Best Red Hood Runs: 6 Comics Ranked, from 1988 to 2020

Jason Todd did not have the career of an ordinary hero: second Robin, victim of a reader vote, absent for sixteen years, then an armed vigilante under a red mask. This zigzag trajectory has a practical effect on reading. There is no great continuous series to follow issue after issue; there are blocks of stories, scattered between the Batman series, a few miniseries and three successive launches under the title Red Hood and the Outlaws. Here are the ones worth reading, in the order we rank them.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issue numbers, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of artwork or protected dialogue.

How we ranked these runs

Three questions fixed the order of this ranking, starting with Jason Todd's real place in the story: an arc where he is only a memory or a cameo ranks after a series that carries him. The second is readability without preparation: a reader who opens the collected edition should understand why this vigilante in the red helmet holds a grudge against Batman, without having gone through thirty years of continuity. The third is the echo left among later writers, measured in revivals, quotations and adaptations.

The ranking does not measure market value. The most expensive item on a Jason Todd shelf is not the one with the best story: the 1983 first appearance sells on other grounds, which our article on Batman #357 details. We cover collecting at the end, once the reading is settled.

Top 1: Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke, Under the Hood (2005-2006)

In the Batman series, a vigilante hooded in red settles in Gotham and does not seek to stop organized crime: he wants to run it, imposing his rules on the underworld. Judd Winick writes the arc keeping the reader in Batman's position, who senses a familiar presence without being able to name it. The story runs through issues 635 to 650 of the series, with interruptions for other stories and an annual tied to it; sources diverge on the exact list of intermediate issues, and we prefer not to fix it further. Doug Mahnke handles most of the art, with a thick, angular line that suits a Gotham of alleys and warehouses.

It matters for the character because all of Red Hood flows from it: the method, the reproach aimed at Batman, the silhouette in the red helmet. The return relies on cosmic events of the time; we do not reveal the mechanism, because the interest of the first pass lies in discovering the identity. It is for every Batman reader, including those who have never opened a 1988 issue, even if knowing the past tragedy heightens the effect. It is also the source of the 2010 animated film, compared to the pages in our article on Under the Red Hood.

To collect it, the single issues of the 2005 Batman series are common and found one at a time: you can gather them without going through auctions. The collected editions exist in two distinct volumes and gather the material without the issues unrelated to the arc. If you plan to complete single issues, work from the catalog's issue list rather than from the back cover of a collected edition.

Top 2: Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo, A Death in the Family (1988)

Batman #426 to #429 tell Jason Todd's last journey. He sets off on the trail of his biological mother, and the Joker, already in the plot, turns the quest into a trap. Jim Starlin, a writer known for his cosmic sagas, sets a brutal tone that the monthly series had hardly admitted until then. Jim Aparo draws in a classic, readable, almost reassuring style, which makes the gap with the subject even more striking. The Jim Aparo hub gathers our articles on the artist.

The arc ranks second because it is the cause: without it, no Red Hood. The phone-vote device that accompanied it put this story into editorial memory, but we weighed it little in the rank: a reading ranking judges the story, not the event. It is for the reader who has read Under the Hood and wants to understand what Jason really holds against Batman. You can open it without knowing what follows, since it is self-contained and reads in four issues.

On the collecting side, it is a block of four 1988 single issues, to be bought in order. You need to distinguish original copies from reprints: the arc has been offered again several times, under an illustrated cover or in collected form, and a careless seller may mix these items. Our profile on the value of Batman Death in the Family explains what makes the price of a complete block vary, in ratios and not in figures.

Top 3: Judd Winick, Red Hood: The Lost Days (2010)

A six-issue miniseries, published in 2010, that fills the gap between Jason's death and his return to Gotham. Winick goes back to his own character to show what a boy brought back to life does, with no mentor and no plan: wandering, encounters, learning a trade that is not Robin's. The art, dry and sparsely decorated, avoids showiness and lets the plot carry the whole.

The miniseries matters because it gives the character an inner trajectory, where Under the Hood showed him from the outside, through Batman's eyes. It is for the reader who enjoyed the first arc and wants to know what comes before: it is better read afterward, because it loses part of its effect if you do not know why this vigilante came back.

For collecting, six single issues are enough, easy to track down, with no major variant to hunt. The collected edition is the more practical read: the six chapters fit in one slim volume.

