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Red Hood: The Lost Days #1-6
Batman: Red Hood - The Lost Days
After his death at the hands of The Joker, Jason Todd was resurrected by Batman’s foe Ra’s al Ghul as a weapon against The Dark Knight. Now, learn what secret events led Jason on his eventual path of death and destruction as he tours the DC Universe learning dangerous skills in an effort to find his way in a world that left him behind.
#1-6.
#1-6.
166 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2011
64 people are currently reading
2,719 people want to read
About the author
Judd Winick
747Ìýbooks387ÌýfollowersBorn February 12th, 1970 and raised on Long Island in New York, Judd began cartooning professionally at 16 with a single-paneled strip called Nuts & Bolts. This ran weekly through Anton Publications, a newspaper publisher that produced town papers in the Tri state area. He was paid 10 dollars a week.
In August of 1988, Judd began attending the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor bringing Nuts & Bolts with him, but turning it into a four-panel strip and creating a cast of characters to tell his tales. Nuts & Bolts ran in The Michigan Daily 5 days a week from my freshman year (freshperson, or first-year student, as they liked to say at U of M), until graduation in the spring of 1992.
A collection of those college years Nuts & Bolts was published in Ann Arbor. Watching the Spin-Cycle: the Nuts & Bolts collection had a small run of a thousand books a couple of months before graduation. They sold out in about 2 weeks and there are no plans to republish it.
Before graduation he accepted a development deal with a major syndicate (syndicates are the major league baseball of comic strips. They act as an agent or broker and sell comic strips to newspapers). Judd spent the next year living in Boston, and developing his strip.
The bottom dropped out when the syndicate decided that they were not going to pursue Nuts and Bolts for syndication and were terminating his development contract.
Crushed and almost broke, he moved back in with his parents in July 1993. Getting by doing spot illustration jobs, Judd actually had Nuts & Bolts in development with Nickelodeon as an animated series. At one point he even turned the human characters into mice (Young Urban Mice and Rat Race were the working titles).
In August of 1993 he saw an ad on MTV for The Real World III, San Francisco. For those who may not know, The Real World is a real-life documentary soap opera, where 7 strangers from around the country are put up in a house and filmed for six months. You get free rent, free moving costs, you get to live in San Francisco, and get to be a famous pig on television.
The "Audition process," was everything from doing a video, to filling out a 15 page application, to in-person interviews with the producers, to being followed around and filmed for a day. 6 months and 6 "levels" later, Judd was in.
On February 12th 1993, he moved into a house on Russian Hill and they began filming. Along the way Nuts & Bolts was given a weekly spot in the San Francisco Examiner. This WHOLE deal was filmed and aired for the show.
They moved out in June of 1994, a couple of days after O.J.'s Bronco chase in L.A. The show began airing a week later.
Along with the weekly San Francisco Examiner gig, Judd began doing illustrations for The Complete Idiot's Guide series through QUE Books. Since then, Judd has illustrated over 300 Idiot's Guides and still does the cartoons for the computer oriented Idiot's Guides line.
A collection of the computer related titles' cartoons was published in 1997 as Terminal Madness, The Complete Idiot's Guide Computer Cartoon Collection.
Not too long after the show had been airing, Judd's roommate from the show and good friend, AIDS activist Pedro Zamora, took ill from AIDS complications. Pedro was to begin a lecture tour in September. Judd agreed to step in and speak on his behalf until he was well enough to do so again. In August of 1994, Pedro checked into a hospital and never recovered.
Pedro passed away on November 11, 1994. He was 22.
Judd continued to lecture about Pedro, Aids education and prevention and what it's like to live with some one who is living with AIDS for most of 1995. Speaking at over 70 schools across the country, Judd describes it as, "...the most fulfilling and difficult time in my life." But time and emotional constraints forced him to stop lecturing.
In May of 1995 Judd found the weekly Nuts & Bolts under-whelming and decided to give syndication another go. Re-vamping Nuts & Bolts
In August of 1988, Judd began attending the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor bringing Nuts & Bolts with him, but turning it into a four-panel strip and creating a cast of characters to tell his tales. Nuts & Bolts ran in The Michigan Daily 5 days a week from my freshman year (freshperson, or first-year student, as they liked to say at U of M), until graduation in the spring of 1992.
A collection of those college years Nuts & Bolts was published in Ann Arbor. Watching the Spin-Cycle: the Nuts & Bolts collection had a small run of a thousand books a couple of months before graduation. They sold out in about 2 weeks and there are no plans to republish it.
Before graduation he accepted a development deal with a major syndicate (syndicates are the major league baseball of comic strips. They act as an agent or broker and sell comic strips to newspapers). Judd spent the next year living in Boston, and developing his strip.
The bottom dropped out when the syndicate decided that they were not going to pursue Nuts and Bolts for syndication and were terminating his development contract.
Crushed and almost broke, he moved back in with his parents in July 1993. Getting by doing spot illustration jobs, Judd actually had Nuts & Bolts in development with Nickelodeon as an animated series. At one point he even turned the human characters into mice (Young Urban Mice and Rat Race were the working titles).
