Red Hood and the Outlaws # 6: Friendship. Pantslessness. Zen.

[whitesycamore]

This most recent issue takes place in flashback, and explains how Jason and Kory fell in with each other in the first place. It's my clear favourite of the series so far, not least because I enjoy Josh Williamson's dialogue much, much more than Scott Lobdell's.





It turns out that Kory first met Jason when she hauled him out of the ocean, after one of his missions went wrong. Apparently his clothes were destroyed in the skirmish, because Jason spends most of this issue severely under-dressed. Not that I'm complaining. (Well, I am, but only because S_D's page limit prevents me from demonstrating the sheer extent of it).



After they resolve the misunderstanding, Kory takes him on a tour of her spaceship. She also offers him some clothes to wear - some very, very familiar clothes. Clothes that belonged to her ex-boyfriend, if you get my drift.



Again we see that she *does* remember her past, sometimes in more detail, and sometimes less. (Note: there were suggestions of this in issues 4 & 5 too, and I'm planning to post pages from them soon). Jason's remark in issue 1 about Tamaraneans experiencing humans as "smells" makes a little more sense now too, as Kory seems to be using the scent of Dick's clothes to evoke a memory.

And Jason should stop defining himself by the men he has known, and the costumes that they wore? She's definitely astute. On a page I didn't scan we see other costumes laid out, including the classic green-panties Robin outfit, and something that looks rather like the Discowing suit. I'm not sure where the black suit with the red bat is supposed to have come from, but I'm assuming it must be something that Dick wore at some point during this new continuity. So, that explains why Jason is still wearing the bat symbol - he's dressed up in big brother's clothes yet again!


Jason realises that Kory loves Dick just as much as he (claims) to hate him. He decides then that he's going to have to explain exactly who he is, and who he used to be. They each lay their cards out on the table, and come to the conclusion that they are cool with each other. Kory also gives him one of her trademark knowledge absorbing kisses, and after that she seems to have him pretty much all figured out. It's cute.




Kory weirdly reminds me of Ariel here. Also, she did rescue Jason from drowning. And she's a princess from another wooorld! So, perhaps now Jason is wearing someone else’s costume not because he's trying to assume their identity, so much as to respect the past while living in the present?

As for the relationship between Jason and Kory, well, it's interestingly mostly-platonic. Jason counts Kory as one of his "teachers" in his inner monologue, along with Bruce and Ducra (and presumably Talia as well - dude just never stops with the Freudian undertones, does he?) And also thinks about how he can't tell the difference between romance and friendship when it comes to her. I don't think Kory sees Jason in romantic terms at all, although she acknowledges some attraction to him because he superficially reminds her of Dick. If this situation were any different I'd say "ouch," but it honestly doesn't seem that Jason wants anything more from Kory than the friendship and the guidance that she's offering.

tl;dr: Please write the dialogue for this title for ever, Josh Williamson.

Comments

[star_of_airdrie]

I was shocked and amazed how palatable I found this issue.

"I will remember him when I see him again..." I hope so!

[shadowpsykie]

and those scenes where she is holding Dick's costume are very sweet and tender... (is this still Rocafort? because i KNEW he knew how to draw sexy without being explotative, i've seen his other work, why can't he be consistent with that?!?!)

[sun_man]

Man I miss the old Star Fire. Hope she never runs into Nightwing

[star_of_airdrie]

nUStarfire has her drawbacks certainly, but after the first 5 issues, this is so much better than I expected.

[tsunamiwombat]

This seems to be alot better handling. Man, if only they had OPENED with this.

In this case i'd say they're both, wounded and damaged people, learning a bit from each other and comforting each other physically, even though Kory has no real emotional attachment to him. It's kind of sweet.

Until jealousy inevitably destroys it ofc wolol.

[star_of_airdrie]

So the question is - was this the issue planned, the Kor(i) planned, or some fanservice?

But how wonderful it would have been if they would have opened things with this... but they got their publicity

[shadowpsykie]

so this is still Lobdell's Plotting but Williamson's dialogue is that how it is?

because while i like Lobdell, and got hints of what he was doing in this series for some reason he feels like he has the voices of the other characters (meaning Superboy and the Titans) much better than he has these voices (except some cahracter moments) Williams seems like he knows how to convey this IN dialogue much easier...

does any of that make sense?

[whitesycamore]

It makes perfect sense, because it is The Truth.

[icon_uk]

So how old was Jason here, at what point in his life does his meeting with Kory happen? Sorry, I don't know when it fits into things.

Is the scene after Kory starts sniffing Dicks glove (A sentence even I never thought I'd ever type) a flashback within a flashback? Because if is it, it suggests that Kory met Roy when she met Dick for the first time, and though I might be misremembering (oh, the irony) I thought that Roy seemed to know Kory by reputation, rather than contact.

And I'm still unconvinced by Kory's memory weirdness. "I do not define myself by the men I have known" is a perfectly valid POV, but she seems to not remember ANYONE particularly well, and how could Tamaraneans evolve and develop a society with social interactions being so vague.

[whitesycamore]

I get the impression that she remember things that happened on Tamaran far better (because of a line in issue 5), and that it's just human interactions that she has difficulty recalling.

It also seems that Kory's emotional memories are intact, but that specific verbal information is sometimes... difficult to access, but not *gone.*

I think they are almost like early childhood memories are for us - intense, but fuzzy in the details.

[junkurosu]

I agree with the TL;DR.

Kori was never a character I really cared for. The only things I knew about her was that A) she was one of Dick's exes, B) on the Teen Titans animated show which I didn't care about. So the first issue of this series DID NOT help me warm up to her. This issue however makes me want to read about her now to make a more solid opinion of her.

Jason and no pants. A great combination!

