“Heavy is the Head”
Writer: Shawn Martinbrough
Artist: Sanford Greene
Color Artist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Review by Adam Ray
Red Hood: The Hill #2 continues bringing us into the most dangerous part of Gotham City and also delivers outstanding character-driven stories, between the vigilante battles. Tensions are high, and even our main characters are struggling to trust each other. All the while we get stunning and stylistic artwork that makes the story feel deep and grounded, compared to the hyper-realistic and action-packed cosmic-level books that most fans are used to. This is Jason Todd like you’ve never seen him before.
We know Red Hood to be a somewhat violent and dangerous figure; the loose cannon of the Bat Family has been known as an executioner and as the leader of a morally dubious group, The Outlaws. In this series, we see him as a protector of both a close friend and the other masks that are defending The Hill. In fact, this is yet another issue where we see Jason Todd equally as much as we see Red Hood. This title brings a welcome new exploration of the character.
The nature of the protagonists interacting with each other in ‘The Hill’ is accentuated by the creative team’s strong art style. We see the artists choosing to frame their characters at either Dutch angles or from below, to make them seem heroic and their actions off-kilter and in high energy. The warm color palates and matching tones in the day scenes show the peace of Dana’s team during the day contrasted by the deep blues and jagged lines of the characters in the scene to show tension.
Conclusion
Red Hood: The Hill #2 brings us DC’s greatest anti-hero in ways you’d never expect to see him; humanized and handling the peace of his new part of the city. Don’t mistake this for a simple superhero comic, as it’s bringing a great deal of tension, and we can all look forward to seeing it pay off.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment