemy in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: REDemption (Review) and became an ally in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 7: Last Call (Review)