Showing posts with label Black Mask. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Mask. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Red Hood and the Outlaws – Dark Trinity | Comics

Establishing his new status as a villain, Red Hood decides to  take down Gotham's underworld while joined by a fallen Amazon and a faulty Superman clone.

Years before, Jason Todd was a street rat in Crime Alley who was stealing to survive and he was visited by Batman when he was trying to steal tires off the Batmobile. Never really found his comfort zone by working as Robin alongside The Dark Knight, Jason Todd eventually became an outlaw named Red Hood after he came back from dead.

While recalling these past events from his life, Jason came in his motorbike and shot the mayor on street before being confronted by his former mentor. These two fought a very brief yet intense battle and Red Hood then cheated his way out of the fight early on.

As he was having a drink in a bad-guy bar and got lost in thoughts from old days, a member of Black Mask's False Face Society approaches him to inform about their boss's invitation to join his cause. Jason then came saving life of a woman named Ma Gunn, whom he and Batman used to know from years before.

He stopped her from running criminal activities behind the cover of a Boarding School for Wayward Boys, which she used to run. Ma Gunn believes that it surely was Black Mask who gave the order to kill her for not joining in his recent mad schemes.

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Red Hood and the Outlaws– Dark Trinity | Comics

After catching up on old times, Jason learns from her that her place was about to open weeks ago and that means, the villain had planned for a mass-murder when he blew up her house. Still not giving in to his rage because of his promise to Batman, Red Hood decides to face crime-boss Black Mask about his offer.

The way he made an entrance by shooting at his guys and broke into his personal convoy impressed the villain. He actually opens up to him about his intention being different for Gotham City from the likes of Bane, Catwoman, The Joker, Killer Croc or The Penguin.

Jason has become a discussing topic among the bad guys of Gotham City these days for showing his raw boldness by publicly attempting an assassination on Mayor and a clash with The Dark Knight. All of these were what made the villain appreciate his raw talent and even offered Red Hood to be his heir since he has no kids of his own.

Before moving towards their next objective on expanding operation in Gotham City, Black Mask made an example out of his henchmen, who failed to kill Ma Gunn by blowing up their heads with pre-installed neuro-implants in front of Jason.

In order to secure a cargo for his new boss, Jason encounters fierce warrior Artemis of Amazons, who was here looking for an ancient artifact known as Bow of Ra, a weapon of immense power she has always longed for. After their initial encounter, she deduces that Jason is definitely onto something.

Also, Black Mask is not really after the artifact as these two have previously thought but he was eyeing for a more threatening specimen. It was Bizarro, a failed clone of Superman created by former villain Lex Luthor that he wants for his own. In quest of figuring out Black Mask's real plan, Jason feels lost in the midst of Artemis and Bizarro.

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Trinity of Outlaws

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Red Hood and the Outlaws – Rebirth 01

Red Hood and the Outlaws V2 01

Red Hood and the Outlaws V2 02

Red Hood and the Outlaws V2 03

Red Hood and the Outlaws V2 04

Red Hood and the Outlaws V2 05

Red Hood and the Outlaws V2 06

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Red Hood and the Outlaws – Dark Trinity

With first monthly series of Red Hood & the Outlaws debuting back on 2011, just as The New 52 wave started taking over DC Universe, the team comprised of anti-heroes and outlaws have changed their line-up recently. When Starfire left this trio, Red Hood and Arsenal quickly formed a new duo of bad-asses but that too has lived for a brief time.

It has come to an end because of circumstances and both of their conflicting nature to each other. However, we are in for an entirely different and all-new alliance up ahead of us where Jason Todd bands together with a fallen Amazon warrior Artemis and one of the many imperfect Superman clones; Bizarro.

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A Rampaging Bizarro

So, with DC Rebirth launching a new wave of change, comic-book writer Scott Lobdell (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Darkness) and artist Dexter Soy (Army of Two, Batman – Arkham Knight – Genesis) has band together to came up with some great alliance of beloved outlaws which they brought up in "Dark Trinity" storyline.

With issues #01-06 of second monthly ongoing volume of Red Hood & the Outlaws and the one-shot "Rebirth" issue, this storyline is a fresh-start for Jason Todd and his new allies in crime. Each three of them are given a fair share of flashbacks at how they ended up together for a same goal, which serves as an origin for the new incarnation of Outlaws.
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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

All-Star Batman – My Own Worst Enemy | Comics

In order to cure Harvey Dent to get rid of his villainous Two-Face persona, The Dark Knight takes on a cross-country trip!