In August of 1993 he saw an ad on MTV for The Real World III, San Francisco. For those who may not know, The Real World is a real-life documentary soap opera, where 7 strangers from around the country are put up in a house and filmed for six months. You get free rent, free moving costs, you get to live in San Francisco, and get to be a famous pig on television.
The "Audition process," was everything from doing a video, to filling out a 15 page application, to in-person interviews with the producers, to being followed around and filmed for a day. 6 months and 6 "levels" later, Judd was in.
On February 12th 1993, he moved into a house on Russian Hill and they began filming. Along the way Nuts & Bolts was given a weekly spot in the San Francisco Examiner. This WHOLE deal was filmed and aired for the show.
They moved out in June of 1994, a couple of days after O.J.'s Bronco chase in L.A. The show began airing a week later.
Along with the weekly San Francisco Examiner gig, Judd began doing illustrations for The Complete Idiot's Guide series through QUE Books. Since then, Judd has illustrated over 300 Idiot's Guides and still does the cartoons for the computer oriented Idiot's Guides line.
A collection of the computer related titles' cartoons was published in 1997 as Terminal Madness, The Complete Idiot's Guide Computer Cartoon Collection.
Not too long after the show had been airing, Judd's roommate from the show and good friend, AIDS activist Pedro Zamora, took ill from AIDS complications. Pedro was to begin a lecture tour in September. Judd agreed to step in and speak on his behalf until he was well enough to do so again. In August of 1994, Pedro checked into a hospital and never recovered.
Pedro passed away on November 11, 1994. He was 22.
Judd continued to lecture about Pedro, Aids education and prevention and what it's like to live with some one who is living with AIDS for most of 1995. Speaking at over 70 schools across the country, Judd describes it as, "...the most fulfilling and difficult time in my life." But time and emotional constraints forced him to stop lecturing.
In May of 1995 Judd found the weekly Nuts & Bolts under-whelming and decided to give syndication another go. Re-vamping Nuts & Bolts
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 203 reviews
September 22, 2020
(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: It’s a welcome formidability rehab for a character whose post-return role’s been as Dick Grayson’s also-ran evil twin.
Notes: It’s a welcome formidability rehab for a character whose post-return role’s been as Dick Grayson’s also-ran evil twin.
July 19, 2024
A must-read for fans of Jason Todd.
This gives you the skinny on what went down between A Death in the Family and Under the Red Hood. And it also explains some of what happened in Hush.
I like how this one kind of leaves you hanging a bit when it comes to whether or not Todd's resurrection was supernatural. It gives his story a bit of pop! and opens the door for future writers to play with his origins.
Also, loved the way Talia played both sides against the middle.
Very cool.
Recommended.
This gives you the skinny on what went down between A Death in the Family and Under the Red Hood. And it also explains some of what happened in Hush.
I like how this one kind of leaves you hanging a bit when it comes to whether or not Todd's resurrection was supernatural. It gives his story a bit of pop! and opens the door for future writers to play with his origins.
Also, loved the way Talia played both sides against the middle.
Very cool.
Recommended.
September 30, 2014
“School’s out forever
School’s been blown to pieces�
Alice Cooper � “School’s Out�
This one takes place somewhere between Superboy punching an inter-dimensional wall and Red Hood/Jason Todd returning to Gotham City to say to Batman, “You’re mean. I hate you� and then try to kill him. Kids they grow up so fast.
Jason Todd, formerly Robin II, until the Joker decided to re-arrange his scalp with a crowbar and blow him up. Dead? Sure, for awhile. Throw in some comic book logic and viola, Jason is alive again, sort of. If you call shambling around like a Walking Dead extra, alive. Rescued by Talia Al Ghul, Todd’s tossed into the Lazarus Pit and sent to school to study an all non-Batman crime fighting curriculum of killing, maiming, exploding, torturing, poisoning, and sniping. He brings to class a twisted angry form of justice, so heaven help his instructors if they’re not above reproach. “Golly teacher, I’m all out of apples, so here’s a live grenade.� He graduates as the Red Hood with a degree in mayhem.
Judd Winick’s writing is solid; it’s the art that gives me pause. What does it tell you about an artist’s limitations if they have trouble drawing eyes and basic facial expressions?
School’s been blown to pieces�
Alice Cooper � “School’s Out�
This one takes place somewhere between Superboy punching an inter-dimensional wall and Red Hood/Jason Todd returning to Gotham City to say to Batman, “You’re mean. I hate you� and then try to kill him. Kids they grow up so fast.
Jason Todd, formerly Robin II, until the Joker decided to re-arrange his scalp with a crowbar and blow him up. Dead? Sure, for awhile. Throw in some comic book logic and viola, Jason is alive again, sort of. If you call shambling around like a Walking Dead extra, alive. Rescued by Talia Al Ghul, Todd’s tossed into the Lazarus Pit and sent to school to study an all non-Batman crime fighting curriculum of killing, maiming, exploding, torturing, poisoning, and sniping. He brings to class a twisted angry form of justice, so heaven help his instructors if they’re not above reproach. “Golly teacher, I’m all out of apples, so here’s a live grenade.� He graduates as the Red Hood with a degree in mayhem.
