Robyn Hood & the Zenescope fairytale universe

[shevek]

So on a whim I bought the three tpbs of Robyn Hood, a Zenescope title which were on discount ($23 total purchase).

I guess I was mostly unaware of this, but Zenescope is a company that bases their entire universe on updated, supersexy female (or female-adapted) fairy tale characters who are basically empowered females fighing on the level of superheroes..the central book which has been running for a while is Grimm's Fairy Tales (of which the very hot Dr Sela Mathers..who eventually dons one of the sexiest superheroine costumes you'll ever see..is a main central character). And then there are all sorts of spinoffs involving the updated tales of the likes of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Arabian Nights, Alice in Wonderland and so on. I probably dismissed this universe until now because of its fairy tales origins.

But after reading these three Robyn Hood tpbs, no more. Comic Vine explains Zenescope's approach as kind of schizophrenic: on the other hand almost all of their covers are ultrasexy pinup style 90s bad girl art (see below) but it says that on the inside the heroines are dressed more conservatively. That's not exactly true. One of the plusses of Robyn Hood book one is how she spends most of her time in this really great getup with a green laced-up bustier/corset thing. In books 2 and 3 she regresses to a kind of halter top and hot pants thing with midriff. But in all three books, one of the best features is how at the end you get about a dozen cover depictions by various (almost entirely male) artists, like the famed Stjepan Sejic and many others whose names I don't know. Even if you don't like the story for some reason, the art is always super fantastic and hot,when it comes to representations of Robyn and also the two other main females, Marian and the (sometime villainess) Avella.

Now to the story specifically of Robyn Hood. It's a retelling of the myth where Robyn is a female and a ruthless vengeful killer who was born in the magic land of Myst but raised on Earth. The action takes place in both places but mainly in Myst. Robyn is almost always a hardass and a badass, so that's the 90s bad-girl part of the book, but then she also has "I'm nobody's girl" feminist outlook that comes straight from Gail Simone (even though the whole thing is written by an admittedly fat red-bearded dude,Pat Shand). To add to that occasional social justice outburst, characters from Myst (who are supposed to be medieval!) bust out terminology like "sexist" and "progressive" and "douchebag" (the current preferred feminist term for a disgusting man disagreeable to third-wavery) in the middle of dialogue scenes. It's not that annoying and it only happens occasionally, but I just don't know why a writer can't write a book without interjecting stuff like that. We already know that Robyn's vengeful mission in life is to take out the douchebags.

Is there peril, you ask? Some. There's the motivational peril: she gets raped and her eye is gouged out..which sets the stage for her development asa vigilante character. Marian (who by the way is never called Maid Marian in here..she is no damsel in distress but rather a powerful witch)
is tied up in a dungeon (Marian kisses Robyn on the lips for rescuing her..but no other affection is tendered).
Robyn gets thrown in prison. There's a combat tournament where she's in danger for a little while. She gets apprehended by cops and tossed in a cop car briefly. But otherwise than that not much...she has her doubts, but refuses to beg (very Red Sonja), and pretty much only fights irredeemable males who are rapists, abusers and scumbags..and not just them but their enablers as well (law enforcement like officers and sheriffs). I don't think there's one f/f fight in these books (more's the pity).

She does eventually succumb to a love interest but that male character eventually dies tragically..and what we're left with at the end (spoiler!) is Robyn Hood as a Green Arrow-type vigilante on regular Earth with her new black-clad ninja sidekick Marian who now has a buzz cut. Apparently the series does continue with their modern-day adventures (I'll have to look into that to see if it's any good)..so I can only speculate (based on how trendy bisexuality is nowadays..no issue with that!) whether Robyn and Marian pursue a lesbian relationship, because they are certainly roomates.

