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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)
