SPOILERS: RED HOOD CHEAT SHEET & FUTURE ISSUES

Wanna know what’s in store for you for the next few issues of Red Hood & the Outlaws? James Tynion IV gives us a cheat sheet of what has happened to Red Hood, Starfire, and Roy Harper. Click the jump to see more.

Red Hood & the Outlaws #19 will the first issue of James Tynion IV’s (current writer) run on the Outlaws. Tynion has been on many Batman issues as a back-up writer and he’s been phenomenal. It’s great to see him make a suspenseful, dark, and gritty Outlaws comic book. For those who want to get up to speed with what’s been going with the Outlaws for the last 18 issues. Tynion provides a cheat sheet, see below:

Red Hood #19

Talia Al Ghul brought Jason Todd to the All-Caste after he was resurrected from the dead, in order to be trained to fulfill his destiny. Jason Todd studied under the sect’s leader, a functionally immortal woman named Ducra, who saw the potential for greatness in the boy. While there, he bonded with a (seemingly) young woman named Essence, who was ultimately exiled from the sect.

Later, it was revealed that Essence is, in fact, Ducra’s daughter, and they are both part of a dark, immortal race known as THE UNTITLED. Pre-historic men and women who bathed in the waters of the WELL OF SINS, and were granted dark magical powers and immortality. Ducra created the All-Caste to balance the scales between good and evil, and create a force capable of fighting back. The two organizations have held an uneasy truce for centuries.

Jason left the All-Caste after refusing to let go of his inner rage. He spent some time building up his deadly skills, and then emerged in Gotham City as The Red Hood, in opposition to Batman. At the start of Red Hood and the Outlaws, Ducra and all of her Monks are slaughtered by a member of The Untitled. The balance between good and evil is now out of whack, and the world it at the mercy of the Untitled. But nobody knows what they’re planning next. Essence has been hunting them, without finding their leader. The Outlaws sought after Ducra’s killer, but the trail ran dry.

Also important: S’aru the Proctor is one of the oldest and most powerful of Ducra’s pupils and the only surviving member of the All-Caste. He has the ability to manipulate memories, which we saw back in RHATO #3, when he forced each of the outlaws to give him their most precious memory in order to access one of the sacred chambers of the All-Caste. He’ll be playing a major role at the start of this story.

Now, for the future issues of Red Hood & the Outlaws, Tynion dishes it out below. If you do not want to be spoiled about what’s to come for the next few issues of Red Hood & the Outlaws, do not read below. See Tynion’s planning for the book below:

Red Hood #19

Something happens to Jason in issue 19. Something big that will change the dynamic of our three beloved Outlaws for months to come. It’s not something that happens to him entirely by choice, but he is forced to live with the consequences. The reason why he’s being manipulated to this point will be one of the key story pieces of my run.

First-off, I want to say that in my head, Issues #19 and 20 are one big issue. Things are set up here that are paid off next month. I wrote it as a 40 page whole, rather than two 20 pagers. Then that will be immediately followed by the RHATO Annual in late May (38 pages). Those two stories lay the groundwork for the huge, crazy-ass storyline that begins in issue 21, and will run into the fall. We’re going to see the outlaws at odds with each other about their future together, and we’re going to see each of them pulled in crazy directions where they have to weigh their destinies apart vs. together.