Judd Winick’s writing is solid; it’s the art that gives me pause. What does it tell you about an artist’s limitations if they have trouble drawing eyes and basic facial expressions?
April 4, 2022
This was a fascinating read!
I kind of liked it and its fun and fast paced thats for sure!
It starts with Jason wandering alive and Talia noticing it and taking him under her wing but she sees that he has his soul missing and well a lazarus pit later and hides him again from her father and there we see his training like under different master criminals and we see the Red hood taking shape here as he becomes an anti-hero and learns from different masters like that german guy but he finds most of them are rotten and bad humans and so takes them down and that fight with the russians was cool and that confrontation with Joker and getting his mission statement and the birth of Red Hood!
I loved how fast paced this story is and it has no fillers and it does well with the theme of birth of an anti-hero and gives Batman a Punisher type villain with the same beliefs except the no-kill/no-gun policy and its fascinating and I love the way it ties into Hush and Under the red hood and its awesome! The writing and art both compliment each other really well! So yeah a high recommendation from me!
I kind of liked it and its fun and fast paced thats for sure!
It starts with Jason wandering alive and Talia noticing it and taking him under her wing but she sees that he has his soul missing and well a lazarus pit later and hides him again from her father and there we see his training like under different master criminals and we see the Red hood taking shape here as he becomes an anti-hero and learns from different masters like that german guy but he finds most of them are rotten and bad humans and so takes them down and that fight with the russians was cool and that confrontation with Joker and getting his mission statement and the birth of Red Hood!
I loved how fast paced this story is and it has no fillers and it does well with the theme of birth of an anti-hero and gives Batman a Punisher type villain with the same beliefs except the no-kill/no-gun policy and its fascinating and I love the way it ties into Hush and Under the red hood and its awesome! The writing and art both compliment each other really well! So yeah a high recommendation from me!
June 13, 2019
Pre-review:
I listened to the dramatic narration of this story on Youtube and the storyline, the artwork and the character development totally blows me away! Too bad I have absolutely no money to buy it. *sob sobs*
Edited05/06/2019: Last Saturday I visited a local store specializing in American/European comics for the first time, and BANG! I saw a copy of Batman: Red Hood - The Lost Days sitting there waiting for me! So I brought it anyway. *shrugs*
Actual Review:
*sighs* I'm glad to be able to bask in the awesomeness which is Batman: Red Hood -The Lost Days. If you like action and adventure, there are a lot of exciting action scenes in store for you, plus there are also a lot of raw emotions, betrayal, pain, etc through the story development too.
Red Hood is one of my favorite characters in the Batman mytho, I'm delighted to read this...twisted coming of age story of his. Although I'm not very happy with the few cover artworks in the volume in which Red Hood continues to look like the worst Joker cosplayer out there. *sighs*
Surprisingly, I found Ra's al Ghul's interaction with his daughter Talia, and Talia's interaction with Jason really well written and interesting! Whilst Ra's is being all cold logic and rational about the death of (the second) Robin and how Batman is dealing with the aftermath, Talia shows a rarely seen emotional side of her personality.
Although I don't think I understand Talia's motives and her change of heart all that much, I mean........I understand she first out of love for Bruce, but then why would she intentionally tell ?
Anyway, I seriously, whole-heartedly enjoy reading about the relationship between Talia and Jason, when Talia taking up the roles of mother/older sister/mentor/fairy godmom with Jason. XD
I also noticed when Jason was first revived,
I just think that's a bit unfair. XD
I will keep an eye on Judd Winick's other creations!
*goes back to read Batman online fanfics and draw fanarts*
I listened to the dramatic narration of this story on Youtube and the storyline, the artwork and the character development totally blows me away! Too bad I have absolutely no money to buy it. *sob sobs*
Edited05/06/2019: Last Saturday I visited a local store specializing in American/European comics for the first time, and BANG! I saw a copy of Batman: Red Hood - The Lost Days sitting there waiting for me! So I brought it anyway. *shrugs*
Actual Review:
*sighs* I'm glad to be able to bask in the awesomeness which is Batman: Red Hood -The Lost Days. If you like action and adventure, there are a lot of exciting action scenes in store for you, plus there are also a lot of raw emotions, betrayal, pain, etc through the story development too.
Red Hood is one of my favorite characters in the Batman mytho, I'm delighted to read this...twisted coming of age story of his. Although I'm not very happy with the few cover artworks in the volume in which Red Hood continues to look like the worst Joker cosplayer out there. *sighs*
Surprisingly, I found Ra's al Ghul's interaction with his daughter Talia, and Talia's interaction with Jason really well written and interesting! Whilst Ra's is being all cold logic and rational about the death of (the second) Robin and how Batman is dealing with the aftermath, Talia shows a rarely seen emotional side of her personality.
Although I don't think I understand Talia's motives and her change of heart all that much, I mean........I understand she first out of love for Bruce, but then why would she intentionally tell ?
