Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

Red Hood breaks Arsenal out of a prison in Qurac. While relaxing on an island, a woman named Essence brings news about Jason Todd's past to his attention. 

When this issue first came out I decided to pass on it strictly due to the fact I was picking up so many other issues at the time. I thought the combination of characters was interesting and with all the controversy surrounding this series, I decided to check it out and see what all the fuss was about. After finishing the first issue, I don't quite see what everyone has such a huge problem with. Anyone familiar with Starfire prior to this should know that's exactly how she is. I'd have to say writer Scott Lobdell did a great job displaying her character exactly as she was made to be. He didn't shy away from anything and that's something everyone should appreciate. He shouldn't have to change her character to please everyone. She's an alien and it wouldn't be interesting if she was exactly like everyone on Earth. On her planet sleeping around is normal. Lobdell shouldn't have to avoid that in order to please readers. I thought it was pretty funny and entertaining when she so bluntly asks Arsenal if he wants to sleep with her. Seeing his reaction made me laugh.

From this issue we can see that humanity still doesn't accept aliens as noted from Starfire's internal dialogue. We also see some man in Chicago who found a picture of Starfire on the internet and new she was a Tamaranean. It appears he's going to pursue her but his intentions are unclear at the present time. 

Jason Todd being in this series was the selling point for me. I'm a huge fan of his character. I like Arsenal too and Starfire is someone I haven't had the opportunity to read much of, but would like to see more of so this series is great all around for me. What quickly catches my attention is the relationship between Jason Todd and this mysterious new woman named Essence. Somehow she's linked to his past and I can't wait until Lobdell digs deeper into Jason's past and shows us all more about him. 

Kenneth Rocafort is the series artist and he certainly did a terrific job not he artwork. I don't think I'm familiar with him but after this first issue, I'm a fan of his work now. I was really loving his style and the gorgeous colors just embellished his work all the more. 

This series is nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be. I'm not saying it's in the top five or even the top ten series out of the new 52, but it's still quite entertaining. I know I'm going to start following it every month now and I'd recommend others giving it a shot.