In New Jersey, Auggie Mac's Diner was having a sunny summer day with its regular customers and patrons but then suddenly Batman comes crashing down through the window with two other hired guns; Firefly and Killer Moth following his tail.

He makes a quick work of them both by wrapping the former in his cape and incapacitating the latter by  stabbing into his wrist gauntlet as they were about to threaten the lives of civilians present there. Before he catches his breath, two mechanical arms of the mercenary and former Suicide Squad member Black Spider pulls him from behind.

He throws Batman into a nearby picket fence after dragging him off the diner thinking him outgunned but soon, The Dark Knight comes back at him with a chain saw to take him down. Firefly recovered and came back to take a shot at him when he is engaged but ran with tails between his legs after receiving a cold stare from the Bat.

Batman then finds himself up against the mob of locals seeking a bounty on his head and Two-Face appears from behind. As the crowd shoots him down, Batman quickly grabs Harvey Dent and cutting all communications, hits the road in a truckers' rig.

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All Star Batman – My Own Worst Enemy | Comics

It all started a while ago when Gotham's former District Attorney and an old friend of Bruce Wayne; Harvey Dent reaches out to him for his help to locate a formula which would allegedly got rid of his twisted Two-Face persona and cure him forever.

Despite his own doubts and Alfred's protests, Bruce decides to help his old buddy anyway to give him a chance to become normal again and takes off with Dent in his Batplane to a 500 miles long journey. Dent's alter ego secretly puts a back-up plan of causing an acid rain over Gotham in motion to make sure Batman never succeeds.

In addition, Dent's alter ego made an open offer to anyone who would stop them from reaching destination of paying a combined fortune of Gotham's three biggest crime lords and then a missile is fired at the Batplane, which knocks it down.

This is how they ended up on New Jersey earlier and now the Caped Crusader comes face to face with the crowd of heavy-hitters like Amygdala, Killer Croc and King Shark in his road-trip. This trio of muscles tried their best to crush their enemy into puddle for that huge stack of cash dent offered but they all eventually sought defeat one by one.

Moments later, Cheshire and Copperhead sneak attacks on Bats with poison darts, forcing him to jump off the train they were travelling. Upon resurfacing, more men came out of nowhere and shot Batman down before transporting them to a new location.

Meanwhile, Black Mask, Great White Shark and The Penguin of Gotham Organized Crime secretly meets master assassin Anatoli Knyazev AKA The Beast for a road kill. He agrees to one condition and asks them to clear the mess he is going to leave behind for this job. What these crime bosses didn't know is how messy it is going to be.

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Evil Over Good

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All-Star Batman 01

All-Star Batman 02

All-Star Batman 03

All-Star Batman 04

All-Star Batman 05

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All-Star Batman – My Own Worst Enemy

With the Rebirth of DC Universe, two of most celebrated superstar comic-book creators of recent years have teamed up for an all-star saga of The Dark Knight. Featuring first five issues of the ongoing series, there was another sub-plot "The Cursed Wheel" by the same writer and artist Declan Shalvey (28 Days LaterMoon Knight) as well.

Acclaimed comic-book writer Scott Snyder (American Vampire, The Wake) and Eisner Award-winner renowned artist John Romita, Jr. (Superman – Before Truth, Superman – The Men of Tomorrow) finally unites to collaborate in their first adventure of All-Star Batman ongoing story titled "My Own Worst Enemy".

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Road-Trip Action

Batman's new young sidekick Duke Thomas played an important part in the main story and in additional sub-plot as vigilante hero The Signal. Also, the Caped Crusader went against Court of Owls, acting as Dent's goons while lesser-known villain Gentleman Ghost and Royal Flush Gang had a cameo appearance in the entire plot.

The key focus shifts on the menacing bad guy Anatoli Knyazev, once known as KG Beast and is seen as most ruthless than any iteration of him ever played before. This is probably because he is now a part of Batman legacy in DC Extended Universe and was quite intimidating in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Batman – Bloom | Comics

Since Bruce Wayne's apparent demise, Jim Gordon became the all-new Batman, sanctioned by GCPD. Bruce Wayne was later found amnesiac but alive, living a different life. With Gordon stepping into the shoes of Batman, many new super-powered villains stating to show up and Mister Bloom is one of them. During a conference at Powers International, Bloom showed up, killing many civilians and threatening to kill Geri Powers, before being stopped by Gordon but he escaped quickly.

