Red Hood: Outlaw #49
DC Comics
Writing by: Scott Lobdell
Art by: Paolo Pantalena
Colors by: Arif Prianto
Letters by: Troy Peteri
Paolo Pantalena and Arif Prianto had an outstanding issue. Red Hood: Outlaw #49 was visually stunning, with the tone being set on the first page with Red Hood and the old Outlaws.
Starfire, Trigon’s kingdom, the Chamber of All, they pop off the page.
The writing, on the other hand, wasn’t anything crazy.
Sure, this story continues to be more compelling than almost all the other ones Scott Lobdell has produced during the Red Hood: Outlaw run, but there have been better issues recently than Red Hood: Outlaw #49. Aside from one minor moment that could eventually become important, this issue was too predictable. And Red Hood’s internal monologue continues to be bland.
Really hope Lobdell says goodbye to the character in better fashion.
Great covers from Dan Mora and Philip Tan (variant). If I had to pick one, I’d probably go with Mora’s, but this is an instance where if you love the character, you might want to get one of each.
(WARNING: Spoilers for Red Hood: Outlaw #49 ahead.)
Not the whole mess with Bizarro is important. Him being in charge of a horde of demons isn’t exactly predictable, but we knew the group was disbanding. If we see Bizarro lean into his new role later on, that changes things. Then this becomes a great move. But for now, it’s nothing crazy.
The back-and-forth between the current Red Hood (who knows Arsenal will die) and Roy Harper felt forced.
That’s not to say Lobdell didn’t deserve one last chance to say goodbye to Roy again with DC set to make a change with the story’s writer. It just seemed like Lobdell did it because he had to, not because he wanted to.
One thing that was unexpected was Isabel taking over her own body. That’s a dynamic that should be explored later. One body occupied by a woman Jason loves and another he could very much do without.