1030

Oddly, in an emotional and intriguing plot about the mysterious new Red Hood and his connection to the Batman, the standout for me is the darkly hilarious Black Mask, recently crowned king of the Gotham City underworld. He's witty, scary, utterly unfeeling, and somehow both irreverent and deadly serious at the same time. Considering the decades of excellent competition, it's hard standing out as a Batman villain, but in these issues, the Black Mask very much does.

The plot itself, though, is actually fairly good, even if I would have wished it to be a tad more complex and packing a few more twists and turns. Even so, Batman's growing suspicion and dread at what is happening makes for a stellar slow-burn subplot while the Red Hood wages his war on the Black Mask in the main storyline. And the Red Hood himself is well written, making this a character return from the dead that, unusual for comic book resurrections, actually feels like it enrichens the original death storyline rather than cheapening it. And it helps that the artwork is both exciting and beautiful. ( )

Following the tragic events of War Games, which saw the deaths of Stephanie Brown (a.k.a. Spoiler and the fourth Robin) and Tim Drake's father, an imposing figure calling himself the Red Hood shows up as a lethal sort of vigilante, although it's unclear what side he is fighting on. Eventually Batman's suspicions point in a direction he is loathe to believe, one that is borne out in a battle near the end of the book that exposes the Red Hood to be Jason Todd, the second Robin, long ago killed (apparently) by the Joker. A well-told and drawn story with a surprise ending that I certainly hope is well-explained in the concluding book to follow. Fine writing and dialogue by Judd Winick, a favorite of mine, and nice covers by Matt Wagner. ( )