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Batman – Bloom | Comics

Wearing the Robin "R", Duke Thomas sneaks into the Iceberg Lounge to find a connection to Mr. Bloom by acting as Robin, only to be confronted by the Black and Whites of Gotham's organized crime. Duke made a narrow exit from the grasp of Black Mask, Penguin, Great White Shark and Ventriloquist.

Geri Powers introduce a whole new army of robotic-suits to Jim but he wants to catch Bloom on his own. In their next encounter, Bloom turns Gordon's very own Batsuit "Rookie" on him but after some struggle, Batman manages to turn the table and arrest the villain. However, a dozen more like Bloom shows up throughout Gotham.

They tear up the city and Jim is rendered bruised and bloodied. With hundreds of seeds hidden around the city, there would be many more of them. Meanwhile, as Bruce tries to recall who he was after Duke talked some sense into him, an unnamed person approaches him on the park bench and requests him into not going back to what he was, who strikes an uncanny resemblance to The Joker and appears amnesiac like him as well.

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Wild, Bloody Meadow!

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Batman V2 46

Batman V2 47

Batman V2 48

Batman V2 49

Batman V2 50

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Batman – Bloom (Softcover)

Batman – Bloom (Hardcover)

Drawing a previous cliffhanger from "Superheavy" arc, renowned writer Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Superman Unchained) and master artist Greg Capullo (Haunt, Spawn) has eventually reaches to a conclusion with the storyline "Bloom", that collects issues #46-50 from the second ongoing volume of Batman monthly series from DC Comics in 2016.

batman new 52 dc comics
Let Madness Consume

Connecting a lot of dots from the previous events in The Dark Knight's life, we came to know that his greatest enemy has also made it out alive and awaiting a return to the big-game. Several other villains have made guest-appearance and Duke Thomas from "We Are Robin" movement also growing into the shoes of a new sidekick. Running into the continuity of Prime Earth, the climax of the plotline leads to "Epilogue", the final story of The New 52 era.
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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Red Hood and the Outlaws | Comics

Dick Grayson was Batman’s first crime-fighting sidekick and the first Robin, who grew up to his own identity of the solo superhero Nightwing and left the Robin mantle behind. After Dick, Batman found a troubled orphan boy from the streets of Crime Alley to be his newest sidekick and the second Robin. What they didn’t knew was that Jason’s becoming Robin was a plan The Joker had in mind and very subtly manipulated the deaths of his parents.

red hood and the outlaws
Red Hood and the Outlaws | Comics

He eventually fell into a trap set by Joker, where he was beaten to death only to be revived later by Talia al Ghul through the use of Lazarus Pit. He became a bit unstable and received new training. After hanging out with the League of Assassins for a while, Jason realized their way does not suit him best and he left.

Now assuming the new identity of Red Hood, he calls up his former friend Roy Harper from his days as Robin who was also a side kick of another vigilante hero named Green Arrow previously and now going by the name Arsenal. Princess Koriand'r AKA Starfire of the planet Tamaran is also grouped in and together they formed a squad of freelance mercenaries to avenge the enemies of justice.

After leaving the shadow of The Dark Knight, Jason started taking somewhat unethical moves in fighting crime like killing his opponents which earned him a reputation among the underworld. Red Hood fought Ra's al Ghul and later as a second chance, he was offered place in Batman Incorporated by Batman. Some time later, Jason would find himself teamed-up with Artemis and Bizarro.

For more information on Red Hood and the Outlaws comics series, you can check out the link below.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics) Wikipedia


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Band of Fugitives

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Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 01 – REDemption


Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 02 – The Starfire


Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 03 – Death of the Family


Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 04 – League of Assassins

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 05 – The Big Picture

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 06 – Lost and Found

During the wake of The New 52 wave following “Flashpoint” crossover event, the incident taken place in “A Death in the Family” had an altered effect in the new timeline. Jason Todd is back as Red Hood who is not a criminal but more like an anti-hero with two other popular characters to sum up the monthly ongoing Red Hood and the Outlaws from DC Comics.

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No Rest For The Wicked

The series debuted in 2011 with veteran writer Scott Lobdell (Alpha Flight, Generation X) and artist Kenneth Rocafort (Madame Mirage, Velocity) in charge of the storyline continuation. The series also tied in with two major New 52 crossovers like “Night of the Owls” and “Death of the Family”. After "DC Universe – Rebirth" wave on the timeline of Prime Earth, Red Hood eventually manages two new outlaws for his band, this time with Artemis and Bizarro.
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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Batman – Under the Hood | Comics

A buried past from many years ago comes back to haunt The Dark Knight as a brutal vigilante named Red Hood.

