Art and variant cover by Philip Tan and Jonathan Glapion
Cover by Frank Quietly
Plot: Two dynamic duos’ now patrol the city. One pair fights crime and brings criminals to justice, where the other two hunt criminals down like prey. Whose right and who’s wrong? The City of Gotham seems to side with Red hood and Scarlet in their “eye for and eye” crime fighting method. How will the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder defeat a pair of villains who have no problem with obliterating any who get in their way of “justice?”
My Thoughts: Again, I have always said the best stories are the ones that make you feel sick to your stomach and filled with violence, sex and murder. Grant Morrison takes this to the next level and gives us a horror story that has goes beyond the typical blood and guts storyline. However, I wouldn’t allow that to diswayed you into reading this issue. The violence is disturbing but it’s given to us in small, gradual doses that help to escalate the story further.
With the history that The Red Hood shares with Dick Grayson, The choices that Dick must make in this issue are vital if he is to succeed as Batman. Morrison is literally torturing Grayson by throwing everything he could at him that will mess with Dick’s head. We have the old Robin under the guise of The Red Hood fighting Batman, Bruce’s son fighting along side Batman as Robin the Boy Wonder, and the fact that Dick is still trying to grasp the whole idea and concept that is “The Batman.”
One thing I am having a little trouble with is the whole idea of having an “evil” dynamic duo. So many stories have done this, where they take the hero, and made their evil counter-parts battle to the death. This story-telling tactic has been used so often and beaten to death that it is slightly distracting. However, I think Morrison is handling this well by giving us that incredibly terrifying back story with Scarlet, WOW! I had chills running up my spine I was so disturbed. But even with that, I raise an eyebrow wondering if Morrison could have gone a different route with this issue.
Overall: Could hardly ask for anything better, best book of the month thus far. Morrison left us with a great cliff hanger as Batman and Robin lay on the ground beaten, and the Red Hood and Scarlet caught by the villains we have all been waiting to see.
5 out of 5 stars.
Next Month: Batman and Robin #6
In the startling conclusion to "The Revenge of the Red Hood," Gotham's new "protector" reveals
his identity to Batman – and surprisingly poses a heart-stopping question to Dick Grayson about the future of Bruce Wayne! Plus, Robin at the mercy of Scarlet!
Posts
Very insightful review. Morrison does have a knack for disturbing his readers with visions of violence and terror. Dick Grayson is certainly getting a trial by fire for his first few months as Batman.
ReplyDeleteYeah, hopefully Morrison keeps up the good work.
ReplyDelete