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Review: Red Hood: Lost Days #4

A smart perversion of Batman's own "lost days."

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Jason Todd's "lost days" take a decisive turn here as he realizes that the bomb maker he's been learning from is also planning to stage a massive terrorist attack.
 

The Good   

It's a brilliant perversion of Batman's own "wandering years" to have Jason Todd seeking knowledge from the scum of the Earth and, in the process, developing the motivations for his own brand of vigilante vengeance. Winick gives this a sense of no-nonsense realpolitik that's evocative of a spy novel and Haun's carries the pass for a smooth lay-up, rendering realistic work that's still got plenty of style. And the scene where Jason learns of Tim Drake's career was a right powerful cross. He might be the fearsome Red Hood, but he's still a jealous middle child at heart!

The Bad  

I don't know, maybe it's because this is the middle of a mini that's already well into rolling along, but this particular issue just didn't hit me in the jugular like I would've liked it to. The writing's well-constructed, the art's slick and polished, but it's missing some X-factor to put it over the cliff for me. Maybe it's just because the whole long-after-the-fact resurrection of Jason Todd never sat that well in my mind.  
 

The Verdict - 3.5/5   

Like I said, I always thought that Jason Todd's return following A Death in the Family was one of those plot twists you always figured would happen eventually, but really hoped would never actually be followed through with. So it's a bit hard to shake that off. That being said, this was still a well-done issue and, I'm sure, much more resonant when read with the full scope of this mini in mind. It's like Batman's own "lost days" seen through a warped, fun house mirror.