Years ago, when his first Robin, Dick Grayson was fired from duty for disobedience to his master (Nightwing – Year One), The Dark Knight started working alone again for some time. Even before when Tim Drake was drafted into this holy war against crime as The Boy Wonder, a brave, young boy from harsh streets of Crime Alley was recruited to a life-long crusade against crime.

That young boy, Jason Todd has eventually become the second Robin because of his unique potential after Batman apprehends him while trying to steal tire of Batmobile and soon Jason have learnt many feats of combat from his new mentor.

Though he was always overseen by Batman whenever they were on patrol, Jason was quite capable of defending himself on his own. However, the boy had a very bad-temper which would always get the best of him. Batman was afraid of this ever-so reckless attitude and often argued with him to rectify his mind-set.

Eventually, Jason got tricked and captured by The Joker in one instance and has nearly beaten him to death with a crowbar before leaving him for dead, rigged with explosives. Jason dies in an explosion before Batman could have ever reached out to rescue him in time (A Death in The Family).

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Batman – Under the Hood | Comics

Years after, a mysterious figure suddenly starts terrorizing Gotham City criminal underworld that is currently dominated by a new crime-lord known as Black Mask, aided by right-hand man Li. This mysterious identity proclaims himself to be Red Hood and not only his actions have changed the tide of criminal underworld, it also drew Batman's attention.

He has been taking money from underworld goons and killing many of the drug-dealers in Gotham on occasion. To stop him for good, Black Mask starts assembling his men from everywhere and even enlists help from reputed super-villain Mister Freeze.

Meanwhile, Nightwing visits Gotham to accompany his mentor and they ended up following Red Hood, who led them to one of Black Mask’s secret shipment that turns out to be Amazo, an android that was originally designed to defeat every members of Justice League and now it has turned against The Dynamic Duo.

Although, this killer-robot is a pretty tough opponent and a force to be reckoned with, by working together, The Knight and his square managed to successfully take down Professor Ivo's amazing android and in the middle of this chaos, Red Hood managed to slip a crate full of Kryptonite to blackmail Black Mask.

Hiring Mister Freeze against Gotham's new vigilante menace proved less than effective. Plus, a timely intervention from The Bat and his second-in command has calmed the situation pretty quick. As Red Hood continues to hinder crime businesses all over the city, his true intentions and alignment still remains unclear to everyone.

In the mean time, the Clown Prince of Crime was sitting in the Fun House of an abandoned carnival, where Red Hood enters and savagely beats him down with a crowbar. When the latter finally removed his mask, it was revealed to be long presumed-dead Jason Todd.

For more information on Batman – Under the Hood storyline, you can check out these links below.

Batman – Under the Hood (Comics) Wikipedia


Batman – Under the Hood (Comics) DC Wikia


batman vs red hood
Red Hood's First Strike

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Batman Annual 25


Here is your links to buy "Batman – Under the Hood" from DC Comics on Amazon.

Batman – Under the Hood Vol 01

Batman – Under the Hood Vol 02

Batman – Under the Hood

Released on 2005 from DC Comics, "Under the Hood" is a thirteen part storyline by renowned comic-book writer Judd Winick (Green Arrow, Green Lantern) and artists Doug Mahnke (Final Crisis, Justice League Elite), Eric Battle and Shane Davis, which ran into first monthly ongoing Batman comic series along with an Annual issue.

 Following the release of controversial "A Death in the Family" storyline in 1988, Jason Todd dies in action and after more than a decade in the wake of “Infinite Crisis” crossover event, he is brought to life in "Under the Hood" storyline as a new anti-hero of Gotham. Bringing Jason back in a new avatar really did wonders for his character as people really liked him as Red Hood more than his time as Robin.

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The Joker Gets Payback

Events of this storyline was slightly hinted in previously released “Batman – Hush” and “Batman – As the Crow Flies” story arcs from the same publisher. Those tragic panels from "A Death in the Family" storyline is re-created again in an homage with the characters in reverse roles, serving The Joker as a victim to Jason Todd's vicious torture this time.

Script of this book was later adapted into a DC Universe Animated Original Movie titled, Batman – Under the Red Hood, releasing in 2010 and it was a nice adaptation. Actor Jensen Ackles portrayed Jason Todd's role through his voice-over work and it was impressive.
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