Red Hood: The Lost Days back

In which the Red Hood waits sadly for someone to collect him from the lost property office...

I'm still not completely clear about how Superboy Prime altering reality whilst trapped in another dimension brought Jason Todd back to life, but regardless, Judd Winick's further elucidation of Jason's post-death back-story, before he exploded like a loose circus cannon into Grant Morrison's first arc of BATMAN & ROBIN is gritty stuff. In fact, in a way, the only slightly odd aspect is the incongruity of the two portrayals of the same character.

Morrison's version is clearly barking padded-cell-in-Arkham mad, whereas Winick's version is almost the exact opposite, completely cold and calculating as he undergoes the extensive training in armed and unarmed combat, demolition, espionage and detective work that he knows he'll need for the personal war he's planning to wage. But would that be against the Joker, the person responsible for his untimely demise, or against the Batman, the person who placed him in that vulnerable position? This is a great mini-series that will probably get overlooked amidst the myriad Bat-wash of books when it really shouldn't. Purposeful art from Pablo Raimondi and Jeremy Haun contributes in producing something that has the feel of a slick action film along the lines of the Bourne trilogy.