Review: Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3- Death of the Family

Quick Summary

Pros: There are some fun moments and great character development from Roy Harper. The second half of this collection offers a fantastic look into Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne’s relationship.

Cons: Jason Todd’s origin is revisited, in a bad way. The first half of this collection is a mess of crossovers. If you are a fan of Starfire, her minimal appearances here will leave you disappointed.

Overall: This is definitely a dip in quality compared to the last two volumes of this same series. Much of this is due to a messy crossover dominating the book. However some blame can still be placed on the strange origin changes for Jason Todd. The book’s emotional and touching second half nearly makes up for this as it delivers one of the best Bruce/Jason stories in recent times. Overall, readers will have to ask themselves if the story’s stellar conclusion is worth reading through a disappointing crossover.

Story

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Death of the Family had a lot of potential going in, as a meeting between Joker and one of his biggest victims had a lot of promise. However, this is traded away in order to force a crossover with the Teen Titans series. This is not a crossover that anyone asked for and, quite frankly, is not one that works well either. The book tries to make up for it by providing a fantastic conclusion with some great interactions between Jason and the rest of the Bat-family, specifically Bruce. Overall though, it is not clear if this is enough to make up for it, leaving this as the worst book in the Red Hood and the Outlaws series so far.

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The beginning of this collection is where the problems start. It features a retelling of Jason Todd’s origin story that has Joker behind everything. It claims that Joker orchestrated Jason’s father’s arrest, his mother’s overdose, his meeting with Leslie Thomas, and his overall indoctrination into the identity of Robin. This is, quite simply, too unbelievable and far-fetched, even for the Joker. On top of that, it devalues Jason’s time as Robin and thus a majority of his life. One of the best parts of Jason Todd’s character was that he became Robin despite his numerous flaws and his troubled background, yet this story does away with all of that.

From here, the “Death of the Family” crossover begins. This could have been a great issue featuring a showdown between Joker and Jason. After all, behind Batgirl, they have some of the most twisted and tragic history together. Instead, this is sacrificed in order to make a flimsy crossover with the Teen Titans.

This crossover is messy to start out: there are too many characters fighting for the spotlight and too much going on at once. This means that characters like Starfire and Solstice are almost completely sidelined. It also means that some of the actions seem incredibly out of character; Jason and Tim are not acting at all like the friends they seemed to be in Vol. 2: The Starfire (Review). On top of all of this, three separate storyline teases are thrown in randomly throughout the arc. Crossovers are tricky to do correctly, something which this book proves all too well.

The only redeeming quality of this crossover comes from Arsenal. Seeing him step into a mentor role for the Titans was actually pretty satisfying and fun to watch. It provided his character with a little depth, while also still making room for humor. In addition, the brief peek into his past trouble with drugs was interesting as well and something I hope will return as the series progresses.

For a review of the Batman issue within this collection make sure to see our review of Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family right here.

After the “Death of the Family” portion of the story concludes, the quality of the book picks up significantly. Things slow down as Jason returns to Wayne Manor to talk to Bruce and the rest of the family for a little while. It is a nice, nostalgic look at how Jason feels about his “Bat-family” and where he fits in among them. He has a few nice moments, especially when reconnecting with Damian and Dick.

However, none of this compares to how great his interactions are with Bruce. Bruce’s statement that “you made you” flies right in the face of Joker’s earlier manipulations and does a lot to counteract their negative effects. Jason and him seem to reach a new chapter in their relationship here and finally seem to understand each other a little better. This made seeing them embrace at the book’s conclusion that much more emotional.

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Art

Kenneth Rocafort’s departure from the series deals a heavy blow, as his excellent artwork could have helped smooth out some of the flaws in this story. However, the show must go on as a cavalcade of different artists are brought in to replace him. Pasqual Ferry, Ig Guara, Timothy Green II, Brett Booth, Ardian Syaf, and Tyler Kirkman form the cast of artists working on this book.

Among these artists, Tyler Kirkman and Brett Booth probably do the best work. Their issues look detailed and appropriately frightening. They both do a great job in making the horror come out in this story. However, they still are just slightly above average, at best, and are definitely still a downgrade from Kenneth Rocafort.

For an examination of Timothy Green II’s artwork see our description of his work in Vol. 2: The Starfire right here.

For an examination of Greg Capullo’s artwork, see our description of his work on Batman in our review of Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family right here.

Continuity

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Death of the Family continues the story from Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 2: The Starfire (Review).

The story here continues in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 4: League of Assassins (Review).

This volume also references the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below.

• There is a significant crossover with the Teen Titans series. This book even includes one of the crossover issues from Teen Titans. This means that there are a number of references to events that have nothing to do with Red Hood and the Outlaws. However, all of these are explained in either Teen Titans Vol. 2: The Culling or Teen Titans Vol. 3: Death of the Family.
• This collection also features a significant crossover with the Batman series through the “Death of the Family” storyline. Readers looking for more background into this storyline can find it in Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review).
• This volume also makes a few references to Batman Incorporated.
  • At one point in time Roy mentions the existence of Batman Inc.
  • Jason’s time as Wingman and Damian’s time as Redbird comes from this story.