HERO OF THE WEEK: RED HOOD (DC)Real Name: Jason Todd
First Appearance: Batman #357 (March, 1983)
Fight Club Ranking: #40
Featured Fights:
- vs THE SOCIETY: Batman #647 (Jan 2006)
- vs BRICK: Green Arrow #70 (Mar 2007)
- vs GREEN ARROW: Green Arrow #71 (Apr 2007)
- vs SPEEDY: Green Arrow #72 (May 2007)
- vs ROBIN: Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2 (Jun 2009)
- vs NIGHTWING: Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3 (Jul 2009)
Last month the featured fights were all about the heroes and villains of Injustice 2, but if you thought the DC fighting game sequel was done and dusted now that it's on sale -- you were wrong!
Warner Brothers and NetherRealm Studios have made a fine-art of selling extra content after the initial release of the game. They aren't wasting any time in revealing the next big character coming via download! As MK Online reports, it's one of the fans' most requested characters: Red Hood!
As is monotonously the case; I feel a slight pang of resistance to our first Hero of the Week of June. The cloud of commerce, and an absence of nuance, makes the arrival of Jason Todd a somewhat bittersweet scenario. It's nice to see a character fairly faithfully recreated from the page, but it's the unremarkable off-the-rack aesthetic of jacket and helmet that makes that a low bar to reach.
If you were here in the mid-2000s, you'll know I wasn't particularly opposed to the return of Jason Todd. The basic premise of resurrecting the dead Robin comes with inevitable friction, but the work of creators like Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke made it a pitch with meat on the bone.
The aesthetically pleasing, urban chess board that appeared in Batman comics at that time didn't need a Red Hood to work -- but both character, and scenario, were ultimately enhanced by one another. The dynamic of characters moving through Gotham City to serve distinct motivations was a very enjoyable experience.
I'm not sure Injustice 2 will receive the same enhancement. Last week I talked about the desire to at least see aesthetic and functional distinctions in fighting game superheroes. Red Hood's gun-toting street fighting doesn't exactly offer a whole lot in either department.
In a game that already comes with the likes of Batman, Robin, Catwoman, Black Canary, and Deadshot -- Red Hood isn't exactly bringing a whole lot to the table. Pre-fight character interactions may offer a few nods to character dynamics, but there's no story involvement for DLC fighters, which means any benefit Red Hood might bring is in the eye of the beholder. Which doesn't necessarily mean Red Hood won't find a market.
The last decade or more of gaming has refocused pretty heavily around shooting guns and moving through urban environments. It's no real wonder Red Hood is a popular character amongst the gaming demographics. As time has worn on, the novelty and meaning of his return has faded. In its place has been an adolescent power fantasy with simple cosplay appeal. Guns, a jacket, and a 'tude that pushes against the establishment. Taxi Driver with a silly helmet might be going a bit far, but the character doesn't always come with overly interesting goals or inspiration. He's bratty teen rebellion in an age where that's the beginning and end of a philosophy that will linger much longer in life. The fight against grown ups.
In another time, a character like Red Hood might've stood for the opposite of burning disposable income on the latest tack-on to a finite purchase. He would've been a figure of counter-culture -- but comics and their multimedia tie-ins have left that spirit behind.
There's always something a little bit ugly about the voracious consumption of a demographic spending more than double the value of an all-content-in-one-box "Komplete Edition" just to gobble up the latest shiny bauble, but I wouldn't want to judge too harshly - it's not all bad. In fact, that audience even performs the service of funding more material, which sometimes opens things up to even more interesting extensions. It's just hard to ignore the gluttony of it all.
I'd love to see the Injustice 2 Gear system offer the short-lived Red Hood design that haunted Batman and Robin during Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's memorable 2009-2010 run.
The over-the-top absurdity of the design, and its perversion as a market-minded anti-Batman was a whole lot of fun to groove to!
You'd probably have a tough time conveying the concept through the game, but the thought of such an aggressively comic book aesthetic confronting the overly-seemed, grim 'n' gritty, armor-plated gamer is its own pleasure. These games should dare to be that amazing!
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