Red Hood and the Outlaws #13 Review and *SPOILERS*

Flowers For Bizarro

Written By: Scott Lobdell

Art By: Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, Taylor Esposito

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 9. 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Bizarro has sure been working himself into a frenzy lately and after learning that his body was dying from all the stress he was putting on it, maybe fighting Solomon Grundy in the last issue wasn't the best thing for him......... Yeah, it actually ended up killing him, but thankfully, Lex Luthor showed up on the scene and electrocuted the hell out of Red Hood and Artemis so that he could take a closer look at his former science experiment and it's hopefully here where we'll see him bring our favorite misunderstood hero back to life.  Let's jump into this issue and see if Lex continues being the hero that I love him being or if he starts falling back on old habits and becomes a heel.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with a cute, yet strange interpretation of what Bizarro thinks Superman's origin story is and from his perspective, his origin story, but eventually he remembers who and what he is and how these memories that he has belong to someone else.  Really, we're just going to be getting a lot of information that we've already had from this series repeated in this issue as Bizarro thinks back on his short life while he's on the verge of death....... or rebirth.  

It's strange how in the previous issue we ended with Lex Luthor electrocuting Red Hood and Artemis, but here it seems that the two are welcomed guests at Lex Corp, while Lex works on saving Bizarro's life, but also makes a fuss about them using his creation for their own needs, while Bizarro is the property of Lex and Lex alone.  Yeah, it's all bluster and our villain turned hero makes us all believe that he is the genius that he says he is when he figures out that the only way to save Bizarro is by injecting him with pure kryptonite, since he's the biological opposite of our Man of Steel.  This part is actually some of the best part in the book because it does exactly what I wanted it to and made Lex relive the moment that the original Bizarro died during Forever Evil and proved that Lex really did care for his original creation and even though he seemed depressed that this version of Bizarro wasn't the same one that he had originally connected with, he saved Bizarro's life anyway and even turned all rights to the creature over to Red Hood and Artemis.

In the end, knowing that Lex Luthor doesn't do anything for anyone out of just the kindness of his heart and how this will probably bite them on the ass later down the line, the two go see how their friend is doing.......... and goddamn, that kryptonite is one hell of a cure all because when they find Bizarro, he's wearing glasses and speaking down right eloquent....... That's right, we're dealing with a smart Bizarro now and while I know it can't last, this seems like it will be a fun ride while it lasts.

That's it for this issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws and while the majority of the story seemed like filler to retell Bizarro's origin story, even though his origin was only at the beginning of this series, there were a few moments in this issue that really made this installment shine and while I can't give this a high ass score for only that, they certainly picked this book up above the filler that I was originally relegating this to and they actually brought a smile to my face.  The art remains some of the best art that DC has right now and that alone makes this a book worth getting in my mind, I only hope that the story feels a bit bigger and has more purpose as the series progresses because we certainly had a bunch of retread here and nobody wants that.

Bits and Pieces:

Red Hood and the Outlaws this issue seemed to have a lot of filler thrown in and while that usually makes me roll my eyes at comics, there were enough scenes of heart and dialog of hope that allowed me to look beyond that........ not to mention the incredible art that always puts this series on a higher playing field than most titles at DC right now.  

7/10