DC K.O. Red Hood vs The Joker #1 Is What You'd Expect and That's a Good Thing

DC K.O. has been one of the best things DC has done in a long time. The story is pretty simple — it’s just a tournament arc and DC’s de facto villain Darkseid is the big bad — and that simplicity has been a huge part of why I’ve enjoyed it. This isn’t some complicated Grant Morrison event (although I am Final Crisis‘s big fan), but a big dumb fun story that revolves around everyone fighting each other. December is the mid point and has been called “Fight Month”, with the one on one rounds of the tournament taking the stage. That leads us to DC K.O.: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1, a book that fits its title perfectly and is exactly what you’d expect.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Jason Todd has been a tough nut to crack for DC since his return. I’m not exactly what you’d call a fan of the character, but I do see why other people are. Personally, I would have preferred him to stay a villain, but this is where we are. The relationship between the Joker and Jason has been important since the Clown Prince of Crime killed him, so there was a part of me that groaned when I saw that the two of them were going to face off. It seemed so cliché. However, after reading it, I can honestly say that the book delivers what you want it to, and that makes it a lot of fun. DC K.O. has already used a fight as a character study, and it does it again with this issue, and it works.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Pros	Cons
Exciting action that will surprise a few times	It’s pretty predictable
Fantastic art from Dustin Nguyen, original artist of “Under the Red Hood”
An interesting look into who Jason is and what he’s become

This issue basically does everything you’d expect. The three rounds are all where you’d expect — an alleyway leading to Ace Chemicals, where the Joker was born, the room where Joker killed Jason in “Death in the Family”, where Red Hood was born, and a graveyard, where it always ends up with these two. Jason’s monologue is exactly what you’d think it would be; he goes over his past, his need for revenge, and what his long rivalry with Joker has meant to his life. This story isn’t reinventing the wheel. Jason doesn’t realize he never wanted to kill the Joker, and the ending doesn’t see him give up his need for revenge. However, he does realize that the Joker didn’t create him, nor did Batman. He did. It’s a nice little wrinkle for the character that can be used or forgotten in the future.

Dustin Nguyen’s Art Is Exactly What You’d Want From This Book

Dustin Nguyen drew “Under the Red Hood,” as well as the Robin and Batman miniseries, one of which is about Todd, so getting him back for this story was a great idea. Nguyen has grown as an artist since the old days; look at his work in Descender, Ascender, and Little Monsters, and it’s quite different from his older stuff (and read those because they’re fantastic). He goes back to his old style for this book, and it looks just as great as it always had. He does a tremendous job of making the action fluid and is able to show the kind of monster that the Joker can be, at least once, literally. Seriously, his Joker is amazing; it’s simple, but the way he can capture the insanity of the villain is surprisingly great.

This book uses a lot of double-page spreads of panels, and it’s a perfect way to lay out the pages. It allows the writing to shine through, putting us into Jason’s head better, and it also does a great job of setting the pacing of the fight. There are a lot of panels per page, and it works for the kind of fight these two would have. There’s a lot going on in each spread, and it gives the fight a frenetic feel, as the two men do their best to destroy the other with a variety of little moves and actions, all before the other person can.

DC K.O.: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1 can seem like the most cliché thing in the world. Of course, DC chose these two to fight because we’ll never get away from the past in the world of superhero comics. However, Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson are able to use that past to inform the story and give readers the kind of exciting fight you’d want from these two. Nguyen’s art is the best part of the book; it allows the writers to get across what they need (and it’s a present to old men like me who remember “Under the Red Hood” as it was coming out; yes, my knees hurt, why do you ask?) and make the fight exciting. This issue is everything you’d expect, but for once, that isn’t a bad thing.

DC K.O.: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1 is on sale now.

What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!