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Copyright © 2009 Flaming Dog Media, LLC. All rights reserved. |
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Revenge: a Dish You Serve with a Red. |
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July 18, 2010 by Jason P. Hunt It was one of the biggest stunts in comic book history - the death of a major DC Comics character. Batman 426-429 ended with a bang and a huge event: Robin dead at the hands of... ... the audience. Those of us who've been around for a while know all about it: the 900 number that you could call to vote on the fate of Robin after being beaten and blown up by the Joker. Over 10,000 fans called in, and Robin died by a vote of 5343 to 5271. Of course, this was not the Robin who had been introduced back in 1940. That Robin - Dick Grayson - had since moved on, grown up, and taken on the name Nightwing. The editors at DC Comics realized that Batman still needed a sidekick, however, and created a second Robin: Jason Todd, who started out comic life as a near-duplicate of Grayson. Then the FINAL CRISIS happened, and the editors saw an opportunity to make Jason Todd unique, giving him a new back-story - found by Batman while trying to boost the tires off the Batmobile. Needless to say, fans weren't very open to the new kid. So they killed him. And that would have been that, except we all know that in comic books, no one stays dead forever. So it was inevitable that Jason Todd would somehow make a return at some point in the DC Universe. "Under the Hood" by Judd Winick did just that. BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD is the latest DC Universe original animated movie that adapts a graphic novel/story arc from the comic books. Picking up at the point where the Joker kills Jason Todd, HOOD takes the ball and starts running fast from the very beginning. Batman (Bruce Greenwood sounding a lot like Kevin Conroy at times) has to figure out who's taken on the mantle of the Red Hood (which was Joker's identity when he fell into the chemicals, remember...). With the help of wise-cracking Nightwing (freshly and cheekily voiced by Doogie Houser.. erm, Neil Patrick Harris), the Dark Knight follows a trail of dead bodies as the Red Hood takes over organized crime in Gotham City.
All this is being monitored by the Black Mask, who's none too happy that someone is muscling in on his territory. And since it's a "Red Hood" doing all the shooting and such, Black Mask figures he's a lackey for the Joker (given a darker voice by John DiMaggio). So they break the Joker out of Arkham and things just go from bad to super-chaotic.
This is not something to watch with the kids, but it's an entertaining story that stays faithful enough to the original comic while taking the story on its own spin in a few places. The explanation of Jason Todd's return is both logical (within the story universe, of course) and a cheat. The whole Jason Todd/Red Hood arc once again proves that comic book editors like to play both sides of the coin and not really deal in absolutes. Jason Todd was dead for 15 years, which may be a record. Also on the Blu-Ray: the next in the DC Showcase short films: "Jonah Hex", featuring an all-star genre cast led by Thomas Jane and Linda Hamilton. Again, not for the kids. But the ending will give you the creeps, as a proper Jonah Hex story should. And I'd swear the saloon was lifted from SILVERADO. It's well-worth adding to the collection.
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Available July 27th Visit the official site. Click here. STARRING written
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