Scott Lobdell Podcast

It seems like DC wanted to call the book Red Hood and the New Outlaws. Which doesn't work for me so I'm glad they didn't do it. I wrote what I could of the interview. (*1) I prefer reading interviews to listening so this is more for commenting purposes and in case I need to check back on this interview later on.


Interviewer: Well I'm very glad to hear that you're going to continue telling the stories of Jason Todd. I feel that you have a good grasp of the character.

Scott Lobdell: Thank you. I know that when he was first announced a few years ago everybody was kind of expecting him to be, you know, the angry Jason Todd. Angry against Batman. But by the time I got the book I felt that story had been told. Part about this though is that when we first met Roy and Jason they were already besties. In this series Jason is going to be meeting Artemis and he's going to be meeting Bizarro for the first time. And at the beginning he's kinda determined that their not going to be friends, their not going to be teammates. He sees them as a gun and a knife. Just part of his utility belt as it were. 

And over time he's going to start to get soft because Artemis considers Bizarro an abomination because he has no soul. He's just this thing that was created. And Jason has been dead and has come back. He's going to be going through something when he's not even sure how much of him came back. Does he have a soul? Maybe he does. Is it still in the Lazarus? Is it somewhere? He's going to find himself getting closer to Bizarro because he's going to feel them as kindred spirits. So that's some of the stuff that's going to be happening and the dynamics between the group. 

Interviewer: One of the themes you have explored with that relationship between Jason Todd and Roy Harper has been the comradely and their friendship. So it sounds like you're setting it up where Jason Todd doesn't want that with these characters but it happens in spite of that. And I feel like that's really relatable to our relationships in the world. Situations we're put in where we think one way, we're closed minded and it turns out to be totally the opposite.

Scott Lobdell: I live in a big apartment building that's 400 units and I can't tell you how many times I can't somebody I see. I see him at the mailbox I see him like two, three days. I'm like "I can't stand this person." And then we're walking through the hall, we're in the elevator, I start talking. I'm like "ah my god what a great person." You get this world view of people around you and it's so often wrong. And so I think Jason, who when you really think about Jason he's not a guy who's had time for a lot of friendships. 

He started out essentially homeless and then he moved into a mansion with Bruce who wasn't the most warmest guy. And the ancient Alfred who kind of waited on him so he didn't have the Teen Titans he didn't have a lot of experiences where he could bond with people. By taking away Roy and Kori and putting him with two other characters--who again--people would always comment how Kori was kind of an upgrade in terms of power to the two of them. And now we have Jason in the center of essentially a Wonder Woman and a Superman. He's kind of this underdeveloped Batman, I guess would be a way nicely putting it. 

So it will be interesting to see him going from the--I want to say leader. I have to tell you I hate, even when I was writing X-Men years ago people would say "who's the leader?" I would say "what? Do we really need a leader?" If there's a fire and we all ran out I don't think we'd all be "wait let's see what Bob Harris says about it."I don't really think of--even though it's called Red Hood and the Outlaws--I don't perceive it as him being the leader of a team of outlaws. I mean it's just him and these two people. Their going to grow up together and come to appreciate each other.  

Interviewer: You've had really some great artists you've worked with on the propriety up until this point.

Scott Lobdell: Yep.

Interviewer: Who's the artist you're working with?

Scott Lobdell: Dexter Soy who's been doing the last few issues of Red Hood/Arsenal. And then they took him off so that he could ( I can't understand what he said after.) He's really good. It's funny because I think over the years I found out that sometimes after you bring an artist into a run go back "I like when this artist was doing art", "I like this take", where as when you get an artist and you let him start on a series people notice him for the first time.



Thoughts: He also goes on to say the book will retain it's quirky humor. The first RHATO showed how they became friends and Jason opened up more as a person because of it. RHA was mainly about Jason and Roy being friends. This seems to be more than Jason getting to know people it also explores his fears about himself and his resurrection which I've been wanting to see explored. I really got the impression through Jasons' actions and the hints Lobdell has dropped that he truly fears what he is. I always thought that was one of the main reasons he told Bruce he didn't care how he returned. Back in Secret Origins both Talia and Jason himself were scared of him. Talia Al Ghul, the daughter of a man that frequently uses the pits to come back to life was unsettled by him. That's got to be worrying.

I had hoped Jason wouldn't see Bizarro as a tool or a monster and I like the idea of him empathizing. Not much was said about Artemis so I'm curious what she'll be like given current canon. Whether the who gods, goddesses and mythology angle will be played with.

We have confirmation that Jason wasn't in the TT making him the only Robin in this canon not to be one. He was one pre-Flashpoint for a very short period of time. It's be cool if Lobdell could somehow keep the pen pal friendship with Kid Devil.





*1 I skipped most of the "you know" and extra bits. There are points where he rephrases what he was going to say or the interviewer says something in the background while he's talking that I kept out. I also wasn't certain what a couple words were being said so I did the best I could.