New 52 Red Hood and the Outlaws: rewrite

First off, I really hated New 52 RHATO. As y’all know by now, since I won’t shut up about it, I absolutely love Arrowfam, and Roy and Emi are my favourites. I’m also incredibly fond of the first generation of Teen Titans (a.k.a. The Fab 5). Dick Grayson is Roy’s Robin, not Jason Todd. What frustrated me the most about RHATO was how it changed Roy’s personality and turned him into this idiot who existed only to prop Jason up.

Kory is another character I love and I hated how she was written in RHATO. She is a strong powerful woman, confident in her sexuality and appearance, yes, but that doesn’t give writers an excuse to make her overly sexual. Roy and Kory are Dick Grayson’s friends. Jason has his own set of friends and characters he interacted with. Use them! The lack of research on the characters’ history was appalling and it was utterly disrespectful of years of history.

Anyway, this team is one that I think would have worked better for a Red Hood and the Outlaws title in New 52. Since I didn’t even bother finishing RHATO, I asked my friend Let’s Talk Roy Harper (@RoyHarperTalk) for some help. I’m also not very familiar with Eddie Bloomberg, so Let’s Talk Kid Devil (@letskiddevil) clarified some things for me. Give them a follow on twitter!

Team

Jason Todd (Red Hood)

Of course, the titular character. I guess I can keep the “how he came to be” bit since that didn’t involve the rest of the Outlaws. I read somewhere that someone thought Jason leading a team is out of character for Jason as well since he doesn’t exactly play well with others. To remedy this, the “team” isn’t exactly led by Red Hood. The book is just called “Red Hood and the Outlaws” since it begins with him or something.

The team is more like a “a group of people with a common goal who become reluctant allies because they realize that it’ll be easier to achieve that goal together than individually”.

Eddie Bloomberg (Red Devil)

Eddie is super underrated lemme just start with that hahahaha We could have him wandering around trying to find his place or whatever it is Eddie does. He runs into Jason and he remembers Jason as the one sidekick he was actually friends with.

So he runs into Jason and they catch up. Perhaps at some diner. Eddie asks if he can tag along because he doesn’t really have anything to do. Jason agrees, albeit hesitantly.

Mia Dearden (Speedy)

Before reading this, please read my Green Arrow New 52: rewrite

I’m kidding. To sum up the relevant bit in that post: Mia leaves GA some time after she finds out she’s HIV-positive to “find herself” and to really see what she wants to do with this whole hero business.

RHATO would pick up with Mia doing PI work for random clients and on her investigation, she runs into Jason and Eddie. It turns out they’re chasing the same person or group of people. Mia and Jason don’t get along at first, probably because of a shared history when they were both still sidekicks of their respective mentors. Maybe they were forced to work together and it didn’t end well, maybe have wink-wink nudge-nudge comments to their only encounter in the pre-n52 timeline, where Jason kidnaps Mia. Maybe N52!Jason somehow convinced Mia to go on a secret mission to try and redeem their failed mission and that too ends horribly and Mia resolved not to trust Jason ever again but here they are.

Story

The first part is really just the three of them accidentally becoming a team. At the end of their first “mission” Mia says, “I hate to admit it, Todd, but we actually work well together.” Eddie’s the one who actually suggests that they become a team and at first Jason and Mia are like “No.” Then Eddie says something like “Come on guys! We could make this a whole thing! Also, I, uh… I kind of liked being with people who actually made me feel like I belonged.” Mia and Jason look at each other, silently debating in their heads about whether or not it’s a good idea. Since it’s gonna be in Jason’s perspective, he could be thinking about Bruce adopted lost kids or something so they wouldn’t feel alone in the world.

“I’m not Batman,” he thinks but one quick glance at Eddie makes him think back on this moment:

He sighs, stands next to Eddie and looks back at Mia. “I’m in if you are, Dearden.” Mia blanches and Jason continues with, “Ball’s in your court.”

Mia glares at him before groaning and saying, “If anything bad happens, I’m blaming you.” or something hahaha

Eddie’s all “YEEEEEESSSS” and he puts an arm each around Mia and Jason’s shoulders

And so the Outlaws are formed.

The next arc would probably focus around Mia, perhaps something to do with her father. Mia and Jason would argue a lot throughout, with Jason constantly asking why she left GA etc etc. At the end of the arc, Mia admits to Jason that she has HIV. Jason kind of awkwardly reassures her that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Anyway, the two of them have a platonic moment with Eddie watching from a distance…

Which brings us to Eddie’s arc. The bad guy in for this arc would probs just be someone gunning for him because of his meddling or something? Like, maybe he saved a bunch of innocent bystanders and it blew the dude’s (or a chick’s) operation. Anyway his arc would focus on his insecurities and how he never felt like he belonged anywhere. Then after seeing Mia and Jason have their platonic moment, he felt out of place, as if the two were just tolerating him. Anyway, the arc ends with Mia and Jason reassuring Eddie that they accept him and that they consider him a friend. After all, he “brought the team together” and they wouldn’t be there without him. Jason tells Eddie that he’s outgrown the “Kid Devil” title and he should call himself “Red Devil” instead.

Then Jason could have an arc to himself. Probs something to do with the League of Assassins and Talia.

Final thoughts

Honestly, I’m just pretending that this is what actually happened in New 52 and that Jason is grieving the loss of Eddie.

I really wanted to give each of the three their own spotlight while making sure that the team actually makes sense. While I don’t like Lobdell as a writer, I have to admit that the start of Rebirth RHATO was actually pretty good and with the dynamic he wanted for New 52, I think he could have handled Mia and Eddie better than he handled Roy and Kory.

In my ideal comic world, this rewrite would flesh out these three characters and give them a chance to shine. It’s an unusual team, so it fits right in the New 52 universe, but I think it’s interesting enough to hold people’s attention. Anyway, that’s all for now! Stay pretty, Star City~