Red Hood: The Hill #2 – Shawn Martinbrough, Writer; Sanford Greene, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Jason Todd has been seeking a strong direction in the comics for a while (and has been the subject of plenty of very odd stories in the meantime) so it’s great to see that his new status quo under the creative team of Martinbrough and Greene might actually be working out. Jason has stationed himself in the Hill area of Gotham, not to work but to find some refuge from the work. But of course, the work soon follows him and he finds himself enmeshed with a new group of vigilantes called The Watch, led by his old friend Dana. Dana is displaying all the usual markings of a vigilante—including being obsessed with the work over a personal tragedy, and possibly pushing her allies way too far in the meantime. Meanwhile, an odd alliance of a powerful local businessman and a local crimelord continue to gain power, slowly gentrifying the Hill and establishing a new power structure.
Jason continues to sort of be on the fringes of this series, which is a very interesting choice. He only appears midway through the issue, which makes me think this is essentially Martinbrough using a popular character to tell the story he really wants to tell—and that works, because Dana’s story is very compelling. Martinbrough and Greene are doing a great job of showing the impact of everyday crime and supervillain violence on average citizens—and how it leaves deep scars and ruined lives long after the superheroes leave the battlefield. How Jason fits into this is becoming clearer after the end of this issue, as he seems to get pulled into the quest whether he wants to be or not. But while this series is taking its time setting up its story, it introduces a major new player in the cliffhanger who takes the threat level up quite a bit. This continues to be the best Jason Todd-led series in a very long time.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
