DC’s Red Hood Just Gave Us the Best Dynamic Duo of 2025 (Review)

It’s been rough going for DC’s Red Hood of late, and his relationship with Batman and the Bat Family couldn’t be more complicated if it tried. Taking all that baggage into consideration, it’s time for a clean start, or at least what constitutes one when you’re as complex a character as Red Hood. That brings us to DC Comics’ Red Hood #1, and not only does this deliver on that fresh start premise, but Red Hood isn’t the only member of the Bat Family to benefit from it, all with a genuinely compelling mystery at the center of it. Perhaps things are finally going Red Hood’s way after all.

Writer Gretchen Felker-Martin brilliantly sets the tone and overall vibe of the series in the first 5 pages, conveying the state of the city and how much of a shift the locale is from Hood’s normal stomping grounds of Gotham.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Even with a similar grime and corruption compared to Gotham, New Angelique feels like a completely different world at times, and that’s due to the vivid picture painted by both the dialogue and visual stylings of Jeff Spokes and Becca Carey.

Truth be told, Red Hood has rarely looked this cool simply moving through the city, let alone throwing hands in several brutal fight sequences. This is Red Hood after all, and it’s nice to see the series not shy away from what makes him unique amongst the rest of Gotham’s protectors. Even in close quarters, the team keeps you focused on Hood’s movements through the outline of his jacket and the stellar lettering, and the action is visceral and never holds back, fully embracing Hood’s penchant for gunplay.

That said, this issue really hits its stride when Huntress enters the picture. Huntress is the perfect complement to an anti-hero like Jason, as she embodies some of those same traits and has often been on the outs with parts or all of the Bat Family at various times. The ad-hoc partnership works wonders here, both in terms of how their personalities play off each other and how they approach any given situation with action first and questions later.

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As for the mystery at the heart of all this, while details are still slim on who is behind all this, there’s a genuine pull to get to the bottom of it, and that applies to Red Hood as well. He’s hoping to figure it all out while constantly questioning if he has what it takes to see it through or if he should even be attempting. It’s a compelling push and pull, and gives Jason a chance to shine in his element while continuing to evolve the character in some substantial way. We’ll have to wait and see if that happens, but as of now, it’s a stellar start.

Red Hood hits the ground running with a promising setup for its lead character, but the book really hits its stride when its two leads are fully in play. With an intriguing threat and two incredibly complex characters attempting to solve that threat while dealing with their own baggage, Red Hood has the potential to be one of the year’s real unexpected gems.

Red Hood #1 is in comic stores now.

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