Red Hood: The Lost Days - #5 - DC Comics

Jason Todd is continuing down his path to kill his mentor. Over the course of his training he has worked with men and Talia al Ghul to understand the darker side of combat that Batman never taught him. The former sidekick has outgrown his red and yellow tights, but has not lost his need to do what’s right by innocent people. In this month’s issue, Jason is trying to save London from a series of bombings made to look like a terrorist attack. Facing off with one of his trainers and the Russian mafia, Jason must set aside his ambition in order to save the British, but little does he know it’ll lead him right toward his ultimate goal.

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 Highlight below for details of this month's issue

Jason races across London to diffuse Shurik’s bombs and ends up facing one of the Russian crews responsible for orchestrating the attack. Surrounded, outnumbered and out-armed Jason doesn’t seem like he’s going to escape London alive. Acting cowardly, Jason pretends to be in on the whole thing, saying he’s one of Shurik’s guys that were secretly hired to help place the bombs and distract the Russians to take control of the situation and escape. Once free, Jason heads over to meet Shurik and find out what the backup plan was in case the original bombing went wrong - in this case, suicide bombers. With a little threatening, Jason learns that three Arab teens have unknowingly been given bombs set to go off at key spots in London. Quick on the chase, Jason tracks down the three bombs. Diffusing the first two easily, he finds the third bomb on the London Bridge but cannot easily disarm it. After warding off a cop, he decides to drop the bomb in the river and bolt before anyone can ask questions. Safely back at his apartment, Jason is eager to “get out of Dodge” since so many people saw his face during the day’s events. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one home, the Russian crew found him, thanks to Shurik. This time around, Jason wasn’t going to act cowardly. He quickly fights the gang in the closed quarters and effortlessly kills them because “no one will miss these kinds of guys.” All but one of the men is killed in the first round of gunfire, but as Jason reloads to finish off the crew the man desperately begs for his life. His pleas go unheard as Jason prepares to kill the man, but then the Russian offers one of the very few things that Jason Todd would accept…the Joker’s whereabouts.

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The issue kept up the suspense of this story line. Jason Todd seems to be perfectly suited to take on the persona of his Red Hood. With only one issue left, one can wonder what the final steps are before the Red Hood appears in Gotham.  Check back in November for the conclusion to the days leading up to Jason Todd’s battle with Batman.