Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
Gotham City is a big place, and it takes a lot to battle crime and corruption. Sometimes, certain corners of the city get left behind and not even the Batman can keep people from falling through the cracks. That was the lesson learned in 2000’s Batman: The Hill, a powerful one-shot by Christopher Priest and Shawn Martinbrough.
Years later, Martinbrough has returned to the Hill, and this time he’s bringing a different member of the Bat-Family to try and save it—his way. In the immediate aftermath of the Joker War, Jason Todd takes a break from his operations, returning to the part of town he came up in before being found by Batman. Turns out he’s just in time too, as a power struggle between ambitious gangs and nascent vigilante groups are threatening to destroy the Hill once and for all. So, for our final Weekend Escape of Black History Month, let’s check out the seven-issue miniseries Red Hood: The Hill.
THE PREMISE:
Demetrius Korlee Jr. is the son of the businessman and crime lord that Batman took down years ago. By day, Korlee keeps an honest face and wants to make good on his family’s ruined name. By night, he works to maintain balance with the gangs and criminals seeking to conquer the Hill’s fresh market.
Korlee’s opposition comes in the form of two sisters, Dana and Denise Harlowe. Denise is an investigative reporter looking into Korlee and his business ventures. Dana, on the other hand, operates as a crimefighter known as Strike. Under this guise, she leads a vigilante group called the Watch whose activities eventually prompt Red Hood’s involvement.
What follows is a story that stars Red Hood, but is really an examination on seeking and maintaining order in a forgotten town. Everyone in this miniseries is working to come out on top, whether it’s providing for their loved ones or just escaping all of Gotham’s violence. No one is simply good or evil, while Jason Todd, a man who’s played both hero and villain in the past, seeks to save his friends and the Hill in the best way he knows how. But is his arrival too late to do any good?
LET’S TALK TALENT:
Shawn Martinbrough returns to the world he co-created with Christopher Priest many years ago, fleshing out the setting and communities to give the Hill a fully lived-in feel. Martinbrough and artists Sanford Greene and Tony Akins flesh out the Hill with a multitude of locales. From food trucks and restaurants, to Korlee’s Godmode fashion shop, this is a place that feels both new and exciting, but also still vulnerable to the threat of crime and gang violence. All of this is centered by Jason Todd’s presence, who in the hands of the creative team is experienced and world weary, finding himself guiding a team that needs his help whether they know it or not.
A FEW REASONS TO READ:
- Taking place outside of mainland Gotham, Greene and Akins illustrate the Hill with a characteristically thriving cultural style. Warm colors soften and saturate a world that’s still very much under the threat of those who could take cruel advantage. It’s a sharp looking series that contrasts nicely with the average Bat-comic.
- We’ve seen Jason Todd in a team before, but Red Hood: The Hill presents him as a leader more uniquely than his earlier forays. Guiding an amateur collection of costumed locals, the book positions Jason as their best chance for survival, while distinguishing how far he’s come as the renegade crimefighter under Batman’s tutelage.
- Speaking of Batman, his involvement in the book serves to show how he’s changed when it comes to keeping a watchful eye over all corners of Gotham, and how the events of the original Hill story have affected him over the years that followed.
WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME:
Gotham is a city of hope, no matter how dark its history is. The Hill is one of the most prominent examples of that, and this story is filled with individuals looking not to take advantage of the vulnerable for themselves, but navigating the ethics of vigilante justice to achieve betterment for their community. With Red Hood at the helm, it’s a story of redemption and honor, taking place in a diverse part of the city not often referred to for many years. Building on what’s come before, Red Hood: The Hill is a terrific miniseries for fans of the former Robin and readers of grounded storytelling drenched in the inter-communal politics of today.
Red Hood: The Hill by Shawn Martinbrough, Sanford Greene and Tony Akins is available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers. You can also read the series in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @donomark and X at @donoDMG1.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