My assessment: worth a serious look (as is much of the vast Zenescope oeuvre) based on the superhot art alone...your mileage may vary as to content..I certainly enjoyed it enough...but if anyone has read some of this stuff feel free to post.

cover Robyn Hood tpb #1


cover Robyn Hood tpb #3


cover Robyn Hood tpb #2


Here's an example of the 90s bad-girl style on almost all the Zenescope covers. I mean, this one reminds me so much of Swords of Sorrow it's not even funny! (Depicted in the middle, btw, is that central Sela Mathers character I mentioned, in her amazing superheroine costume)

[Disciple]

I've never looked at Zenescope titles myself, but Dark One currently has a pretty great story based on their Dorothy.

The idea of a female Robin Hood somewhat appeals to me, but the eye-gouging/rape part I could do without. Still, I might check it out.

[shevek]

So I tracked down some more cheap Zenescope tpbs...including the hardcover Oz book for only $8. You're definitely right about Dorothy Gale's hotness...somewhat soon into the book she changes from her sexy farm girl outfit into the "warrior" outfit with bustier, miniskirt, tiny gloves, and white high boots that you see here (Glinda the Good Witch is on the left). There's one Oz cover that also has all four of the sexy characters from the Oz story: Zinna the Wicked Witch of the East (whom Dorothy kills), Lynessa the Wicked Witch of the West (whom I guess here is never called Maleficent for copyright reasons), Glinda, Thora and Dorothy. Again, one of the great features of the Oz tpb is all of the incredibly sexy variant pinup covers included at the end.




Will report more on the various Zenescope series in this thread - they all seem red-hot!

[shevek]

Brand new Robyn Hood: I Love NY series started this month...it's going to be a 12 parter. First issue established her as the defender of her neighborhood.
Still that hot body and costume. Check it out.

[shevek]

Just picked up the 2013 tpb Bad Girls which collects 1-5, and features a battle royale (again, somewhat like Swords of Sorrows) between the evil forces of The Goblin Queen, Baba Yaga, Venus, Limbo Queen (Alicia) and Queen of Spades...and the lead heroine Sela Mathers (in her tight magical-heroine costume with the thigh-high red boots...interestingly enough she is the only superheroine I can think of that goes into battle wearing glasses!) with the help of her friends Red Riding Hood and Samantha (defender of the Earth, apparently..kind of has a Powergirl thing going) and some Swarthy Dude.

Every page is just smoking hot, with plenty of 90s bad-girl attitude and sexy panache. The art is modern pinup style, not the 90s Rob Liefeld elongated-body stuff. And speaking of pinups, there are some nice ones at the back of the book that you can copy and hang on your wall. Well worth the 12 bucks I paid (original cover price $16). I don't know why someone hasn't bought the movie right to the Grimm Tales stuff Zenescope is putting out - I mean it isn't all public domain, characters like Sela and Samantha are original. I would love to see some sexy bespectacled actress play Sela.

[shevek]

So...I just spent the last couple days catching up on some more Zenescope stuff after I randomly found the TPB of Dark Shaman. Here's what I looked at:

1) I read the last 15 issues of the long-running Zenescope main series, Grimm's Fairy Tales, from #112-125. It ended at #125 a few months ago, and started back up again at #1 (there are 2 issues out of the new series so far). As before, the premise is that there are four mystical/fairytale lands (Oz, Wonderland, Neverland, and Myst) and that Earth exists as a nexus between all of them. Sela Mathers, who is at this point usually depicted in her sexy superhero costume, has been the Guardian of the Nexus for most of the series run. In the later part of the series, she is running a school for younger magical t**nagers (Highborns and Falsebloods) which seems like a cross between Hogwarts and Xavier's school. The t**ns don't get to go to class too much, though, because it seems their lives are always interrupted by existential threats, plus some of them also have evil tendencies.

Anyway, the series ends at #125 where the most important thing that happens is the death of Sela. I suppose that's why, despite GFT being one of the longest-running indie series (rivalled only by the likes of Witchblade, Savage Dragon, Fem Force, Invincible and a couple others), Zenescope decided to start the numbering all over again. The new series then involves Sela's daughter, Skye Mathers, who was previously known as #TheShadowGirl, as she takes over the role of Nexus Guardian. Skye has a great new sexy costume, very Wonder Woman-esque.




