Red Hood And The Outlaws #2

[whitesycamore]

In my opinion? This issue was quite drastically better than the last one.





There was a lot of cheesy but fun-in-an-eighties-movie-way action, a lot of snark, and a lot of sexual banter - most of it at Jason and Roy's expense this time and some of it about Roy checking out Jason's ass, ha ha. Starfire was also much, much more self-actualised than she appeared last issue, which was good to see. She was still somewhat subdued, but her compassionate nature - and the fact that she doesn't take any shit - was evident. Her memory problem also doesn't seem to be as extreme as the last issue made it sound like it was - she doesn't have any trouble telling her team mates apart here, and she definitely remembers sleeping with Roy, although it doesn't look like she has any immediate plans for a repeat performance.

And this time the main plotline actually seemed, you know, main. The art was gorgeous, with both Roy and Jason drawn beautifully. Unfortunately, although Kory's fanservicey portrayal has been scaled back a lot, it still seems that Kenneth Rocafort draws men much more charmingly, gracefully and *naturally* then he does women.

There were lots of pages that I could name as my favourites, but for the sake of clarity I'll post the last three - which are also the three where the most genuine interactions between the Outlaws take place.


This page picks up where the last issue left off, with Jason finding the body of his former mentor, Ducra - who speaks to him in ghostly form before departing, telling him (fondly) that he''s learned nothing, because he's still all about the vengeance; yep, that's our boy all right.




I wonder if he can't shoot them because they were his friends, or because he feels empathy for anything that died brutally and was brought back damaged?




Interesting that for all he rips on Roy, he doesn't consider it 'his place' to tell him what to do. The person telling him to "see past your past" is part of a flashback to his training with Ducra, by the way.




Hmm. A past he forgot he ever had. Just a throwaway line for sentimentalities' sake, or a hint at the upcoming memory-themed plot in the next issue? And perhaps Kory's lost memories of her past have something to do with all this too.

Comments

[protogarrett]

This all feels very 90's to me. I dunno. I just expect this to turn into X-Force sooner or later (90's version or current; take your pick).

[shadowpsykie]

okay, this was MILES better than last issue.

yeah i figured Memory was a main story line here.

I am LOVING this portrayal of Jason.

i love the art.... except how Rocafort drawns Star... i mean LOOK AT THOSE BOOTS! I... i mean a woman would NEVER be caught did on those things.... and yeah.. i still hate her top....

[whitesycamore]

Dude, the 90's was the renaissance of the twentieth century!1!

[akodo_rokku]

The boots do explain where all the material that might have made up clothes went, though.

[darkknightjrk]

You joke, but I do think it's fair to say that there were plenty of strong, important stories from that era. For every Youngblood, we got a Starman.

[darkknightjrk]

The boots are a little weird, but I can think of women who'd wear them--granted, they're Transformers, but still. :P

[darkknightjrk]

I didn't hate the first issue, but this issue definitely seemed to step things up. :)

[shadowpsykie]

i hope you are happy, i spit my soda all over my computer.....

[flint_marko]

panels from new issues can't be outside the cut

[mrstatham]

If it turned into something like the current X-Force, how is that a bad thing? It's one of the most well-done books Marvel puts out at the moment. I could understand dreading it turning into a Liefeldian mess, but there's been no indication of that thus far.

[icon_uk]

I'm not sure for every Youngblood, but there is some truth to that statement.

[whitesycamore]

:D

+10

[leikomgwtfbbq]

I still think Starfire's costume is ridiculous... is she wearing legwarmers, or are her boots just really really weird? No costume should ever have legwarmers.

[whitesycamore]

Thanks for the reminder, fixed.

[coldfiredragon]

This issue was such a vast improvement over the first issue! *gasp* could it be that DC actually listened? Or could it be that everybody just jumped the gun and decided to rant and condemn without even thinking of giving issue 2 a chance to fix things?

*grins* Whatever the answer I could care less. I'm glad I stuck with the book. I love this Jason. This is the first time I've actually loved a version of Jason. The point of the reboot was to get people to read new characters and expand their horizons and this book has definitely done that for me.

[whitesycamore]

This issue was such a vast improvement over the first issue! *gasp* could it be that DC actually listened? Or could it be that everybody just jumped the gun and decided to rant and condemn without even thinking of giving issue 2 a chance to fix things?

Um... I get the strong impression that Lobdell saw the backlash and beat a very hasty retreat, actually. Jason in particular seems to have done a personality 180, now being the more private, mature man with Roy as his fratboy-foil.

Not that I'm complaining. Lobdell can't backtrack fast enough imo. :D

[whitesycamore]

It makes me sad how Starfire doesn't get all the great, communicative facial expressions and postures that the boys do! I mean, look at the page where Jason tells Roy that Kory's not his girl - there's just so much going on in the body language there, I love it.

And then the air stewardess appears, and immediately her body language looks really sexualised and artificial. The women in this art just look so *posed.*

[eyz]

..and Kyle Rayner, and Connor Hawke and Cassandra Cain and..

Yeah, I did like plenty o' 90s stuff too. Just not the extreme/Wildstorm/Image type of productions...

[shadowpsykie]

oh i agree... and its notlike Rocafort CAN'T do it... i mean i have seen some of his art on his page.... he just doesn't... and i think, really, it has been the art that has been the main problem i have had... and its not that the art is BAD... i just think some it, especially with the women, is Lazy

(I LOVED Starfire in that suit though) see! sexy WITH CLOTHES!

[sinisterlink]

There are no words to appropriately describe how much I HATE Starfire's costume. Geeze, and I thought her old one was bad...

[coldfiredragon]

Um... I get the strong impression that Lobdell saw the backlash and beat a very hasty retreat, actually. Jason in particular seems to have done a personality 180, now being the more private, mature man with Roy as his fratboy-foil.

I'm sure this is what happened! As for Jason being a private person can deal with this! Jason's a bat after all, makes sense he'd value privacy on some levels. He came across as genuinely... caring... which is something I didn't expect. I liked it. The issue was really good about getting into his revised back-story. I thought it was great how his past was mixed in with the fight in the present

[whitesycamore]

Yeah, well there's no shame in Lobdell backtracking if he knows you messed up - it's the gracious thing to do really. Most writers *won't* back down out of sheer pride and fan contempt, so really, it's won him points with me.

And I've always though of Jason as private, too. Like you said, he's a bat, and he was always the most emotionally secretive Robin (unwilling to talk to Bruce about his unhappiness, hiding away to cry in SEEEECRET, etc.)

[whitesycamore]

Um, if he knows HE messed up, that should say.

(I was using the universal 'you,' but then I decided to edit and replace with 'he' instead. But I missed one. Obviously. >_< )

[coldfiredragon]

The suit looked amazing. The skirt on it was just the right amount of short with that full coverage top worked beautifully for her. It was the context of the scene that really worked for me though, that she THOUGHT to do something without being told to. Jason's captions in that panel also worked, that she was choosing to hide when she shouldn't have to. I think those lines kinda resolved a little of the first issue as well as far as her memory is concerned. She has a past but she's choosing to ignore it.

[icon_uk]

Current X-Force has got naff all in common with 90's X-Force so that's hardly a fair comparison