Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight#144: RedHood: Outlaws

Have you wondered about the power a second chance brings? If so, you might relate to our next entry as we head back into the Batfamily drama with Red Hood: Outlaws by Nico Bascuñan and Patrick R. Young.

Summary

Jason Todd's life seems to have always is defined by being second place. He was the second robin before dying to the Joker, only to be revived with a second view of life, and amongst his fellow Outlaws Bizarro and Artemis, he's found a second family. A family that usually has a nasty habit of screwing things up royally.

Except for this time, the Outlaws may have gone a step too far. After a job gone sideways on an intergalactic scale, a fed-up Justice League has given Jason a pricey ultimatum. As they clean up the Outlaws' mess, they must replace the role of Earth's protectors for a whole month. If they succeed, the team gets a complete sentence, fail, and their moniker gains a new meaning.

With each member having something to prove to their predecessors, the Outlaws are more than up to the challenge. Using their brand of justice, their intent on doing everything they can to unleash true justice or die trying. Something tells me their titular character is likelier to do the latter than the former.

Characters

Red Hood: Despite having enough chips on his shoulders to crack a whole damn sidewalk Jason Todd is a fundamentally good man. Living on the city streets and being raised by Batman has left him highly aggressive, spiteful, calculating, cocky and independent. Behind his harsh methods and even harsher tongue lies someone who deeply cares about those who've turned away.

Bizarro: Being created as nothing more than a faulty knockoff of Superman, Bizarro's life is a 24/7 cycle of imposter syndrome. While the big brute can come off as naive, Bizarro is smart, with only his mouth matching the opposite of what it means. Communication issues aside, though, Bizarro is the trio's heart, leading on with a saddened smile and kind disposition.

Artemis: Further known as Artemis Grace, our female amazonian warrior once adopted the status of Wonder Woman for a brief time. A role that never seemed right for her as she tries to find her path of glory and justice. Amongst the Outlaws, she serves as the group's wisdom, offering a careful hand, decisive fist, and judgemental glare.

Overview

Wooo boi, this will be a doozy today, but I'll try to be as concise as possible. Unlike the previous entry, Red Hood more actively serves as a side story as a spinoff of Wayne Family Adventures while combining aspects of 2016's Dc Rebirth incarnation of the Outlaws. And thank god for that, given how 2011's New 52 turned out (Looking at you, Arsenal and Starfire).

Listing off the positives first, this comics' art is pure sex!!! Nico Bascuñan (Artist), Sebastian Fancini (background), Lorenzo Di Santo (Renders), Camille Cruz (Renders), and Javier Rodriguez and Vejares (Flats) all put in the work to create a visually striking comic that scaps with the best of them.

Outlaws commands bold colors, outlines and maddeningly clear action that can only take place within Dc. Almost every issue has me geeking out over a cool detail or nice wallpaper I could put up. I also think the hands down best parts about the story is when we focus on our dark trinity's respective pasts. Since despite their moinkers as Outlaws, Outsiders would be a far more apt metaphor for our unmerry band (even if Batman also took that name for his team).

Each of their backstories has a clear theme of "2nd's" at play here. In some form or fashion, the Outlaws feel seconded to their inspirations, practically feasting for a chance to either belong or forge a new path in some capacity, as if their broken pieces were trying to be held together by each other. A dynamic that leads to both heartwarming moments and fun teamwork.

So far, though, when we get these deep analyses, they usually get interrupted by the most annoying about the book: the pacing. Outlaws operates at a breakneck pacing, so fast I feel my back is about to get broken by Bane. Whenever we get a chance for breathing or proper setup, we immediately move to the next action setpiece.

This could be a feeling which gets solved later or now, given I'm now reading weekly like everybody else. Still, I feel the story's persistent pace can sometimes detract from the gravity of certain situations or conclusions (including a significant twist later on). Speaking of taking away, I feel like another big issue I have is, ironically, this story's connection to its predecessor.

Since Jason is the main character, we already have a natural inclination to his side on any given topic. But in this story, it is double downed hard to make Batman a raging Richard Grayson in this version for the others to look better. Instead, Bruce is consistently belligerent and cold-hearted in this version, so I'm surprised their relationship isn't more strained.

This isn't to say I'm against a bad Batman inherently (different adaptations exist, after all), but it feels weird when you remember that this is supposed to be the same one from Wayne Family Adventures. The one where Jason will playfully steal the Batmobile's tires to make sure Bruce stays in bed or would receive a hug from them on the same day.

Details give me tonal whiplash as I'm reading the story about this version. I'm not saying these two sides of Bruce can't coexist as well, especially given how, tone-wise, these two are about as different as you can get. But it still feels weird nonetheless.

Epilogue

So far, Redhood in the Outlaws is a frustrating little webtoon. I'll still read it to see what potential stories we could be getting next, but definitely with a careful eye. There's a buttload of potential here, and I think giving the webtoon more time to simmer could help. When that happens, maybe I'll spotlight it again soon. Until then, though, let's see where it takes us next.