The key thing visually (and of course, for everyone on here who enjoys looking at sexy superheroines) is that the art is always top-notch, and always depicts all the females at their height of beauty, whether they are mature adults or t**enagers. This is the 'livin' in the 90s' approach that I admire Zenescope so much for: the art isn't dated, but they stick to their guns visually, and the women stay gorgeous in tight-fitting garb: they're not cartoonized, they're not abstracted or artsy, and they're not weighed down with clunky ordinary streetwear.

So, I'd recommend at least checking out the final run of GFT and the first couple reboot issues to get a feel of the book if you've been missing it.
Another good way into the whole Zenescope universe is the two "Genesis" titles they published last fall which re-introduce most of the major characters. It's kind of like Zenescope's version of DC Rebirth. The two one-shots are Grimm Fairy Tales Genesis: Heroes Rising and Grimm Fairy Tales Genesis: Heroes Reborn.




Also many of Zenescope's other titles have great stories and amazing art as well. I bought the TPB of Dark Shaman, and I don't think there's *ever* been a more beautiful depiction of a Native American heroine in comics (Talisman? Sarah Rainmaker? Danielle Moonstar?) than this. See what you think.





The other new book I've noticed is a direct spinoff of GMT...the four t**ns who survived the final battle (which killed Sela) in issue #125 go off into the world, and one of them is the recently introduced (in #113) Mary Medina, who is basically the Latin embodiment of Dia De Los Muertos- she has the power to raise the dead, and she can also kill someone by kissing them (although apparently not her Lion/Kavari boyfriend Wiglaf..her kiss actually helped heal him).

Mary goes off on her own adventure to find some kind of talisman in New Orleans. Her miniseries is called Day of the Dead. Reminding me visually a little bit of a cross between maybe Lady Death and Silver Banshee, she's as stunningly beautiful as any of the other heroines Zenescope has drawn. Here's a couple of samples from her new book.

[KennyLoggins]

All Gods Bless the Infinite Realms of Public Domain and the characters still free in it.

[DrMabuse]

So, the whole Zenescope line is on sale at Comixology until next Monday (the 29th). Any recommendations of titles/issues to get for peril content?

Thanks in advance.

Dr. M.

[shevek]

Dr Mabuse, I'm not sure specifically about peril, I've rarely seen peril scenes in these comics as much as the female characters are always in very tight sexy costumes....but I've seen two new miniseries come out this month from Zenescope:

- Belle Beast Hunter. supposed to be a combination of Beauty and the Beast with Bat-Family characters like Huntress and Batgirl.

- Dance of the Dead. Following up on last year's Day of the Dead, it features the spooky sexy heroine Mystere whose power is raising corpses.

and also not to be overlooked, back in 2017, famous comic book writer Chuck Dixon joined the Zenescope family for the latest miniseries about the female Liesel Van Helsing (vampire
hunter) vs. the Werewolf. She has a complicated-looking steampunk-inspired outfit that
reminds me somewhat of Lady Mechanika meets Harley Quinn.

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van helsing vs the werewolf.jpg (708.07 KiB) Viewed 4064 times

[Femina]

I've got an issue with Zenoscope... and it's not the usual sort of issue... My beef is that, the characters costumes on the covers are ALWAYS different from the costumes in the book. It's not like their ACTUAL costume is ever always less interesting or something (I think Belle's sort of Victorian outfit in the book is cooler and more interesting than the one on the cover) but it's a strange thing that Zenoscope has always done that just bugs me.

[DrMabuse]

Thanks, Shevek.

[willy66]

So on a whim I bought the three tpbs of Robyn Hood, a Zenescope title which were on discount ($23 total purchase). And also a velvet durag United Kingdom for a reasonable price from this website.