Top 4: Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort, Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011)

In 2011, at the time of the big reboot of the DC universe, Jason Todd gets a series of his own for the first time, bearing the name of the team he forms with Starfire and Arsenal. Scott Lobdell writes the start, Kenneth Rocafort draws the first issues in a nervous, highly stylized line. The run lasts about forty issues, plus a zero issue and annuals; sources diverge on the exact total depending on whether one-shots are counted, and we avoid fixing it.

It matters because it installs Jason as a team leader and no longer a passing figure, with a group identity, allies and a monthly series readers can count on. It divides opinion, however: some critics fault its uneven treatment of its characters. It is for the reader who wants the Jason of the new continuity and is not afraid of a tone more pop than Winick's. The first issues are the most sought after, because they are the most representative of the opening proposal.

For collecting, the 2011 issue 1 is the obvious benchmark, surrounded by issues of a widely distributed series that are easy to complete. The first volume's collected edition suits anyone who wants to judge on the evidence before committing to following single issues.

Top 5: Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok, Batman: Three Jokers (2020)

A three-issue miniseries in which Batman, Batgirl and Red Hood investigate the possibility that several Jokers have been at work in Gotham. Geoff Johns ties this riddle to Jason's death in 1988 and makes it one of the emotional engines of the story, with Jason Fabok giving Gotham a highly detailed photographic look. The theme is grief that never closes, a direct extension of the 1988 tragedy. The Geoff Johns hub gathers the articles devoted to the writer.

It matters because, for the first time in years, an event story puts Jason in the foreground of a Joker story, not the background. It is for the collector who already knows the file and wants to see how a writer of the recent period takes it up. A reader who opens this story without the first two on our list will lose part of the stakes; that is why we place it lower.

On the collecting side, the series has many alternate covers: when buying, note the exact mention on the single issue, so that your inventory distinguishes the standard cover from the others. The collected edition is the most space-saving route. Our readers will find a broader frame in the Joker reading guide.

Top 6: Scott Lobdell, Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth (2016-2018)

The 2016 relaunch, under the Rebirth label, takes Jason up again with a tighter team around Artemis and Bizarro, and replaces the pop tone of the first launch with a more personal dimension. Scott Lobdell stays on script, with several artists over the course of the issues. The series spans about two years of publication; we give no end issue, for lack of certainty about the count of some one-shots.

It matters because it makes Jason a protagonist who owns his past, instead of commenting on it. It is for readers who have already read the 2011 launch and want to know how the character evolves, or for those who prefer a tighter approach.

For collecting, recent single issues, with no supply difficulty. A collected edition exists for each block of episodes, which lets you follow the series without piling up single issues.

Which one to start with, by reader profile

Your starting point depends on what you want to take from the reading.

• You come from the 2010 animated film: open Under the Hood, then A Death in the Family, in that order. You will recognize the structure, and you will discover what the film condensed.
• You have read Batman for a long time: start with A Death in the Family (Batman #426-429), then move on to Under the Hood. The shock of the return then lands in full.
• You want the most recent Jason: aim for Three Jokers after the two foundational stories, then the 2016 launch.
• You prefer teams and a lighter tone: the 2011 Red Hood and the Outlaws is your way in, but read at least Winick's arc first.
• You collect the Robin line: the Robin reading guide places Jason between Dick Grayson and his successors.

If you had to keep only two stories, it would be the first two in the ranking: together they form a complete story, from loss to reappearance. Our overall ranking of the best Batman runs gives the context of the series in which these arcs take place.

What these runs are worth in a collection

A run's value is judged in ratios, not in figures, and the six stories in this ranking do not behave the same way. A Death in the Family is a block of four 1988 single issues whose price follows mostly the condition of each copy and the presence of issue 427, the vote issue, often the most in demand of the set. Under the Hood, published twenty years later, rests on larger print runs: scarcity is low there, and demand reacts mostly to adaptation announcements.

The first launch of Red Hood and the Outlaws is a case apart. Its issue 1 is tracked, but its series was printed on a large scale; the useful comparison is between the standard copy and the alternate covers, which depart from the base price in a ratio you can observe by consulting several completed sales. For Three Jokers, the many variants require noting the cover precisely.

Three methods help you decide. First compare the price of a complete block to the total of the individual issues: on a short arc, the gap can go either way. Then check the version: original single issue, reprint or collected edition are three different items, with three price logics. Finally, estimate before buying, with sales actually completed and not open listings. For the market context of the line, see our guide to the key issues of Robin.

Frequently asked questions