Batman and Robin #23

Writer Judd Winick, who seems to be all over the DCU these days, takes over the writing duties with this issue. It's appropriate that Winick writes the return of Jason Todd story as it was his tale that brought the former Robin back from the dead and transformed him into a bloodthirsty anti-hero.

Sadly Winick is forced to deal with a Jason Todd that still has Grant Morrison's fingerprints all over him. We get the red hair (which I'm okay with) and, if the covers are to be believed, the return of the Captain Red Penis Head costume (which I'm not okay with).

The issue begins, after a quick recap of the character, with a conversation between Batman and his former sidekick. What works so well here is how Bruce honestly doesn't know how to communicate with someone who has gone so far off the path he laid out for him.

From their we see the Red Hood swiftly killing enemies (brutally) and prompting a prison transfer back to Arkham Asylum which results in his eventual escape (but hopefully not the return of the penis head costume).

The Red Hood is out, and things should be about to get interesting. I actually like this version of Jason Todd (in the biker outfit, not the worst comic costume of all-time), and I'm hoping by the end of the storyline we get a little better sense of how he's going to fit into the DCU and, more specifically, the Batman universe. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]