[whitesycamore]

Jason and no pants. A great combination!

I know, right? I mean, who in their right mind would create a fanservicey Red Hood-book, and then take *6 issues* to put a pants-less Jason in it?! :P

[whitesycamore]

I also advise you to look out for Jason's resemblance to Eric from now on.

(Although Dick is much more of an Eric, really).

And Roy can be Flounder!

[shadowpsykie]

“Kory weirdly reminds me of Ariel here. Also, she did rescue Jason from drowning. And she's a princess from another wooorld!”

... damnit... i can't unsee that now....


EDIT: and suddenly "Part of Your World" suddenly starts playing on Pandora.....

[icon_uk]

Blackfire as Ursula then?

[tauruschick12]

Love it! If this keeps up, Star and Jason might become my new favorite comicbook friendship.

[moetushie]

Aww, they're both so pretty.

I gave up on this after this series after the third issue, but maybe I'll come back to it. Sometime.

[littlepunkryo]

There was so much Jason skin in this issue, I was actually kinda shocked. Not in a bad way!

And it was nice to see Dick, Kory and Roy together! I hope this means at least SOME of their past together is intact :3 I especially liked the Dick/Kory bits, negl.

I really liked this issue.

[turtlefu]

You know, it's funny how you point out that Jason is mostly shirtless.

Because it seems to me, even though he's mostly shirtless, most panels involving him are focused above the shoulders. So if you like bare shoulders, good for you? But only 2 panels show his back and only one his chest (obscured by Kory!)

Sort of just to point out how male and female semi-nudity are treated differently

(Just from what's given. I assume that if there was more exposure in the issue you would have posted it)

[thefiretonight]

There's more full body, minus Jaybird's bits and pieces being covered up by leafs in the book. He's naked for I'd say around a third of the book, heh.

[thefiretonight]

All my Jay/Kori friendship feels. I really hope they still friends, not turned into a romance eventually along the line. I especially liked Jason referring to Kori as one of his teachers.

[big_daddy_d]

Seconded. Plus. Honestly a romance would be kinda weird considering.

No one else is going to say it?

[big_daddy_d]

OR did no one not notice? So the Dick Grayson suit that Jason decided to wear..when I first saw it, the first thought that came to me was "TERRY MCGUINESS?" Seriously, it's the Batman Beyond suit. I wouldn't be surprised if, and hope, that suit would turn out to be what actually leads to the creation of the BB costume. In fact, I wonder if that is the suit Dick wore during his time as Batman in this new 52 world.

Also, it's clear that Jason knew Roy prior, so I would like to see how they met too. Also would like an issue to explore Roy's past with the Titans and Kory, also finally explain why they slept together in light of the Dick connection. Otherwise, this is a good issue.

Re: No one else is going to say it?

[icon_uk]

Years ago, there was a Japanese fanart piece which has Terry in the Batcave, wearing his BB suit, with without the cowl and I think he's angsting a little about his mission, and he stands in front of the Nightwing costume cabinet and wonders what happened to him, what did Bruce intend for his first partner, and we see that the blue-bird and ref-bat motifs line up perfectly, and we suddenly see what the Bruce of many years ago may well have hoped for the future, and that maybe the only reason HE wore the outfit at all was that the person it was made for never did.

[atom_punk]

Wow. That is some pretty art!

I know others have commented on this but Kori looks gorgeous without being uncomfortably oversexualized. And the characterization certainly seems to have leveled up in this issue. Loving the interaction with Jason and her flashbacks to her time with Dick. All of it feels very well written.

And although I am fairly certain I am heterosexual, I have to say I am having trouble looking away from Jason's pecs and abs. Bruce should consider opening an extreme fitness gym on the side.

Out of curiosity, did Starfire always have that mole in Red Hood and the Outlaws? If so that is some impressive continuity in the artwork Mr. Rocafort!

Are there any more works by Rocafort at DC or other companies? All the stuff I've seen from him comes from Top Cow and/or Image.

And finally, the "glove-sniffing" reminded me instantly of this moment from Rifftrax's take on Star Trek II Wrath of Khan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SzQBfzJsY0#t=09m02s

[thefiretonight]

He's done some Supes in the past.

[thefiretonight]

Also. Everyone be happy that the green Robin panties still exist!

[bradygirl_12]

I'm happy! :)

[benicio127]

I was very happy with this issue. The Jay and Kory friendship and all the Jay nudity!

THANK YOU FANSERVICE GODS~~

[star_of_airdrie]

I've reread it again... yes, the issue is making me happy!

[autumn_lily]

What struck me most about these scans was this phrase here:

Where are my pants? I knew if I played dead long enough you'd try-

And my first thought was "Having flashbacks of that first night at Wayne Manor?"

[whitesycamore]

Apparently he's encountered enough pants-thieves in the past to be able to predict their every move!

I'm actually not quite sure if it's supposed to be a humorous throw-away line, or if it's to indicate the sort of rough life Jason's had - like in that episode where Faith switches bodies with Buffy's, and freaks out when she wakes up all disoriented with Riley in her bed.

[salinea]

Hey, I dunno how you did it with this post, but you created a lot of tags shaped in the wrong way, with a lot of space before the "char: name of character" thing. I'm going to fix it, but look out for this in the future.

[whitesycamore]

Really? That's weird.

[liara_shadowsong]

This is... cute. Why the hell didn't they start with this in issue 1?

[eyz]

I actually liked this^^
Is this book turning that good, heads over heels now?

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

I mostly liked this issue, though whenever I read RHATO I'm always prepared to turn the next page and have them ruin everything.

In this issue... didn't like the retcon with Dick in Under the Red Hood, or the use of 'spacekitty'(??)

As for the art, kinda fluctuated between really pretty and a couple of shots that were really... bad.