Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1 doesn't introduce us to the new Outlaws, but the issue does catch-up readers on the history of Jason Todd from street urchin to Robin the Boy Wonder to the Red Hood. It also introduces a plot to keep Jason a part of the extended Bat-Family but still separate from its core members. It's a little odd that both Red Hood and Nightwing are going undercover with underground criminal organizations, but the set-up (at least for me) works far better here than with Dick Grayson.

We'll have to wait for Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 for the introductions of both Bizarro and Artemis, and the how and why they team-up with the vigilante. While certainly doing its job to reintroduce Jason to the DCU the comic doesn't do much to explain the set-up of the new series with two of its key figures (and their relationship to Jason) unexplored.

That said, the set-up does allow for some strong action to kick things off as well as a public showdown between Red Hood and the Dark Knight Detective mirroring the pair's first meeting years ago. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]