Warning! Spoilers ahead for Red Hood: Outlaw #50
It's the end of an era for DC Comics' Red Hood Jason Todd. Red Hood: and the Outlaws, DC's record-breaking longest-running series from writer Scott Lobdell, has finally come to a conclusion in an extra-sized issue that attempts to wrap up loose ends and provide a proper send-off for Todd's time leading the Outlaws. While the future does remain a mystery as to what may come next for the black sheep of the Bat-Family, there are some insights to be gleaned from Lobdell's farewell issue.
Lobdell's Red Hood and the Outlaws began way back in 2o11 as part of DC's New 52 reboot publishing initiative. It was also one of the few series that continued into the subsequent relaunch event of Rebirth in 2016. The series would run over two volumes as well as a retitle, containing almost a hundred issues in total. While Jason's initial team saw him working with his best friend Arsenal and one-time love interest Starfire in the first volume, the second volume became more of a Dark Trinity, with Red Hood allying himself with the Superman clone Bizarro and the Amazon known as Artemis. Over the course of the series, Jason Todd has grown immensely as a character, finding friends, family, and light in his life amidst the darkness and trauma of his past, all thanks to the Outlaws.
However, all good things must come to an end, and the Outlaws have since gone their separate ways, but not before one last mission as seen in Red Hood: Outlaw #50 from Lobdell with art by Paolo Pantalena. In the issue, Jason is determined to save, rehabilitate, and redeem Duela Dent, the Joker's Daughter. While not actually the daughter of the Clown Prince of Crime, her life has been corrupted and twisted by him just as he has for Jason. As a result, Jason sees himself in Duela and helps her get on a better path than the one he had once resurrected after Joker killed him.
While it almost looks like a new iteration of the Outlaws has just been formed with Dent as its newest member to replace Bizarro (he had to leave to rule Hell after accidentally killing Trigon), this new team is extremely short-lived. Midway through their fight, Dent comes to the realization that she doesn't find killing and violence funny anymore. She decides that she wants to return to her real family, and after they get her home, Artemis and Jason decide to part ways as well. While Jason seems more well-equipped to be alone and on his own now, that doesn't make it any less hard for the anti-hero.
So what's next for Jason Todd? The issue ends with Jason heading back into Gotham City, though it remains unclear what exactly he'll do next. Red Hood #51 will see Martinbrough taking the reins from Lobdell, and previews for the upcoming issue tease that Jason will be dealing with the aftermath of the Joker War. Red Hood being back in Gotham should certainly be interesting as well, seeing as how he and Batman have an agreement that Jason is not allowed to take any lethal measures while in his city, something he's often struggled with. In any case, Lobdell certainly did his best to create a closing chapter with his final issue, though it seems more than likely that Red Hood fans would have wanted more Outlaws no matter what. While he'll never be the hero Batman wanted him to be as his former Robin, Red Hood admits he certainly was a hell of an Outlaw.
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