Guest Reviews: Red Hood and the Outlaws #15

It Only Hurts When You Laugh

Solicit

A “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” tie-in!

Red Hood and Red Robin team up against The Joker!

Teen Titans vs. The Outlaws!

Preview

Reviews

The Question Original Review by Batwatch at Comic Vine

There have been many crossovers in the Death of the Family story arc, but I’m not sure any of them have filled me with as much hope as this issue. I would really love to see Jason spill Joker’s brains across the ground, and though I know that will not happen, Lobdell has said that Jason will deliver quite a beating, and I guess that will have to suffice. As best as I can tell, Red Hood and Joker have not met since Under the Red Hood, and that means it is way past time for Jason to deliver on his promise to end Joker’s life. Does this issue make good on a tale of manipulation and vengeance, or is this a broken story written with blood and a crowbar?

In this issue, Joker gets the drop on Red Hood, Kori and Roy enjoy the beach life, Harvey bullock does some detective work, and Red Hood manages to turn the tables on Joker.

Again, my mind is drawn to the all important question: does Joker know the Bat Family’s identities? In considering this, I have almost forgotten the zero issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws which featured a backup story wherein Joker revealed that he was behind Jason Todd becoming Red Hood. At the time, I took this as a sort of delusional fantasy of Joker which was not meant as actual cannon. After all, how could Joker possibly manipulate the Dark Knight into taking this boy as his ward and protege, but that possibility looks a lot more feasible not that it appears Joker known the identity of Batman.

Read the rest of Batwatch's review on Comic Vine

What's Joker Got in Store for Jason, and Tim? Original Review by Johnkmccubbin91 at Comic Vine

I have really been enjoying this series, and have loved seeing Red Hood (Jason Todd) having to work as part of a team, something he's not been very good at following his death, in A Death in the Family. This is a very fun series, and I love seeing not just Red Hood, but Arsenal (Roy Harper), and Starfire also, and think that Scott Lobdell has done an amazing job of writing them.

Plot

This issue sees a continuation from the last with Jason going after Joker for potentially killing Isabel Ardila. Unfortunately Joker is one step ahead and catches Jason whilst stealing a cop car. Also in this issue Roy, and Starfire intercept a call, realizing Jason is in trouble, and another call later realizing Joker is involved, so go and deal with that meeting the Teen Titans.

Review

You and Me, Kid!

I thought this was a fabulous issue, and loved that it continued straight from the end of the previous. This has been one of the better series Lobdell has written since working on New 52 titles, with Superman being the only series that is better. I was however really looking forward to this story for a couple of reasons, but the main reason was for the Joker/Jason showdown. I was really looking forward to this as since Under the Hood, Jason hasn't had a chance to get his hands on Joker. Although this issue didn't quite fulfill my expectations, it was an excellent start, and I have high hopes that it will fulfill my expectations, or at least some of them. I was also looking forward to this crossover due to it tying in with Teen Titans, which Lobdell also writes. There wasn't much of the tie-in in this issue, but it was set up very well, and I hope Teen Titans #15 delivers.

Read the rest of Johnkmccubbin91's review on Comic Vine

What I Thought

See the Review Rating Overview page for more information on how I rate each comic

Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 4/5
Layout & Flow - 4/5
Story - 4/5
Verdict - 4

Again like Nightwing #15 and the other books in the Death of the Family story arc, this is generic cover with Jason Todd on one and him wearing the Joker mask on the other. I had trouble with a couple parts of the art. In the scene where Jason steals the cop car his face looked very pretty boy, his lips and facial features just looked wrong. This leads to his Red Hood mask later that also didn't fit, it seems like the artists go back and forth between either giving the mask too much in the way of facial features to too little like this issue. Otherwise this was a great tie-in to the arc IMO. I was also excited to see how Joker played with Jason and did things to make it seem like he knows who he is and who he has become. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as most of this was eluded to in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0. I can't wait to see how not only this plays out but also the cross-over with Teen Titans #15.

Purchase Red Hood and the Outlaws #15

Purchase Red Hood and the Outlaws #15

John McCubbin is a blogger at http://imaginationcentre.blogspot.co.uk/ and Jeremy Sims is a blogger at https://batwatch.squarespace.com/. They are also comic book reviewers at Comic Vine. The use of their reviews have been authorized by the original authors.