Batman: Under the Red Hood

TL;DR — The Essence

A new player takes over Gotham’s criminal underworld: a masked vigilante calling himself the Red Hood, methodically dismantling drug operations with a brutality Batman refuses to use. As Batman investigates, he’s forced to confront the identity behind the mask — Jason Todd, the second Robin, murdered by the Joker years earlier and somehow returned to life. What follows isn’t a joyful reunion but an argument about whether Batman’s refusal to kill is a moral principle worth the cost it’s had on people Jason loved.

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Why It’s Worth Reading

1. It Turns a Returning Character Into a Genuine Ideological Threat

Jason doesn’t come back as a villain for villainy’s sake — he comes back with a coherent, personal case against the way Batman operates, sharpened by his own murder at the Joker’s hands. The story takes that argument seriously instead of dismissing it.

2. It Directly Confronts Batman’s Central Rule

Nearly everything in the story circles back to one question: is Batman’s no-killing code protecting Gotham, or is it a form of self-protection that lets men like the Joker keep hurting people? The book doesn’t fully resolve it, which is part of why it’s stayed a reference point in later stories.

3. It Reframes a Story You May Already Know From the Movie

The 2010 animated film adaptation is widely loved, but the comic gives Jason’s return more room to build — his relationship with Black Mask’s criminal empire, his history with Nightwing, and a slower unraveling of what happened to him after his death.

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Creative Team

Under the Red Hood (originally titled “Under the Hood”) was written by Judd Winick, with art primarily by Doug Mahnke alongside Eric Battle, Shane Davis, Paul Lee, and others. It ran across Batman #635–641 and #645–650 plus Batman Annual #25, published between 2005 and 2006. It’s the direct follow-up to the “A Death in the Family” storyline from nearly two decades earlier, and was adapted into the acclaimed 2010 direct-to-video animated film of the same name.

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Who Should Read This

This is the natural next step after A Death in the Family — the emotional weight of Jason’s return depends on knowing how and why he died. It’s also a strong pick if Knightfall or Absolute Batman interested you in stories that pressure-test Batman’s core principles rather than just his physical limits.

If you’ve already seen the animated film and loved it, the comic gives the same story more room to develop the underworld politics and Jason’s psychology in detail.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Batman: Under the Red Hood about? A masked vigilante called the Red Hood violently takes over Gotham’s drug trade, and Batman discovers the man behind the mask is Jason Todd, the second Robin who died years earlier and has somehow returned.

Do I need to read A Death in the Family first? It’s strongly recommended — this story is a direct continuation of Jason Todd’s death in that earlier book, and much of its emotional weight depends on that context.

Is this the same as the animated movie? The 2010 animated film is a fairly faithful adaptation, though the comic includes additional subplots and more room for Jason’s backstory.

Does Jason Todd become a hero or a villain? Neither cleanly — he becomes the antihero Red Hood, willing to kill when Batman won’t, a role he continues in many stories after this one.