Jason Todd on the hunt is a terrifying thing…

Red Hood and The Outlaws #26
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Pete Woods
Letters: ALW Troy Peteri
Covers: Pete Woods; Yasmine Putri
Editor: Marie Javins; Rob Levin
Publisher: DC Comics
$3.99

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Jason really, really throw down and in this issue we see what someone who’s been trained by life on Gotham’s streets, the League of Assassins, the All-Caste and Batman can do when they absolutely don’t give a damn about sparing the bad guys. It. Is. FIRE.

Picking up where the previous issue left off, Jason is on the trail of Underlife and unintentionally drives right into a hot mess of epic proportions. Over the course of the issue he picks up an ally of a most unexpected variety and gets a whole load of information on just what Underlife is up to. However, the most interesting aspect of this issue, is how Jason’s handling the fallout from the events in Gotham. There’s a quietness about Jason now, an almost inhuman stillness. The kind that only comes from letting go. This is a Jason who (thinks) he’s lost almost everyone and has made peace with that. There is nothing to prove, and no one to prove it too, anymore as he’s washed his hands of both Gotham and the Bat-fam in a way that he’s never been able to before. One wonders if they’ve washed their hands of him.

As for the art, I have to be honest, I wasn’t feeling the switch from Dexter Soy and Veronica Gandini to Pete Woods and I absolutely wasn’t feeling the new costume on first glance but I have to say, Woods really steps up to the plate. There’s a real world feel to his artwork that I wasn’t expecting and his style greatly enhances the journeyman mood that the book has right now. Plus? The fight scenes are friggin’ legit. The placement, the clarity, the way you can almost feel the hits that Jason is delivering are all thanks to Woods’ work and I’m here for it.

Overall this new chapter in Jason’s life looks to be an interesting one but hopefully Lobdell won’t wait too long to bring the Outlaws – all of them – back together again.

Five crowbars out of Five.