Anyway, I seriously, whole-heartedly enjoy reading about the relationship between Talia and Jason, when Talia taking up the roles of mother/older sister/mentor/fairy godmom with Jason. XD
I also noticed when Jason was first revived,
I just think that's a bit unfair. XD
I will keep an eye on Judd Winick's other creations!
*goes back to read Batman online fanfics and draw fanarts*
February 14, 2024
Jason Todd, they could never make me hate you.
May 17, 2016
This was pretty good. I'm glad I know the origin of Jason Todd as Red Hood now. That's exactly what this was. He doesn't actually operate as the Red Hood we know until the final page. He's mostly just training with whoever Talia al Ghul picks out for him, and he ends up being very well-rounded in fighting, science, and technology. And he kills a bunch of his mentors because they're super shady and horrible people. So that's how he is different from all other past Robins and Batman himself. He's still kind of a hero because he's fighting villains, but he kills them and wants to kill Batman for a portion of this.
The artwork in this was good, and the dialogue was pretty good. Great character development for such a short comic. I've recently become interested in all the Robins (except Damian because he really annoyed me in Tom Taylor's Injustice: Gods Among Us. *aggressive sigh*). This is a must-read for Robin fans and Jason Todd fans.
The artwork in this was good, and the dialogue was pretty good. Great character development for such a short comic. I've recently become interested in all the Robins (except Damian because he really annoyed me in Tom Taylor's Injustice: Gods Among Us. *aggressive sigh*). This is a must-read for Robin fans and Jason Todd fans.
July 10, 2012
Judd Winick returns with another book of his character, the Red Hood, aka Jason Todd (formerly the second Robin), this time addressing the years in between returning from the dead to when he shows up in Gotham � presumably for the events in “Under the Red Hood� (recommended by the by).
The “Lost Days� are what you’d expect. Nurtured from the grave by Talia Al’Ghul (who wouldn’t you know it has an ulterior motive!), Jason goes from combat expert to combat expert learning the finer points of shooting, putting together bombs, lethal physical fighting, etc. to give him the edge over Batman.
What makes Jason a more interesting version of the good guy turned bad is that he still retains some of the goodness that Bruce gave him from his training as Robin. Throughout the book Jason’s faced with the scum of the Earth, some of whom he punishes for various discretions and some he leaves alone � it’s the choices he makes which are interesting to see, that despite distancing himself from Batman he still retains a moral code of sorts. Also, as he’s learning and developing prior to going back to Gotham we see him make mistakes and falter in his missions making his character more human.
The only place where I felt Winick dropped the ball was at the end when Jason confronts Joker. He lets him live despite how everything about the character’s personality is geared toward Joker’s death, so Jason’s action and reasoning felt a bit contrived. But then Joker can’t die can he?
Anyway, it’s still a good read with Winick proving once again how comfortably brilliant he is when it comes to writing Jason Todd/Red Hood. Jason’s a complicated guy and a somewhat likeable protagonist despite his ruthlessness and here in “Lost Days� we see how he hones his world view before the climactic events of “Under the Red Hood� which is definitely the next book to pick up after this. Worth a read if you’re a fan of this character.
The “Lost Days� are what you’d expect. Nurtured from the grave by Talia Al’Ghul (who wouldn’t you know it has an ulterior motive!), Jason goes from combat expert to combat expert learning the finer points of shooting, putting together bombs, lethal physical fighting, etc. to give him the edge over Batman.
What makes Jason a more interesting version of the good guy turned bad is that he still retains some of the goodness that Bruce gave him from his training as Robin. Throughout the book Jason’s faced with the scum of the Earth, some of whom he punishes for various discretions and some he leaves alone � it’s the choices he makes which are interesting to see, that despite distancing himself from Batman he still retains a moral code of sorts. Also, as he’s learning and developing prior to going back to Gotham we see him make mistakes and falter in his missions making his character more human.
The only place where I felt Winick dropped the ball was at the end when Jason confronts Joker. He lets him live despite how everything about the character’s personality is geared toward Joker’s death, so Jason’s action and reasoning felt a bit contrived. But then Joker can’t die can he?
Anyway, it’s still a good read with Winick proving once again how comfortably brilliant he is when it comes to writing Jason Todd/Red Hood. Jason’s a complicated guy and a somewhat likeable protagonist despite his ruthlessness and here in “Lost Days� we see how he hones his world view before the climactic events of “Under the Red Hood� which is definitely the next book to pick up after this. Worth a read if you’re a fan of this character.
October 20, 2019
This really explains Jason's transition from "Robin" to "Red Hood" well. It doesn't really explain how he came back from the dead, but I didn't really care about that.
Rating: 4/5
Rating: 4/5
May 19, 2018
Wow, this came out of left field and completely outdid itself. I've never cared for Jason Todd or the Red Hood character - after all, they've been intentionally writing him as a mostly unlikable antihero for years - but while going down the rabbit hole on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and the Denver Public Library's online portal, I saw this had a bunch of stand-out reviews and that Judd Winick has written several things I want to read.
The art is definitely not the best, but Winick does some fantastic storytelling in a small amount of space, forging a powerful new character out of the ashes of a very different one.