I guess I was mostly unaware of this, but Zenescope is a company that bases their entire universe on updated, supersexy female (or female-adapted) fairy tale characters who are basically empowered females fighing on the level of superheroes..the central book which has been running for a while is Grimm's Fairy Tales (of which the very hot Dr Sela Mathers..who eventually dons one of the sexiest superheroine costumes you'll ever see..is a main central character). And then there are all sorts of spinoffs involving the updated tales of the likes of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Arabian Nights, Alice in Wonderland and so on. I probably dismissed this universe until now because of its fairy tales origins.

But after reading these three Robyn Hood tpbs, no more. Comic Vine explains Zenescope's approach as kind of schizophrenic: on the other hand almost all of their covers are ultrasexy pinup style 90s bad girl art (see below) but it says that on the inside the heroines are dressed more conservatively. That's not exactly true. One of the plusses of Robyn Hood book one is how she spends most of her time in this really great getup with a green laced-up bustier/corset thing. In books 2 and 3 she regresses to a kind of halter top and hot pants thing with midriff. But in all three books, one of the best features is how at the end you get about a dozen cover depictions by various (almost entirely male) artists, like the famed Stjepan Sejic and many others whose names I don't know. Even if you don't like the story for some reason, the art is always super fantastic and hot,when it comes to representations of Robyn and also the two other main females, Marian and the (sometime villainess) Avella.

Now to the story specifically of Robyn Hood. It's a retelling of the myth where Robyn is a female and a ruthless vengeful killer who was born in the magic land of Myst but raised on Earth. The action takes place in both places but mainly in Myst. Robyn is almost always a hardass and a badass, so that's the 90s bad-girl part of the book, but then she also has "I'm nobody's girl" feminist outlook that comes straight from Gail Simone (even though the whole thing is written by an admittedly fat red-bearded dude,Pat Shand). To add to that occasional social justice outburst, characters from Myst (who are supposed to be medieval!) bust out terminology like "sexist" and "progressive" and "douchebag" (the current preferred feminist term for a disgusting man disagreeable to third-wavery) in the middle of dialogue scenes. It's not that annoying and it only happens occasionally, but I just don't know why a writer can't write a book without interjecting stuff like that. We already know that Robyn's vengeful mission in life is to take out the douchebags.

Is there peril, you ask? Some. There's the motivational peril: she gets raped and her eye is gouged out..which sets the stage for her development asa vigilante character. Marian (who by the way is never called Maid Marian in here..she is no damsel in distress but rather a powerful witch)
is tied up in a dungeon (Marian kisses Robyn on the lips for rescuing her..but no other affection is tendered).
Robyn gets thrown in prison. There's a combat tournament where she's in danger for a little while. She gets apprehended by cops and tossed in a cop car briefly. But otherwise than that not much...she has her doubts, but refuses to beg (very Red Sonja), and pretty much only fights irredeemable males who are rapists, abusers and scumbags..and not just them but their enablers as well (law enforcement like officers and sheriffs). I don't think there's one f/f fight in these books (more's the pity).

She does eventually succumb to a love interest but that male character eventually dies tragically..and what we're left with at the end (spoiler!) is Robyn Hood as a Green Arrow-type vigilante on regular Earth with her new black-clad ninja sidekick Marian who now has a buzz cut. Apparently the series does continue with their modern-day adventures (I'll have to look into that to see if it's any good)..so I can only speculate (based on how trendy bisexuality is nowadays..no issue with that!) whether Robyn and Marian pursue a lesbian relationship, because they are certainly roomates.

My assessment: worth a serious look (as is much of the vast Zenescope oeuvre) based on the superhot art alone...your mileage may vary as to content..I certainly enjoyed it enough...but if anyone has read some of this stuff feel free to post.

cover Robyn Hood tpb #1


cover Robyn Hood tpb #3


cover Robyn Hood tpb #2


Here's an example of the 90s bad-girl style on almost all the Zenescope covers. I mean, this one reminds me so much of Swords of Sorrow it's not even funny! (Depicted in the middle, btw, is that central Sela Mathers character I mentioned, in her amazing superheroine costume)

It's great to hear that you discovered the world of Zenescope and enjoyed reading the Robyn Hood series. The concept of reimagining fairy tale characters as empowered, super-sexy heroines certainly adds an interesting twist to the stories.

