GUGGENHEIM "RESURRECTS" THE BLACK HOOD

[Rik]

From Comic Book Resources
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=24591

"This iteration of the character is a guy named Mateo Burland. He’s Latino, and he’s arguably the most grounded version of the character we’ve seen to date. At least, I hope so. My goal here was to take the now-familiar model of the street vigilante – the Punisher and the Adrian Chase Vigilante – and turn it on its head. In both instances, the character is an establishment man – a veteran in the Punisher’s case and a D.A. in Adrian’s – someone whose background means he stands for law and order. I wanted to go the opposite way; I wanted to start with a character who was, basically, the kind of 'street scum' these vigilante-type characters typically go after. And that, I realized, dovetailed nicely into my original idea for a criminal asking the Web for help. See? It all comes full circle...or, um, Red Circle."

[leonmallett]

Well, having read #5 today (the first comic book I have read in 2-3 weeks), I was suprised by the Black Hood's introduction. I hadn't picked up on any of the previews of the issue, nor read the solicitation blurb, so I had no expectations really except from the Guggenheim interview.

It is a new Black hood in many ways isn't it? The name pays homage to the original in a loose way, yet the concept is quite an inversion, criminal to hero all in 22 pages. I had hoped that the notion of a mystical hood with significance down the ages would be included (since I liked that aspect of the !mpact version), but it was quickly apparent that this isn't the case (although room exisst to bring such an idea in).

I have only read through the issue once, so maybe I missed some things, but I didn't really 'get' the motivation for change from criminal to (anti)hero. I will re-read to see if I did miss this.

That said, for 22 pages it was a pretty packed story. I hope DC recognise that some pretty nifty work can come from done-in-one issues (to whit, Brave and the Bold currently).

What we have is probably the most violence-prone hero in the DC Red Circle line-up aside from Inferno and Hangman. But then the Gray Morrow version had that sense of violence around him. Tonally the array of DC Red Circle heroes line-up is quite varied thus far, and I think it will be interesting to see them teamed up together as a collective. It isn't a recognisable Black Hood as we have known them, but I like this iteration nonetheless.

[Rik]

It really wasn't a issue of the Web. It was the Black Hood #1 guest staring the Web. I don't think he pick up on who the Web was. The Web was much more detached then he had been in any of the previous comics. The Black Hood was different and unique. To change him from a Police officer to a gang enforcer was quite a change. I do think it worked and it was a better introduction then the original one-shots. It would be nice as the flesh out the Black Hood if he was the nephew of Matt Burland and the just kipped over Thomas and kept the legacy aspect. The comic was more violent than I would have preferred but I did like the ending when they left it up to the reader to decide at least for now. The death of the sister and the death of the Web's brother fit together well. It was a solid story for 20 pages. In the back up we see the return of the Jackal, but he didn't dress up like the Hangman, a cameo of Mister Justice and the Hangman being given the power to heal the sick, which is pretty good for a doctor.