Under the Red Hood

I did not expect to enjoy this that much. I expected to find out what happened to Jason Todd because I knew he died and then I knew he was back as the Red Hood which for those clever clogs out there might seem a touch odd since he had been in the ground for going on a few decades in real time.I loved this. It couldn't have been better, except for the end which we will get to. The Red Hood is fantastically clever, witty, confident, a good tactician and most of all someone the criminals are terrified of. It is the opposite side of batman. Instead of no killing and stop all crime the Red Hood's philosophy is you can't stop crime and you can't stop people being criminals. So he kills, he tortures and he steals only to sell it to other criminals if he helps his overall cause. He isn't a villain though, he protects children, he stops crime and he hates 'the freaks'. It is a very interesting duality and there is a great sense that Batman is both happy he is back and horrified at his way 'son' has become.The overall plot arc is very clever and moving. It is well reconned into other plot lines too so what is only one volume becomes a weaved story over multiple years of publications.Now to the reason it has four stars. This has spoilers. The reason Todd is back is because Superboy punched reality in anger and made Todd come back from the dead. yes that is the best DC could come up with. It was utterly disappointing, i would have preferred nothing at all over that and it just hangs over the story when you think back on it.I still wholeheartedly recommend this story, it is one of the best but keep in mind that someone at DC needed a serious smack for that last little bit.

Batman tangles with a super slick vigilante using the old red hood name to kill most of gotham's gangland figures.Batsy recognises the killers moves as his ownand begins to suspect his identity.The action is compelling and the dialogue is snappy and funnythe non ending however is a tad messyas the fight has no victorand events are immediately over shadowed by a major disasterleading, im sure, to the next great cross over event

I've been loving following Jason Todd's return as the Red Hood. I bought this after Red Hood Lost Days and for over three quarters of this novel, I was impressed: good dialogue, humour, psychology... And I gotta admit i was desperate to find out how Todd found his way out of the grave. I wish I could erase this. It didn't fit, and it undermined Batman's thoroughness. Even with the poor explanation- this is a great read and a worthy 3 1/2 stars.

I completely love this one!

Very pleased with this book. Thank you.