RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS!
Sometimes you wonder how an artist can create something so horrible and also work on things that are really pretty good. George Lucas, for example, gave us American Graffiti, Star Wars and was half of the creative team behind the Indiana Jones movies and yet, he also made Howard the Duck. Was this because he was creatively bankrupt, artistically drained and under the control of aliens from space? Probably not but it shows that even really creative and smart people can make terrible decisions.
I'm going to give Scott Lobdell the benefit of the doubt and call Red Hood and the Outlaws his Howard the Duck. I wouldn't have been so generous just last week, the fury and bile still churning like a hairball in the throat of Dex-Starr but that was last week and this is now. Do not think in any way that I am forgiving the horrible character rape (and I don't use the word lightly here, what happened to Starfire constitutes the greatest character violation since Sue Dibny was left alone on the JLA Satellite with Dr. Light) but I am willing to give Mr. Lobdell a second chance after reading his Superboy and Teen Titans first issues.
These two books pretty much form the cornerstone of the Young Justice side of the new 52, the stories of the young heroes of the DCU finding themselves and their place in this brave, new world of adventure, villains and an overarching conspiracy that will unite them all. So, without further ado, let's get this review started, shall we?
SUPERBOY #1
This comic takes the Superboy of the previous DCU and plops him down in the new by sending him back to his origins as a vat-grown, half-human, half-Kryptonian clone grown in a lab. His connection to the Death of Superman story is unknown at this point though we do know from comments made elsewhere that the Man of Steel did die and come back in this new continuity. He has no real memories either than being called Superboy (though he cannot remember why) and is just floating naked and bald in a tank of fluid. Apparently, the scientists cannot register any brainwave activity and are about to terminate the project and send the clone for dissection against the protests of a red-haired young scientist named Caitlin (we guess the computer who identified her by name only gets to call her Cait-- before getting cut off) who we speculate is this new universe's version of Caitlin Fairchild from Gen 13. This would be another Wildstorm character brought over into the new DCU if true and one I actually think could fit if treated correctly.
Needless to say, the termination does not go well and the clone breaks free, destroying most of the lab in the process and collapsing in Cait's arms, where he gets to say "My name is Superboy" before passing out. From there we get to see the Superboy in an apparently normal High School setting where he has a normal family and a cute girl named Rose fawning over him and acting as his best friend. It's all a sham though and Superboy's super-senses alert him to the fact that he is living in a virtual reality simulation of a normal life. Apparently, it is also educating him, feeding his mind with knowledge.
Outside, Dr. Cait is busy running the simulation and is puzzled when the Superboy doesn't respond to someone in danger inside the sim. She is taunted by her colleague, the real Rose, who is apparently Rose Wilson, formerly of the old-universe Teen Titans and the daughter of Deathstroke (though we have no idea if this is true in this world yet or not). After some banter, we are introduced to someone else who works in the lab and is secretly feeding information on it to a reporter named Lois Lane. This is where we learn that the organization is called N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and though it claims it is working for the preservation of the world, it has darker motives.
These are revealed when a man named Templar shows up, demanding to see the clone and wanting to put it into the field to deal with some other teens with super powers who we see on the screen are actually the...
TEEN TITANS #1
I am not actually giving my opinion on these two books separate because I really feel they tell two sides of the same story as they are both written by Mr. Lobdell and share a storyline, a villain and a central character or two. And while I pretty much covered the plot of Superboy I will go over more of my impressions of this book and how I feel it nicely parallels Justice League #1 in many ways.
While very, very first issuey, this book manages to introduce us to most of the main characters and mention who we assume will be the others filling out the roster on the cover, at least in the form of images on Red Robin's computer. The first character we meet is Kid Flash, who badly botches a fire rescue when he forgets about back drafts. Who this Kid Flash actually is remains a mystery, though the red hair kind of points towards it being Wally even if the attitude is more Bart. Possibly he is an amalgam of the two as I wouldn't put it past DC to pull a trick like that.
His screw up is apparently only one of a growing problem of teenagers with powers causing problems for the authorities. This fact is bothering Tim Drake, the former sidekick of Batman and now Red Robin, as well as the shadowy organization called N.O.W.H.E.R.E. who have designs on the super-powered youngsters. They offer Tim a chance to join them, which he refuses in spectacular style and sets off to recruit the other teen heroes before they can be press-ganged by the anagrammatically named villains.
His first stop brings him to the new Wonder Girl (though she HATES being called that) a thief who apparently got her powers from some stolen Greek Artifacts purloined from an archeological dig in Greece. One thing I like about her is her new costume, which nicely merges Donna Troy's sparkling togs with Cassie's previous red outfit and adds a nice hood for good measure. She's got an attitude problem and denies she has any powers until the goons attack and she is forced to transform into her fighting gear to take them on.
The two teen heroes win the day at the cost of a bit of a wet landing after trashing a robotic helicopter and pause to share a moment, which has a pretty good line showing just how straight and narrow Red Robin really is:
After this scene, we cut to where we left off with Superboy. The mysterious Templar shows up and demand of Dr. Cait that the Superboy be used, immediately. In some ways, I really liked this issue. The new characters were interesting takes on the old, the new costumes were refreshing and the action was pretty cool. The faces could use some work though, Brett Booth can draw excellent bodies and poses and even mechanical devices but his faces can sometimes seem a bit unexpressive and flat, which is a shame considering how well this book would look otherwise if he could only fix that one flaw.
Now, I said I like how this parallels Justice League's first issue and it does, nicely. We get the setup with two heroes meeting for the first time in less-than-ideal circumstances and rubbing each other the wrong way, we have a third character who has yet to meet the others but is destined for greatness with them and we end with the reveal of the Super-family character who promises to be a major headache for the others in the near future.
The amazing thing to me is that these two issues do form the beginning of one big story but can actually function as separate tales that introduce new readers to the formation of a young team in the making. While I highly recommend anyone reading either of these titles to read both, they CAN function on their own. I just feel that with the shared characters, villains and plot, they serve as two sides of the same tale. One with the group story and one with the tale of the young hero who is apparently about to be sent to infiltrate the group from his own point of view. It sets things up nicely and will definitely be joining the ranks of my pull-list as Tribe Comics and Games.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
It just really makes me wonder how much of Red Hood falls on the shoulders of Scott Lobdell and how much had to do with Editorial fiat and meddling? It's hard to believe that the man who could handle heroes in their 20s so poorly and ham-handedly could also write excellent teen heroes that hold my interest and do not offend my sensibilities. The mind boggles.
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