It sounds like the art in these comics is a standout feature, with renowned artists like Stjepan Sejic contributing their talents. Stunning cover depictions can truly enhance the visual appeal of a comic, and it's great that Zenescope puts emphasis on delivering fantastic and hot artwork.

As for the story, it seems that Robyn Hood offers a mix of '90s bad-girl vibes and a feminist outlook, with the protagonist being a tough and relentless character. While occasional interjections of social justice terminology can be a bit distracting, it's understandable that you appreciate a book that focuses on taking down irredeemable characters.

It's interesting to learn that Robyn Hood undergoes development as a vigilante character and eventually forms a partnership with Marian, the powerful witch. The potential for their modern-day adventures sounds intriguing, and it's always exciting to see how characters and relationships evolve in a series.

Your assessment of the series and the Zenescope universe as a whole highlights the appeal of the superhot artwork and acknowledges that personal preferences may vary when it comes to content. It's great that you enjoyed it enough to recommend giving it a serious look.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and providing visual examples of the covers. If anyone else has read these comics or wants to share their experiences with Zenescope titles, I'm sure it would be interesting to hear their perspectives.

Happy reading, and if you have any more recommendations or discussions, feel free to share them!

[Femina]

It's great to hear that you discovered the world of Zenescope and enjoyed reading the Robyn Hood series. The concept of reimagining fairy tale characters as empowered, super-sexy heroines certainly adds an interesting twist to the stories.

It sounds like the art in these comics is a standout feature, with renowned artists like Stjepan Sejic contributing their talents. Stunning cover depictions can truly enhance the visual appeal of a comic, and it's great that Zenescope puts emphasis on delivering fantastic and hot artwork.

As for the story, it seems that Robyn Hood offers a mix of '90s bad-girl vibes and a feminist outlook, with the protagonist being a tough and relentless character. While occasional interjections of social justice terminology can be a bit distracting, it's understandable that you appreciate a book that focuses on taking down irredeemable characters.

It's interesting to learn that Robyn Hood undergoes development as a vigilante character and eventually forms a partnership with Marian, the powerful witch. The potential for their modern-day adventures sounds intriguing, and it's always exciting to see how characters and relationships evolve in a series.

Your assessment of the series and the Zenescope universe as a whole highlights the appeal of the superhot artwork and acknowledges that personal preferences may vary when it comes to content. It's great that you enjoyed it enough to recommend giving it a serious look.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and providing visual examples of the covers. If anyone else has read these comics or wants to share their experiences with Zenescope titles, I'm sure it would be interesting to hear their perspectives.

Happy reading, and if you have any more recommendations or discussions, feel free to share them!

I always thought Fairy Tales were a particularly fun and campy place to inject that sort of in your face feminist empowerment angle mostly due to how unilaterally sexist fairy tales are at their core. Basically half of all Fairy Tales have some element or scent of 'if only the young maiden had listened to what the men in her life had told her this tragedy could have been avoided!' Which is just majorly a byproduct of the fairy tales all being written in the stone age... but that doesn't mean we can't have fun with them nowadays, particularly as they're all in the public domain.

[VegaTaxeca]

From Asylum, there is a film based on a similar idea, Avengers Grim. Several female fairytale characters lead a war against Rumplestiltskin, but before they can capture him, he manages to flee to our earth with a magic mirror. The leads follow him and try to capture him here. I actully like this film, despite it being an obvious Avengers rip-off at the time. One of the things I loved were the little class disputes between Red Riding Hood, who is a commoner, and the other leads, who are all princesses.

There was at least one sequel and one spin-off (which tried to rip off Suicide Squad).

[Mr. X]

mostly due to how unilaterally sexist fairy tales are at their core.

[shevek]

I met the Zenescope folks at their table at Hershey Con this past weekend (not the owner, I don't think he was there).
Tried to get them to table at Three Rivers, I think they would do well.
So many sexy books, and extremely well drawn for the most part. All the Robyn Hood TPBs are still worth picking up.