Red Hood & The Outlaws #16

In the latest issue of “Scott Lobdell ruins everything I’ve ever loved,” the scribe pens the worst issue I’ve read during Death of the Family, and probably isn’t even sorry. An empty, lifeless issue completely devoid of depth where depth of sorely needed, with a long list of instances where the reader is just supposed to believe things because he says so, this could not only be the worst issue of the arc, but the worst issue of the run. And that’s saying something.
 

I’ll start with Arsenal, who becomes the defacto leader of The Outlaws and the Teen Titans with both Reds Robin and Hood both taken captive by the joker. His inner monologue is probably one of the least enjoyable inner monologues that I’ve come across in a comic book. That device is best utilized (and I will openly apologize for the English major attack that’s about to happen) when either establishing depth or furthering depth that has previously been established. Instead, Lobdell uses it to point out things that are glaringly obvious, and it either serves as pandering or redundant. At best, it’s purposeless, and at worst, it’s annoying enough to make me want to shut the book.
 

This was also a markedly horrible time to attempt to splice in an origin piece for the character, but Lobdell does it anyway, and it went about as well as I expected it to. It scratched the surface of something that needs much more aggressive examination, and it really, really should have been left for James Tynion (Talon) to deal with.
 

What’s worse is that Lobdell was given a rare opportunity to fuse two books that he writes and let the character play with each other. In the hands of most, that would have allowed for growth on all parts and a valuable insight to how these characters work with others. In the hands of Lobdell, the opposite happens. The Teen Titans are reduced to surface level blandness and the same goes for The Outlaws not named Arsenal. It’s a lot of really negative things, but mostly, it’s a missed opportunity and a disappointment.
 

And then there’s the fact that, along with all of this, the plot is really very middle of the road. Saving Gotham’s homeless people is a nice thing to do, but it pales in comparison to the excitement of the rest of the Death of the Family issues.
 

At least the cover is amazing.
 

I really, really hate ripping on comic books like this. I’d much rather do what I was able to do with Daredevil: End of Days or Multiple Warheads, and examine the beautiful work these teams did and discuss why the books were so effective. But reviews like this are important, if for no other reason than letting DC and the writers know that they’re not going unchecked. Lobdell said that the next two issues are two of the best he’s written in his career. So, I guess we’ll see how that goes.