Review: Red Hood/Arsenal, Vol. 1: Open for Business

Red Hood/Arsenal, Vol. 1: Open for Business Red Hood/Arsenal, Vol. 1: Open for Business by Scott Lobdell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a preview eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley.

Yeah, so my only experience with Roy Harper was the version of him on Arrow, and I'm still binging that to get caught up. So I see he has a new title, partnered up with one of the former Robins, Jason Todd. Great! I'm actually thinking it will be great to see Red Hood break away from Green Arrow and get his own action going..

Except. I was confused. Based on the above exposure, I somehow thought Roy was Red Hood. Because well, he wears a red hoodie on Arrow.



Silly me to assume that. Now, as I said I'm not caught up, so no spoilers if the Arsenal thing happens or doesn't happen on the show.

So Roy Harper is Arsenal, wearing a red outfit and toting a bunch of arrows. Alright, I had the idea right, just the name flipped. The Red Hood is actually the other dude wearing a red outfit. But see, this one has a bat on his chest. Makes sense, since he's a former Batman sidekick.

Anyway, once I got over this confusion there is the further confusion of the fact that though this thing says "Volume 1" on the cover, it's a new chapter in an already established partnership between Roy Harper and Jason Todd. They were former members of a band of outlaw superheros called, well, The Outlaws.

Fine. I can ride with it. Once I got acclimated to our heroes, I had to get used to their odd banter. And then, I found myself enjoying it.

I was skeptical after the first issue or two, but by about halfway I decided I liked the story. The characters are funny enough, and the villains are as well. And then there is an appearance by....well, just going into it can be spoilery, and I don't want to do that. Let's just say that it's enough to make me interested in reading Volume 2.



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