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The Red Right Hand of Justice

September 18th, 2009 by | Tags: , ,

What does that even mean?

I guess it just sounds cool.  And although Red Hood has a dippy catch phrase and is lobbying hard for the title of World’s Silliest Mask (Getting strong competition from the Purple Conehead in that issue.  Does anyone know who that is?) he’s shaping up to be a pretty good character.

I like that he’s obviously out to make a name for himself, for whatever reason, and approaches it with pragmatism and care.  It’s nice to see a hero/villain/anti-hero/whoever who is media-savvy.  I also like seeing the relationship between him and that girl who is his sidekick.  Funny that it seems about five times more tender and respectful than the relationships that most of the heroes have with their sidekicks.  The two seem to like each other and respect each other’s quirks.

Now, to the meat and potatoes.  Guesses on who Red Hood is?  I think the Jason thing is a red herring.

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Posted in comic books by Esther Inglis-Arkell |

17 comments to “The Red Right Hand of Justice”

  1. Red Right Hand is a Paradise Lost reference. Uzumeri’s got more annotations here.

    And I’d believe he’s Jason, if Battle for the Cowl hadn’t had Jason put on that stupid Bat-costume.

         by david brothers September 18th, 2009 at 23:29 --replyReply to this comment

  2. I’m just gonna guess.
    Jervis Tetch

         by Niles Day September 19th, 2009 at 00:00 --replyReply to this comment

  3. It’d be funny if the Red Hood was actually Black Mask trying to thin out the population.

         by Paul Wilson September 19th, 2009 at 00:13 --replyReply to this comment

  4. @Paul Wilson: Gah, meant “competition” not population. Still I want it to be Jason.

         by Paul Wilson September 19th, 2009 at 00:14 --replyReply to this comment

  5. He looks like a vibrator with that hood.

         by ACK September 19th, 2009 at 00:20 --replyReply to this comment

  6. Oh and Esther I really recommend rikdad’s annotations, too. http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2009/09/black-hands.html

         by ACK September 19th, 2009 at 00:22 --replyReply to this comment

  7. Money’s on Todd (they can’t have thrown him in BftC with absolutely NO reason, look at Countdown being reverse-engineered from FC #1, I think we had something similar going on there), but my secret hope of hope super awesome never happen ever theory is Plastic Man. I mean, he’s red and has a sidekick. It totally makes sense. Scarlet’s mask is going to come off and she’ll be Woozy Winks all of a sudden.

         by Syrg September 19th, 2009 at 01:45 --replyReply to this comment

  8. I just got schooled English-Major style.

         by Esther Inglis-Arkell September 19th, 2009 at 02:35 --replyReply to this comment

  9. I just noticed that both Marvel and DC have a major anti-hero/villain in red named Hood who goes around shooting people alongside a female sidekick who wears a mask over a face that may or may not be hideous.

    Come on, Parker Todd in the next Amalgam!

         by Gavok September 19th, 2009 at 14:12 --replyReply to this comment

  10. Is there any reason it couldn’t be Tommy Elliott?

         by John Foley September 19th, 2009 at 14:19 --replyReply to this comment

  11. @John Foley: He’s Paul Dini’s current lookatmelookatmelookatme character. No way is a writer ofMorrison’s calibre picking up on Dini’s failed casserole of the remaining scraps of Jeph Loeb’s sloppy seconds.

         by Stig September 19th, 2009 at 16:50 --replyReply to this comment

  12. Paul Dini took lemons and made lemonade with Tommy Elliott. Dini found a spot in Batman’s world that made sense for the guy, and it also helps answer the question of where “Bruce Wayne” is during all this time.

         by Dane September 19th, 2009 at 18:11 --replyReply to this comment

  13. I agree, Jason Todd seems to me like a red herring (he hasn’t appeared in Morrison’s Batman yet, so that wouldn’t really be fair either). It might be Oberon Sexton, the masked character introduced this issue, but I really don’t know yet.

    Wouldn’t it be kind of hilarious if it was the Joker, making a go of being a hero now that Batman’s dead?

    Syrg: “Money’s on Todd (they can’t have thrown him in BftC with absolutely NO reason…”

    I was actually thinking the opposite, but with the same reasoning. It seems to me that by making Jason into the ‘extreme anti-hero’ Batman in BftC he was actually pulled away from his Red Hood identity. Last time we saw Jason he wasn’t the Red Hood, but a Batman wannabe, which avoids confusion now that the new Red Hood is introduced.

         by Derk van Santvoort September 20th, 2009 at 04:03 --replyReply to this comment

  14. In context the ‘heh’ when speaking to the sidekick seemed like he was barely restraining himself from crazed, maniacal laughter. I vote Joker.

         by Sleestak September 20th, 2009 at 12:33 --replyReply to this comment

  15. @Dane: And, of course, makes the entire rest of the Bat-Universe look like complete jackasses for not simply imprisoning him again and replacing him with someone they can trust. Aren’t there umpteen actors and shape-shifters in the DCU who could easily pose for Bruce? Even someone who didn’t know he was Batman could be told he was simply on a journey to find himself.

    But no – we have to have Jeph Loeb’s problem child. Imagine if, in five years or so, the same thing happened at Marvel – a mediocre writer, e.g. Joe Kelly, takes Red Hulk and suddenly decides that he actually has potential if they simply paint him another colour, get him to pretend he’s the Grey Hulk, and keep all the annoying, idiotic aspects of his screw-up personality.

         by Stig September 21st, 2009 at 06:48 --replyReply to this comment

  16. I’ve expected it to be the Joker since his first appearance. I’m almost expecting it NOT to be, because it seems so blasted obvious, and I don’t know that Morrison would build up a mystery over something so obvious…

         by Scott September 21st, 2009 at 08:55 --replyReply to this comment

  17. J. . . J-j-j-j . . . Jeaaaaaa *choke* . . . .
    JEANPAULVALLEYZOMGITSTOTALLYJEANPAULVALLEY

    *dies of shoulder-pad poisoning*

         by Finite Mike September 23rd, 2009 at 13:41 --replyReply to this comment