Red Hood and the Outlaws #25

Definitely not The Joker!

Last issue, Ra's al Ghul said he spent three centuries working on the plan to get the Untitled back into the Primary Lazarus Pit to refill its power. So I'm guessing Ra's al Ghul is the dark figure controlling Jason Todd's destiny! Although it might also be Rebis.

Six years ago, Jason Todd was trying to take care of his addict mother during Gotham City's blackout. He's crying because he might be a mean, violent asshole. But he's really just a lost kid that misses his mother. While he's talking to...

Wait a second. Do I really have to read this? It's not like Jason Todd remembers any of it anyway?! So do I need to read about it? It's not like it'll give me great insight into who he is since he isn't the same person anymore. Or am I supposed to believe that this is a story that exposes his heart and his soul and hearts and souls are unaffected by amnesia? Because I'm not one of those people. You know the kind. The kind that think gut instinct is a real thing and not just a random thought that may or may not be true. Most people think gut instincts are true. They can't imagine that they could ever jump to a wrong conclusion, especially if somebody had once told them that they're very intuitive. You show me an intuitive person and I'll show you some stubborn asshole that's hard pressed to accept the truth if it ever goes against their gut instincts and reactions to first appearances.

Well, I'm going to read this comic book anyway. But I'm not going to enjoy it.

Jason's friend Chris has stopped by to tell him that he found the corpses of Red Hood #3 and Red Hood #4. He also lets Jason know that you can be anybody you want to be when you're nobody! Hey, that fits with Jason Todd now! Right now, he's nobody! So maybe he can become anybody! Hopefully he took Chris's advice to heart so that the amnesia couldn't get to it.

It's the Dark Figure! It looks like it could be Rebis! It's definitely not The Joker still!

Jason Todd winds up in an alley wearing the red hood while fighting a woman in a green jumpsuit wearing a katana on her back. It's definitely not Cheshire. But it could be Lady Shiva. But she is looking for the Red Hood Gang and now it would seem she's found one of its members! They decide to team up but that just means hanging around a warehouse talking until the Let's Get This Gang Back Together Red Hood Gang Meeting begins later that night. Chris knew about it for some reason. Probably because he's a street rat. I bet he spends a lot of his life spilling secrets to Batman after getting a sound beating.

The woman with the katana trained with Ducra but she could never quite figure out The Sacred Dragon Punch because her soul was too dark because she's probably Lady Shiva. But she just got done telling Jason that he's a quick learner so maybe she can teach the Sacred Dragon Punch to him! Then he can kill whomever it was meant for!

Possibly Lady Shiva eventually knocks out Jason Todd so that she can go to The Red Hood meeting alone and find the person she wants to kill. Meanwhile, Jason Todd wakes up in the alley with a menacing figure over his head.

Face melted off. White Carnation on the lapel. Crowbar. Okay, maybe it's The Joker. Although it does look a lot like Rebis!

The new guy in town leading the New Red Hood meeting is one of the Untitled. Lady Shiva (unless this is Talia! It could be Talia! It makes sense that it's probably Talia!) fails to do her Sacred Dragon Punch correctly. Actually, she must do it correctly because Jason Todd will wind up mimicking it and killing the Untitled guy (or knocking the Untitled out of the body its inhabiting. One of those). But Lady Shiva just isn't pure enough nor is she the One nor is she the Supreme Champion of the Universe. But Jason Todd is all of those things! Plus he kills people all justice style and has a cute butt and cute face and a huge fandom. So you know he's the best.

I bet after Jason Todd successfully completes the Sacred Dragon Punch, Lady Shiva/Talia/Not-Cheshire decides Ducra needs to meet him and that's why he eventually winds up in the Acres of All. But first he has to become Robin and get killed and then be resurrected. That's like years and years away from this moment.

And then Jason Todd successfully applies the Sacred Dragon Punch to the Untitled's chest.

Dammit. I was going to learn the Sacred Dragon Punch but it's only good for knocking immortality out of people. How many times in my life am I going to need to know do that? Three? Four?

After the beheading, Chris, Jason, and Shiva al Ghul make their escape while The Newly Jokerized Red Hood Leader blows the shit out of the old gang members. He even laughs a whole bunch to make sure everybody understands that The Red Hood really was The Joker. And then Jason wanders off and says he doesn't want to be nobody! He wants to be hisbody! And Lady Talia Shiva al Ghul rides away so that we can finally learn who she was without Jason Todd finding out as well.

Does Ra's have any other outfits? You'd think he'd have a suit for traveling. Or maybe some shorts and a nice, cotton t-shirt.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #25 Rating: +3 Ranking. It's nice that James Tynion IV is working so closely with Synder on all the Batman Myth stuff so that he can bring the Red Hood Leader's story over into this title and put a nice little period on The Joker's origin story. But not only that! Tynion really tied Jason Todd's story together rather nicely here. Talia saw his potential early on to work with the All-Caste. Then when he died, she had to resurrect him so that he and her father could use him to repower the Well of Sins. So now why he was resurrected by Talia and why he was sent to the All-Caste makes perfect sense. Very nicely done.