Possible spoilers below, I guess.
So, from my memory, I thought after Joker killed Jason Todd/Robin (with a crowbar and a bomb) that he was resurrected in a Lazarus pit. From this telling of his first experiences after coming back to life, we're still not sure what awakened him - while buried in a coffin, no less - but we see Talia al Ghul shove him into a Lazarus pit once he's already been training with her and Ra's for some time. It's used more as a triggering mechanism to help restore his mental functions beyond simple muscle memory, apparently. So that mystery, and the general momentum built up as Jason becomes a mass murderer of criminals - like The Crow crossed with Punisher - has me eager to continue the series...if there IS more of it? The publication dates of these issues makes me think it was leading right up to the New 52, after which the character was leading a silly bad boy team called the Red Riding Hoods or some shit.
Off to answer that question, and then hopefully get further in this stack of too many books checked out from the library all at once (I *had* 20 on my shelf, then I picked up 12 more from my hold shelf and feel like I'm gonna have to really focus myself to get through them while doing other things in my waking life.
The art is definitely not the best, but Winick does some fantastic storytelling in a small amount of space, forging a powerful new character out of the ashes of a very different one.
Possible spoilers below, I guess.
So, from my memory, I thought after Joker killed Jason Todd/Robin (with a crowbar and a bomb) that he was resurrected in a Lazarus pit. From this telling of his first experiences after coming back to life, we're still not sure what awakened him - while buried in a coffin, no less - but we see Talia al Ghul shove him into a Lazarus pit once he's already been training with her and Ra's for some time. It's used more as a triggering mechanism to help restore his mental functions beyond simple muscle memory, apparently. So that mystery, and the general momentum built up as Jason becomes a mass murderer of criminals - like The Crow crossed with Punisher - has me eager to continue the series...if there IS more of it? The publication dates of these issues makes me think it was leading right up to the New 52, after which the character was leading a silly bad boy team called the Red Riding Hoods or some shit.
Off to answer that question, and then hopefully get further in this stack of too many books checked out from the library all at once (I *had* 20 on my shelf, then I picked up 12 more from my hold shelf and feel like I'm gonna have to really focus myself to get through them while doing other things in my waking life.
July 11, 2011
Really I though Judd Winick had lost it as a writer and I mourned for his writing not being up to the standards of Barry Ween, Frumpy, Pedro. Especially, when he got drawn into the resurrection of Jason Todd storyline as a work for hire writer. I had heard this was a good series, so I picked up the trade. Winick glosses over how Todd survived the Joker's beating all of those years ago (when a telephone poll led to DC Comics to kill Todd off). We get the tale that sows Todd's travels from near death to becoming the sociopath Red Hood. While following his acquisition of skills for his shot at revenge we get a peak inside of the mind of man who believes he is killing those who are a threat to society. A pleasant surprise.
April 7, 2014
Red Hood: The Lost Days is a cohesive stand alone story that also adds and expands on Jason Todd's transition from death to his identity as the Red Hood.
The writing works really well, both in creating single issues that function themselves and towards a cohesive whole. There is a good balance of exploring emotion as well as action, and where I often feel that having a character continually narrate in a comic can at best explain the obvious, I found the narration worked really well as it sounded like a distinct character was talking, instead of a writer fretting that the reader hasn't put together all the parts.
What's better, I found myself genuinely sympathizing with Jason. I hated Batman when it was shown that he had taken on Tim Drake as the next Robin, and my heart went out to Jason when he discovered that the Joker was still alive. I noticed a lot that in close up panels with Jason, there would be no light to his eyes; whether that was intentional or accidental, it really helped to subtly illustrate how broken Jason was feeling.
The art definitely picks up with the second artist, though I found both fell into the trap of using the same drawn image repeatedly with slight modifications (cropping, close ups, showing pauses, etc). That said, the colors and strong inks do a lot to get across a rawness to the book, which fits Jason and also Talia's emotional states. The panel flow works as I never felt jarred or confused about how to read the page, and I found Jason's physical growth from teenager to a twenty-something believable—he's fit, muscular but without too much bulk (all the better considering how much of an acrobat he was and continues to be). That said whoever did the issue covers really should have been replaced as the colors, imagery and physical depiction of Jason Todd/Red Hood were completely at odds from the tone and look of The Lost Day's content.
I'm sure some people might have reservations about reading a book where a former Robin turns into a calculating, vengeful killer, but honestly, when the past involves taking a child and arming him with martial art techniques, weapons and technology, and when that child's mentor and father figure portrays himself and the child as dispensers of justice, above the law and all reproach, where physical violence (often extreme physical violence) is almost always the solution, the shocking thing to me is not that one of the Robins went rogue and took combating crime to its logical conclusion. What surprises me is that it took a death and rebirth to get there, and if the Batman mythos wasn't so completely entrenched with regard to no killing, I'm sure DC would have gone in that direction ages ago.
*ultimately the Batman/Robin dynamic and mythos is utterly creepy when you think of a filthy rich bachelor millionaire taking in children, raising them to risk their lives each and every day while building a freaky one-sided codependent relationship. It's remarkable that the tabloids aren't accusing Bruce Wayne of being a pedophile, let alone putting two and two together but maybe that's just me.
