‘Red Hood: Outlaw #42’ (review)

Written by Scott Lobdell
Art by Paolo Pantalena
Published by DC Comics

I have really enjoyed the direction that Scott Lobdell has taken this book over the last 41 issues. The last couple of issues kind of meandered for me. I was hoping that this issue would be get things back to where they were with the quality of the comic.

So the question here really becomes: Did it get back on track?

Well, yes. Absolutely.

The Red Hood is back with Bizarro and Artemis. It is very nice to see. They are in charge of the next generation of supervillains. The thing is, these supervillains are rather generic as characters and a tad boring.

Because the main three leads are so good and developed, it is really noticeable that the supervillains here are not up to snuff.

But whatever, there are a lot of cool moments in this issue as well as emotional ones. A really nice moment comes when we see Bizarro befriend one of the new supervillains. The Bizarro character is especially strong here and Lobdell has a great take on him.

The best storyline in this issue is the story between Jason and Artemis. They had kissed in a previous issue and now the two of them follow up on it. This is especially well done as Lobdell and artist Paolo Pantalena really do a lot with just these characters walking and talking. It is impressive for sure.
By the end of the issue, Jason and Artemis deal with their feelings. The last few pages are beautiful and maybe the best sequence this series has ever had. This is a wonderful issue. It is definitely back on track for sure.

RATING: A