Red Hood and the Outlaws: Scott Lobdell, Josh Williamson, Kenneth Rocafort, Blond, Dezi Sienty

One month before, eh? We now get to see how Jason and Starfire met. And it’s quite the interesting story, if I do say so myself, with plenty of nudity. I have to say, there were parts of this issue that were hilarious. In all, I enjoyed the story of their meeting, and I do like that we get to see their bond formed so strongly. Basically, Kori finds Jason in the ocean after he stops a weapons smuggling undersea. He’s all unconscious, which is great for Kori because it helps her in keeping Jason nude for the entirety of his recovery. I’m sure that there were TONS of fangirls (and boys) screaming their heads off in that first panel of Jason lying there with naught but twigs and fern leaves covering his no-no place. I chose to enjoy the story…such as when Kori believes she recognizes Jason from another life. She has a flash of her and Dick together. Now here’s what’s interesting, does Kori honestly not remember the past? Her with Dick? Jason and Roy did mention her being with Dick (and the other Titans, actually) in issue #1. Or…is she actually remembering pre-relaunch events? That’s what I can’t figure out…and it’d be cool if it’s the latter. See…if Roy is asking about the former Titans lineup, then it really happened, right? But then, in Teen Titans, Tim mentions that his is the shortest iteration of the Teen Titans ever. So that means there have been Titans teams before, right? But then there are moments where it’s clear that this relaunch title is the first team ever. So that’s a little confusing sometimes. We get two other VERY interesting flashbacks in this issue…of Jason’s past. We haven’t really addressed much of Jason’s time as Robin before, but we definitely get to see things here that are just awesome. First off…look at Dick’s old Nightwing costume! This is obviously a play on the old-school costume, and Rocafort’s redesign is outstanding…just like his take on Robin’s costume we saw a few issues back. We also get to see Jason standing over Batman pointing a gun into his former mentor’s face. We then learn that Kori kept some of Dick’s old clothes from when they were together. So we are keeping with the notion that Kori’s memory is just not all that great…but she remembers good times better than people’s names. Good to see consistency. Jason then tells Kori everything…who he is, who he was, what he’s done. A very excellent move on his part, because it solidified his friendship with Kori and brought them to this day. Though we get a glimpse of how they came to pick up Roy (in issue #1), we still don’t understand Jason’s reasons for deciding this. We saw, in a flashback, Kori working with Dick and Roy…so is this some kind of ploy by Jason? I can’t imagine him using Kori for any reason, so I guess we’ll have to see how Roy was considered to join. Let me now remark on Rocafort’s art. I’ve said before that this is perfect for the style of the book. I love it, this kind of crazy, sometimes-it-looks-sketched look. I’ve always been a fan of messier, sketchy styles. It has a certain beauty to it. Blond’s colors really help bring that out in Rocafort’s drawings. I think that, if the book had a different colorist, it’d look completely different. We might even have trouble identifying Rocafort as the penciller. Hopefully we’ll never have to find out. I love the panel design too. There are so many little tiny panels around in this book, and it’s always fun to follow those around the page. It’s a very stylish book.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #6, the verdict: This book continues to serve up monthly excellence. I like that we’re starting to see more and more of the backgrounds of these characters. They seem like such misfits, and they are beginning to seem so perfect for each other. They each have demons to overcome, and I’m glad they have one another to support them through those demons. I can’t wait to get back to the main story so that we can use what we’ve just learned in the “flashback issue” to make the characters and the story that much richer. The art continues to amaze, and the writing is still top-notch. I can see this book becoming the new “Suicide Squad” in terms of cult popularity. Don’t forget to follow the Hoodies on Twitter and Facebook!

(Photo Source: iFanBoy)