The writing works really well, both in creating single issues that function themselves and towards a cohesive whole. There is a good balance of exploring emotion as well as action, and where I often feel that having a character continually narrate in a comic can at best explain the obvious, I found the narration worked really well as it sounded like a distinct character was talking, instead of a writer fretting that the reader hasn't put together all the parts.
What's better, I found myself genuinely sympathizing with Jason. I hated Batman when it was shown that he had taken on Tim Drake as the next Robin, and my heart went out to Jason when he discovered that the Joker was still alive. I noticed a lot that in close up panels with Jason, there would be no light to his eyes; whether that was intentional or accidental, it really helped to subtly illustrate how broken Jason was feeling.
The art definitely picks up with the second artist, though I found both fell into the trap of using the same drawn image repeatedly with slight modifications (cropping, close ups, showing pauses, etc). That said, the colors and strong inks do a lot to get across a rawness to the book, which fits Jason and also Talia's emotional states. The panel flow works as I never felt jarred or confused about how to read the page, and I found Jason's physical growth from teenager to a twenty-something believable—he's fit, muscular but without too much bulk (all the better considering how much of an acrobat he was and continues to be). That said whoever did the issue covers really should have been replaced as the colors, imagery and physical depiction of Jason Todd/Red Hood were completely at odds from the tone and look of The Lost Day's content.
I'm sure some people might have reservations about reading a book where a former Robin turns into a calculating, vengeful killer, but honestly, when the past involves taking a child and arming him with martial art techniques, weapons and technology, and when that child's mentor and father figure portrays himself and the child as dispensers of justice, above the law and all reproach, where physical violence (often extreme physical violence) is almost always the solution, the shocking thing to me is not that one of the Robins went rogue and took combating crime to its logical conclusion. What surprises me is that it took a death and rebirth to get there, and if the Batman mythos wasn't so completely entrenched with regard to no killing, I'm sure DC would have gone in that direction ages ago.
*ultimately the Batman/Robin dynamic and mythos is utterly creepy when you think of a filthy rich bachelor millionaire taking in children, raising them to risk their lives each and every day while building a freaky one-sided codependent relationship. It's remarkable that the tabloids aren't accusing Bruce Wayne of being a pedophile, let alone putting two and two together but maybe that's just me.
September 5, 2014
I became acquainted with the "Under the Red Hood" storyline via the animated movie, and it is definitely a very dark part of the Batman history. I have recently embarked on exploring the Batman graphic novels, and decided to give this one a swing. This was very good.
This serves as a bit of a prequel to when the Red Hood enters the Gotham scene. It's not about Batman. It's about Jason Todd, who was found in the ruins of the warehouse that the Joker brought down on his head after beating and torturing him nearly to death. Initially, Jason is catatonic, but Talia Al'Ghul sees him as a pawn in destroying Batman and mentors him into the dangerous and murderous vigilante/assassin he becomes. He learns everything that Batman doesn't teach him about the darker Arts of War, with the goal of getting revenge on Joker (and peripherally Batman). In the process, he realizes that deep down, he still believes in fighting for good, but is willing to use extreme methods to deal with evil that Batman would never countenance.
This feels like a credible action/suspense story. Jason goes deep into the darkest pits of corruption and criminality, learns the skills he needs for his ultimate quest, and finds he can't turn a blind eye when innocents are harmed, or the tutors that Talia acquires for him turn out to be reprehensible in their habits. He also realizes that not all the means are justified for a desired end. Jason has a phenomenal brain and the incredible acrobatic and martial arts skills that demonstrate very clearly why he was Batman's Robin. Ultimately, I don't see that he has departed to far from the path that Batman sent him down. Maybe he is lost, but I think he will find his way. I need to read soon!
Definitely worthy of a 4.5/5.0 star rating.
This serves as a bit of a prequel to when the Red Hood enters the Gotham scene. It's not about Batman. It's about Jason Todd, who was found in the ruins of the warehouse that the Joker brought down on his head after beating and torturing him nearly to death. Initially, Jason is catatonic, but Talia Al'Ghul sees him as a pawn in destroying Batman and mentors him into the dangerous and murderous vigilante/assassin he becomes. He learns everything that Batman doesn't teach him about the darker Arts of War, with the goal of getting revenge on Joker (and peripherally Batman). In the process, he realizes that deep down, he still believes in fighting for good, but is willing to use extreme methods to deal with evil that Batman would never countenance.
This feels like a credible action/suspense story. Jason goes deep into the darkest pits of corruption and criminality, learns the skills he needs for his ultimate quest, and finds he can't turn a blind eye when innocents are harmed, or the tutors that Talia acquires for him turn out to be reprehensible in their habits. He also realizes that not all the means are justified for a desired end. Jason has a phenomenal brain and the incredible acrobatic and martial arts skills that demonstrate very clearly why he was Batman's Robin. Ultimately, I don't see that he has departed to far from the path that Batman sent him down. Maybe he is lost, but I think he will find his way. I need to read soon!
