Review: Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 4: League of Assassins

Quick Summary

Pros: Things start to get interesting with a neat twist at the story’s conclusion.

Cons: The story starts out with a pointless plotline that steps on the great character development Jason has received so far. The following storyline is simply too long and drawn out to be interesting.

Overall: A boring story, numerous intrusions from side characters, and mischaracterization of the protagonists cause this to be the worst book in the series so far. There are moments at the story’s end where readers can see what this collection could have been, but these are not good enough to justify everything prior. Overall, this is a misstep in the progress this series has made, one that the next volume will hopefully start to correct.

Story

With Scott Lobdell stepping down as this series’ writer and James Tynion IV stepping up, Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 4: League of Assassins was bound to be different in many ways. It is unfortunate then that, for the most part, these differences are mostly negative. This is a lengthy book that undercuts a great deal of the series’ established character development while offering little to replace it. Characters are rash and even more quick to anger than before, in a book that spends more time pitting them against each other than having them work together. Though the book’s conclusion starts to head in the right direction, it proves to be too little too late.

(spoilers start here)

This book starts out by undoing a good deal of the progress Jason has made in this series so far. Despite finally coming to terms with his past in Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review), he decides to wipe his mind to clear himself of all the pain he is holding on to. This makes the touching scene from the last volume pointless and does a good deal to devalue Jason’s character development.

At the book’s conclusion we learn that this mind wipe was not necessarily the result of Jason’s frustration with his past but instead part of the All-Caste’s final plan against the Untitled. While this is nice in that it undoes the beginning of the book’s mischaracterization of Jason, it also makes the beginning of the book even more pointless. If Jason purged his mind for secret reasons, then the two issues this book spends justifying his decision are complete nonsense and were a waste of time reading.

From here, things don’t necessarily get bad as much as they simply get boring. The next three issues go about detailing the preparations for an unnecessarily complicated showdown involving the League of Assassins, the All-Caste, the Untitled, and the Outlaws. Though having time drawn out to learn more about the League of Assassins’ inner workings is somewhat cool, the rest of it just feels forced. It turns what could have been a one issue introduction into a three issue snooze-fest.

Part of why this is so drawn out is due to the number of side characters introduced. Green Arrow, Hugo Strange, and other random assassins are introduced and set-up as if they are going to be central figures in the plot. However, they are then dispatched almost as quickly as they are introduced. This makes their appearances only useful in slowing down the plot. Yet the most frustrating part of all of this, is that Deathstroke is not included in any part of the story. The last volume interrupted the story in order to show him preparing to take on the Outlaws, yet his absence here makes that interruption even more annoying.

As the story concludes things finally start to get better again. The action feels less forced and starts to make sense again while Jason begins to get some of his lost character development back. It also features a cool twist to the established narrative as Ra’s Al Ghul steps forward as the arc’s true villain. It is a fun and action packed ending to an otherwise boring collection of issues. Hopefully the next volume can keep this momentum going and provide more of this and less of what we saw at the book’s beginning.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Art in this series, once again, sees a shakeup in this book. Julius Gopez, Al Barrionuevo, and Jeremy Haun tackle the artwork here, with Julius Gopez doing the majority of the issues.

Gopez’s issues all look nice, for the most part, but still have their fair share of flaws. They all share a gritty and dark art style that matches the darker tone the series has gone with. For dark moments, this is great as it really sets the mood for what you are about to experience as a reader. However, this gritty darkness never turns off, thus preventing the series from expressing its full range of emotions. Meaning that even the most touching moments feel as if they were pulled right out of a horror movie.  On top of that, the detail present throughout the earlier issues of this series is clearly not present here.

Continuity

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 4: League of Assassins flows directly out of the events of Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review).

The story here continues in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 5: The Big Picture (Review).

This volume also references the stories from another comic book, detailed below.

• Talia’s absence in this book is due to the events of Batman Inc. Vol. 2: Gotham’s Most Wanted.