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Red Hood and the Outlaws (The New 52!) # 9 (Night of Owls)

By Mark Rodriguez

The Court of Owls have unleashed their army of Talons all over Gotham City. As Batman fights off the invading forces in Wayne Manor, Alfred sends the call to every member of the Bat Family- including The Red Hood!



"The Night of the Owls- Who Are You? Hoo Hoo" opens with Red Hood, Arsenal and Starfire staking out Mr. Freeze's lair as they've been told he's another target of the Talons. They were wrapping up another mission in Gotham when they got the call from Alfred. Starfire asks why Jason is willing to help Batman if he hates him so much. Jason tells her that he's doing this to save the city, not for Batman.



Jason remarks that Mr. Freeze knows the Owls are after him and he's turned Chinatown into his own private (and frozen) bunker. The Outlaws have to rescue Mr. Freeze from the Talons, but they also have to rescue the city from Mr. Freeze.

Red Hood leaps out towards the ice structures and tells Starfire and Arsenal to get as many people out of the area as they can while he deals with Mr. Freeze and the Talon. Starfire says the ice won't stand long against her body heat, and Arsenal quips that he knows that personally.

Red Hood thinks to himself that he does feel more anxious being back in Gotham. With all the trouble he caused Batman, the call from Alfred might very well be a set up to get him arrested. He hears Mr. Freeze fighting off the Talons and knows this is real. The Talon wants to kills Mr. Freeze for 'no longer serving the Court' and the icy villain says he has never served them.

Red Hood comes in to break it up between the two. Freeze says he knows the Talons are all over town killing Gotham power brokers, so he should go save them. Mr. Freeze says he's not defenseless and freezes Jason's gun and hand. Jason smacks him with the froze gun and says he's not one of the good guys. Freeze says he knows since he let the Talon escape.



Jason goes after the Talon who tells him he's been dead and brought back as well as all the other Talons. They fight on top of a dragon parade float. The Talon pins Jason down and stabs him in the helmet, which he is surprised actually cracked. Jason asks the Talon if being an assassin is the first thing he thought of upon resurrection and the assassin says he knows his place. Before he can stab Jason once again, Arsenal fires an arrow through both his hands.



The Talon runs away and Jason gives chase, telling the Outlaws to watch over Mr. Freeze. Arsenal fires a heat arrow near Jason's frozen hand to thaw it out. Starfire informs Mr. Freeze that he is under her protection and she gets blasted by his ice bream. Arsenal checks if she's alright and Starfire mutters angrily in her native tongue. Mr. Freeze warns them to back off and he will freeze to death whoever else comes into his lab.

The Talons goes into an empty lot near a Haly's Circus billboard. Jason comments that the Talon carries himself as an acrobat and recognizes the circus as the place where Dick Grayson came from. He tells the Talon that the empty lot means something to him and the Talon tells him not to talk to him as if he knows him.

Freeze says he was used by the Court for his experiments to revive the Talons. Starfire notes his lab must be very expensive and he didn't care where the money came from. Freeze tells her they came to him as business men with the mutual interest in killing Batman, but he will have revenge on them for using him and discarding him. Arsenal hits him with an arrow with hits him with 1.21 gigawatts of electricity and knocks him out. Starfire comments that it's tragic since he seems less mad but misguided and would have helped the world if his life hasn't taken a tragic turn.



The Talon removes his mask and shows Red Hood his face. He says his name is Xiao Loong, and as a child he was forged into a weapon of the Court with his every move, even his time of death being dictated by them. This time he wants to die on his own terms. Jason takes off his own mask and tells him he also died and came back and knows that starting over can be scary. Xiao doesn't want to start over, he'd rather end it now. Jason agrees and shoots him in the face.



At the Gotham police department 8:53 PM, Batgirl had finished defeating her Talon and replaced the Owl Signal with the Bat Signal. She wants to see if Batman is OK before she can check on the Birds of Prey. Jason comments on Batgirl's legs (since she can walk again) and drops off Mr. Freeze. Batgirl says this won't absolve from his previous insane acts and if she sees him in Gotham again she'll be sure to lock him up next to Mr. Freeze, and Jason says that better bats have tried. Red Hood runs off with Starfire and Arsenal and tells Batgirl to tell Batman he's welcome.

My Opinions

It was fun finally getting to see Red Hood and his crew since I never got into the series back when the New 52 was New. I mean, I could only buy so many comics a month and the Bat-Family is extensive. Arsenal and Starfire are a lot of fun as well and the three make an interesting team. I remember the main complaints The New 52 Starfire received revolved around her being 'new' to the DCU which erased her previous history with Nightwing, and also her casually sleeping with both Jason and Roy. As for Red Hood, Batgirl proves that even though he is doing his own thing, he is still pretty hated and pretty much the black sheep of the Bat-Family.

The issue was pretty interesting with both the Talon and Mr. Freeze. With so many characters I guess there was so much panel time to go along. Freeze did explain he was tricked and used by the Court, and it seems he will be part of the Batman annual that revolves around the Owls, so that might be expanded upon.

The Talon tried to carry out his orders but soon laments his new lot in life. After all, I can only assume once the Night of Owls is over, they'll all be put back in the freezer until who knows when. Xiao for once, decided to take his own life and end the cycle for himself.

It was a cool issue and it was nice seeing what the New 52 Jason Todd as up to for a bit.

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