Definitely worthy of a 4.5/5.0 star rating.
August 2, 2014
This is a prequel to Batman: Under the Red Hood, showing the period of time after Jason Todd's death and rebirth. I have always loved Red Hood so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this, even though Red Hood doesn't really make an appearance. It's more of an origin story of the events that lead him to become the masked bad-ass.
I have been loving the New 52 Red Hood & the Outlaws title so I was eager to read this when I spotted it at the library. I have seen Under the Red Hood movie so I had a basic knowledge of what went on, though after reading this I'm really keen to read the book now. I always find the movie adaptions never really live up to the book.
The thing I love about Jason is that he's essentially still a good person. Sure he kills people, but they're always people who deserve it. He does what Bruce can't do and takes criminals down permanently, which makes for some ruthless adventures. Dangling on the line of right and wrong Jason is not afraid of getting his hands dirty. We see him acquiring his many different skill set in this collection, how he became the man he is today. His interactions with Talia were fun to read, I had no idea they got beow wiki wow wow.
There's not much else I can say about the story without letting anything slip. If you are a fan of Red Hood then definitely give this one a read. Judd Winick portrays the character perfectly, delving into Jason's thought process. While the art by Pablo Raimondi and Jeremy Haun is slick and gorgeous. A great insight into the ever developing Bat-mythos.
I have been loving the New 52 Red Hood & the Outlaws title so I was eager to read this when I spotted it at the library. I have seen Under the Red Hood movie so I had a basic knowledge of what went on, though after reading this I'm really keen to read the book now. I always find the movie adaptions never really live up to the book.
The thing I love about Jason is that he's essentially still a good person. Sure he kills people, but they're always people who deserve it. He does what Bruce can't do and takes criminals down permanently, which makes for some ruthless adventures. Dangling on the line of right and wrong Jason is not afraid of getting his hands dirty. We see him acquiring his many different skill set in this collection, how he became the man he is today. His interactions with Talia were fun to read, I had no idea they got beow wiki wow wow.
There's not much else I can say about the story without letting anything slip. If you are a fan of Red Hood then definitely give this one a read. Judd Winick portrays the character perfectly, delving into Jason's thought process. While the art by Pablo Raimondi and Jeremy Haun is slick and gorgeous. A great insight into the ever developing Bat-mythos.
June 20, 2020
5 🌟
After Jason Todd is resurrected, he gets training of different skills from different people around the world. He kills some of them because they are bad and eventually decides to return to Gotham as the Red Hood.
After Jason Todd is resurrected, he gets training of different skills from different people around the world. He kills some of them because they are bad and eventually decides to return to Gotham as the Red Hood.
August 17, 2018
Understanding Jason Todd. That's what I needed. And I need more of him and his full red mask!
May 30, 2022
that sucked!
February 3, 2024
Øتى انا ابغى تاليا تتبنانيâ€�.
October 12, 2019
After reading this book Jason has become one of my favorite characters in the dc universe. The book was so amazing!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2024
3.5 stars
Jason is far from my favorite Robin (out of the five main-line Robins, I would honestly put him at the bottom of the list), but he's probably the one I think about most often. He's one of those characters that gets sadder and more fucked up the more you think about him, but there's a huge gap between his resurrection and confrontation with Batman, so naturally I had to figure out what he was doing during that time.
Plot-wise, this comic is pretty simple. Jason gets resurrected (via an off-page Superboy-Prime punch through reality, which I think is stupid, and I like the Lazarus Pit resurrection way better, but whatever), Talia takes an interest in him as a way to try to win favor with Batman (another note: I think the al-Ghuls' crazy obsession with Batman is also kind of stupid, but again, whatever), and he spends most of the book training with different killers on al-Ghul money and gaining the skill sets that will eventually come into play in Under the Red Hood, thwarting a couple of low-lives along the way.
Character-wise, there's a LOT to unpack. We see how much being Robin, the manner of his death, and the aftermath fucked with Jason's head. I mean, hell, he sees himself as some sort of vengeful wraith brought back from the dead to enact the justice Batman won't dole out, and he becomes pretty irritated at any comparisons of himself to Batman (despite the fact that training under Batman for so long clearly affected his ideas of + desire for vigilante justice). And then there's his grief about Batman leaving the Joker alive and replacing Jason with Tim.
Good stuff, but there wasn't quite as much focus on this side of Jason as I would have liked (a lot of training and gushing over how terrifying and awesome and unstoppable Jason Todd is, etc.), and it wasn't as groundbreaking as I hoped either. Although, maybe that's just because all the Batman message boards before reading this spoiled me. Either way, it got me wanting to read Under the Red Hood (more than I already did, anyway) to see how this all plays out.
Jason is far from my favorite Robin (out of the five main-line Robins, I would honestly put him at the bottom of the list), but he's probably the one I think about most often. He's one of those characters that gets sadder and more fucked up the more you think about him, but there's a huge gap between his resurrection and confrontation with Batman, so naturally I had to figure out what he was doing during that time.
