Since I read the Red Hood: And the Outlaws series on Webtoon, I decided to review all five “books” on here in one collective review.
Overall, I’m giving the series 4-stars but I will be candid- the very beginning, the overarching vibe, and the ending are the strongest points. (Also, ep. 54 was high art.) The middle was a bit messy and the characterization felt scattershot at times.
I’ll break it down.
The Good
- The artists are standouts in this one. They manage to juggle a uniquely Webtoon art style/aesthetic with a more traditional superhero comics form and structure in a seamless way. A lot of stories struggle to find their rhythm artistically, and this story was not one of them. The pacing was good, the color was vibrant, and even with the shifts between artists being noticeable, the overall vibe of the comic was consistent. It was beautiful to read at all times. (Again, ep. 54. If you know, you know.)
- I am such a simp for the Jason Todd, Artemis, and Bizarro trio. I love all three of them and adored them getting another series, especially one that did a great job of writing their group friendship dynamics. The banter was straight-up sitcom style, and I loved it. Young understood how the characters needed to interact with each other from the first panel and delivered.
- The series made sure to give all three outlaws equal attention instead of just being Jason Todd & Friends (TM). I really appreciated this because Bizarro is one of my favorites, and he never gets the spotlight. I also feel like most of the Red Hood comics don’t give Artemis enough attention, either. The series worked to remedy that and I appreciated it. (This is, paradoxically, one of the series’ struggles, too, so bear with me. I’ll get to that later.)
- Minor spoiler, but the Batman & Jason dynamic was right on. Especially in the later half of the series (if you’ve read it, you know what I’m talking about here). The EQ score between them is still a negative number, but I appreciated how their past and present relationship was handled. It felt both in line with canon and fanon, a hard balance to achieve, but a beautiful one to read.
- Again, this is both a highlight and downfall, but the characterization of Jason Todd was solid. He was moody. He was erratic. And he was still reminiscent of the doe-eyed young child who wanted to save the world. There were a few moments where I think the writer forgot that even though Jason plays dumb, he is not actually dumb (there was a “dumb jock” moment or two that felt out of line for someone who made a career out of organized crime), but they were few and far between. Overall, Jason was done well.
The Struggles
- Even though I love Artemis and Bizarro, I felt like this series tried to give all three characters “equal screen time” and it fell short in this mission. It did, in fact, give all three characters the same attention but I felt like Jason’s plot line and characterization was given the most creative consideration and attention while Artemis’s and Bizarro’s plot arcs were rather surface level and scattered.(This says something because there were often moments where I wondered if the writer fully understood the mental gymnastics of Jason Todd, either. Maybe I just have weirdly high characterization standards?).
- The romance between Artemis and Jason was off kilter, too, at times (again, in the middle). It felt too sudden, too fast, with no build up or serious tension. I know, I know- their chemistry is supposed to be implied because they’ve always had a “will they, won’t they” thing going on. Unfortunately, their relationship just felt off at times. I think it might be because they, individually, felt off at times, but I digress. The romance should’ve been a perpetual space for squealing and “oh my god, cute!” and instead, often left me going “wait, what”.
- My biggest critique is that the middle of this series was kind of a mess. So much of comics relies on the implied- gaps of time rushed through, boring events skipped, journeys and missions boiled down to a few key panels. Unfortunately, the middle of this series felt like a holey patchwork quilt- an assortment of scenes missing key connective tissue. I was able to follow what was happening, but I can see why it left lots of people confused. We would be following Jason present day, and then it would switch to Artemis in the past, and then someone was dreaming, etc. You get it.
While I slid into the negative at the end, don’t let that deter you from reading.
Overall, I had so much fun. I enjoyed the shenanigans, the group banter, and the art of this series immensely. While it wasn’t without its flaws, I would still recommend it. I can look past a chaotic middle for the overall energy (and synergy) of the comic and this one had great energy from the start.
Long live The Outlaws.