Red Hood: The Hill #0 – Shawn Martinbrough, Writer; Tony Akins, Moritat, Pencilers, Stefano Guadiano, Inker; Paul Mounts, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: This is a rather odd project—it was first printed in two issues of Red Hood: Outlaws, the long-running and heavily derided Scott Lobdell series starring Jason Todd, Roy Harper, and others. Then, in the middle of that, we got this two-part story which saw Jason on his own, in one of the poorest areas of Gotham. The new creative team created a completely new status quo for Jason that pointed to a positive future for him as a hero out of Batman’s shadow, we were promised more—and then nothing happened for over three years. Well, it’s happening now, with Martinbrough’s series launching soon, but first, DC is giving this story a much-deserved spotlight in a new collected edition.
Set in the aftermath of Joker War, in the middle of a gang war roiling The Hill, Jason returns to the place he grew up and reunites with an old friend who has been keeping tabs on his ramshackle old apartment. But while some of the criminals in the town are happy just taking their piece of the pie, others are looking to claim the area as their own—including one particularly ruthless ganglord who is out for revenge against capes after they send his father to prison decades ago, and is bringing in high-tech weapons into the area to escalate the war. The story seems to be brewing into a small-scale noir story of local crime and the residents determined to stop it in its tracks—until a big, scaly x-factor enters the room.
While Jason is the star here, much of this story centers around new characters, the Harlowe sisters. One, Dana, is a small businesswoman and Jason’s friend who moonlights as a vigilante. The other, Denise, is a respected TV anchorwoman and activist who believes vigilantes are a hazard after their father was injured in Joker War. Both are pretty compelling characters and give Jason some good people to bounce off. And of course, Jason has a complex history with Killer Croc here as well, and the big guy doesn’t come off as a straight-forward villain. I remember loving this story way back when, and it holds up nicely today. If the series holds up to this promise, it could be the best Jason Todd story in years.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