Plot-wise, this comic is pretty simple. Jason gets resurrected (via an off-page Superboy-Prime punch through reality, which I think is stupid, and I like the Lazarus Pit resurrection way better, but whatever), Talia takes an interest in him as a way to try to win favor with Batman (another note: I think the al-Ghuls' crazy obsession with Batman is also kind of stupid, but again, whatever), and he spends most of the book training with different killers on al-Ghul money and gaining the skill sets that will eventually come into play in Under the Red Hood, thwarting a couple of low-lives along the way.
Character-wise, there's a LOT to unpack. We see how much being Robin, the manner of his death, and the aftermath fucked with Jason's head. I mean, hell, he sees himself as some sort of vengeful wraith brought back from the dead to enact the justice Batman won't dole out, and he becomes pretty irritated at any comparisons of himself to Batman (despite the fact that training under Batman for so long clearly affected his ideas of + desire for vigilante justice). And then there's his grief about Batman leaving the Joker alive and replacing Jason with Tim.
Good stuff, but there wasn't quite as much focus on this side of Jason as I would have liked (a lot of training and gushing over how terrifying and awesome and unstoppable Jason Todd is, etc.), and it wasn't as groundbreaking as I hoped either. Although, maybe that's just because all the Batman message boards before reading this spoiled me. Either way, it got me wanting to read Under the Red Hood (more than I already did, anyway) to see how this all plays out.
April 1, 2021
The longer this went on, the less interested I became. It could have easily been trimmed down to 4 issues. And Jason sleeping with Talia was so unnecessary. There are some good moments here, but I wanted to like this one more than I ended up. Still, it was interesting being in Jason’s head and the art was overall good. 3.5/5 stars.
April 17, 2023
3.4 🌟
Issue#1: 3�
Issue#2: 3�
Issue#3: 3�
Issue#4: 4�
Issue#5: 3.5�
Issue#6: 4�
It follows Jason right after his death and right before he becomes Red Hood. Entertaining to read and fast paced. Always love to read about Jason and the reasoning behind him going after Joker and Batman.
Issue#1: 3�
Issue#2: 3�
Issue#3: 3�
Issue#4: 4�
Issue#5: 3.5�
Issue#6: 4�
It follows Jason right after his death and right before he becomes Red Hood. Entertaining to read and fast paced. Always love to read about Jason and the reasoning behind him going after Joker and Batman.
August 13, 2024
So so good. omg
May 5, 2022
This slapped so incredibly hard i really need to read more Red Hood contsnt
January 18, 2019
Every situation has its variables, and the difference between success and failure is ones ability to ADAPT. Quickly. Efficiently.
This one is, definitly, a good story on Jason Todd aka Red Hood. It has the background on the characters development, and with this statement I mean that throught the reading we can see where the actual comic version os the Red Hood got its skills and morals.
Another thing we see, is how he grew from training just because he wanted revenge to still fight and do what is 'right', per say, by saving people that came across his way.
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic, however, I'm not a big fan of the art style in it.
This one is, definitly, a good story on Jason Todd aka Red Hood. It has the background on the characters development, and with this statement I mean that throught the reading we can see where the actual comic version os the Red Hood got its skills and morals.
Another thing we see, is how he grew from training just because he wanted revenge to still fight and do what is 'right', per say, by saving people that came across his way.
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic, however, I'm not a big fan of the art style in it.
October 31, 2021
This was an excellent follow up to Winick’s original Under the Hood run. It was published many years after that initial run.
The story in this sort of weaves itself in and out of that original Batman story and shows us in more detail what happened to Jason Todd and how he became the Red Hood.
I loved this. It fills in a lot of gaps and makes it even more clear Jason Todd’s motivations. He’s such a great character.
The story in this sort of weaves itself in and out of that original Batman story and shows us in more detail what happened to Jason Todd and how he became the Red Hood.
I loved this. It fills in a lot of gaps and makes it even more clear Jason Todd’s motivations. He’s such a great character.
March 1, 2012
Really liked this story. Kind of a mix between an origin story and a year one story but still leaves enough vagueness to add infinitely more origin tales. Details some of Talia's involvment in the return of Jason Todd. Pablo Raimondi and Jeremy Haun made great artistic contributions in this work.
April 11, 2012
The funny thing about Jason Todd being a villain/anti-hero, is that outside of Batman comics he'd be a hero. He fights bad guys, but he kills them too. He'd fit right in with The Authority. This book, along with the original Red Hood trade, is a must read for Jason fans, and I think even those who aren't his biggest supporter would get something out of it too.
May 23, 2018
I think I liked this even better than the actual Red Hood story. There's still a bit of mystery surrounding Jason's return, but he's a really compelling character. And now it looks like I need to finally read
July 15, 2022
i was excited to read this comics, i really wanted to know how he became red hood and how he came back to life and somehow it didn't give what was supposed to give.
I couldn't feel him as a character which it's sucks considering i really like jason and also *spoilers* talia and jason sleeping together it was the last straw🥶
And don't get me started on the art...
I couldn't feel him as a character which it's sucks considering i really like jason and also *spoilers* talia and jason sleeping together it was the last straw🥶
And don't get me started on the art...
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