The journey is nearly at its end … and the destination may not be a pleasant one.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Pat Shand
Artwork: Roberta Ingranata
What They Say:
One year ago, Robyn Locksley was brought to Myst, a realm of swords and sorcery, to save the city of Nottingham from a great evil. Lives were lost and hearts were broken, but the war is finally over. Joined by Marian Quin – a witch has, up until now, only known the ways of Myst – Robyn returns to New York, ready to begin a new chapter in her life … This is the story of Robyn Hood.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Avella has been murdered … and Marian must now come to terms with her mentor’s loss. But, as she passes, the young witch inherits her teacher’s power and her own hidden talents have now been unlocked. Though now is not the time to grieve for her death, for the Cabal must be stopped. Unfortunately for them, the once naïve sorceress from Myst now bears them the malice that should be projected upon the Dark Horde, for they are the greater of the two evils. Their organisation may seek to protect mankind from the coming of the Horsemen, but their arrogance has caused them to become as malignant as those they once fought against. The sacrifice of innocents should never come as the cost for humanity’s preservation, no matter the twisted reasoning behind that deluded purpose. They must be stopped at any price, even if it means that they too must fall.
However the element of surprise will not work for both sides acknowledges the coming of the other. All are prepared for what will be the last battle for the children and the world. The Restitution: the Cabal know what will occur if they cannot complete it and Robyn and her friends realise the consequences if they stop it or allow it to happen. Which side will succeed in their goal and will it be worth the price? Can the Harbingers of Death, Pestilence, Famine and War be halted with so few fighting at their side? Although Cindy and the Horde now follow Robyn, can even their strength be enough to accomplish this impossible task? Doubts have no presence for their cause, for that insecurity will spell the end of the struggle. But it still lingers and with its pall suffocates as surely as if the bearer of death stood by their side.
Hesitation will bring downfall, fear will signal the coming of a desolate sunset and uncertainty is doom. The friends cannot allow such thoughts to cross their minds or they will fail before they begin. And if they do, it will be the end for them and the offerings will allow the Cabal to survive for another year. There is no choice, they must win even if some must fall. But who is willing to pay that price so that the world may live? Only the noble of spirit may do so and they will be remembered as a hero to all.
In Summary:
Four years have come and gone and with it Pat Shand has brought us the adventures of an anger challenged blonde. In the beginning it might have seemed like a typical revenge story, but as she progressed in her vengeance and began to help the people of Myst and New York, that attitude gradually changed. Robyn became more than her rage, her sardonic attitude and wry wit freed those who suffered under numerous atrocities, all the while, giving her a means to vent her emotions in a more constructive way. But she still kept that fury pent up inside with Marian being the only one who truly understood her, being more than a friend and more than an anchor to tie to her sanity. It is that friendship which evolved past love or recognition, but a pairing of two souls meant to be together in ties which bind deeper than few people can ever know. It is this relationship which is the true story behind Robyn Hood. However, it was not without the bumps in the road and this end brought them all to the surface to be confronted as the ultimate battle began.
What a beautiful way to start and end the final issue, with each character challenging the choices they made in their lives as the story progresses. With each person unfolding themselves to judgement, they seek approval for what think must be their last night. To see how they justify what brought them to this end gives us a deeper insight into each person, how they acknowledge their own failings and successes and how they hope others are enlightened by their existence. And all the while, the life and death struggle to stop the Cabal and the Horsemen roars around them like a storm seeking acknowledgement. The fight against the Harbingers may seem futile at first, but then it is that futility that makes life worth living – for if there is nothing to fight for, then what is the point in life?
Shand brings everything full circle, all of the plot lines are concluded, and yet he still manages to slip in the snarky remark from one of the characters in this primal struggle. To be able to break the violence with humour is what makes his writing individual, unique, and all the more moving when something pivotal happens. You are not exhausted by a continual bombardment of emotion and action, they come in bursts which are easier to digest and each course leads into the next, until the final meal is served. You leave feeling satisfied and not bloated on an all you can eat buffet of one note flavour which gets boring after the first dish. Shand is a master chef, being able to serve us selections which skillfully blend with the previous spice, all compounding into a mélange which is greater than the parts and blend into a feast for the heart as well as the soul.
Continuing the cuisine analogy, if Shand is the head chef, then Roberta Ingranata is the sous chef, responsible for the presentation of the meal. After all, if the dish looks like a puddle of grey goo that was slopped on the plate, who would want to taste it, let alone look at it? Ingranata displays the magnificence of Shand’s narration in a format which is pleasing to the eye and at the same time, it works on sympathetic undertones which all can relate – experiences which are universal to anyone who reads the issue. This emotional landscape translates the melodrama into something which builds with each panel, increasing in intensity, until the climax of the battle; each scene is an act of the play, with Ingranata’s set decorations gently opening the atmosphere into a darker world. The feelings which she visually presents incorporate beautifully with Shand’s tale which manifest in her majestic stage, each actor invoking an unseen muse which materialises their actions from the ether, arousing the audience by drawing them into some forbidden world of the imagination.
And yet, she is able to evoke those emotions with such subtleness, the reader does not notice the full effect until she wants to reveal the hidden meaning she has secluded deep within the pages. It starts with a seemingly random image of Marian’s first parade, a time of long forgotten innocence which is then crushed by the death of Avella; to be able to present this joyous time of sheer pleasure and then smother it with the heartbreaking scene of the student saying goodbye to a lifeless body, it all encompasses the young witch’s life within a few panels, and yet it conjures the innate strength of the character so simply, it is genius. With this technique, Ingranata builds with each image: Allan looking at his Cabal mask, Dupre’s toe tag, Gengrich sleeping with the cats, Liesel, Hades & Britney packing to leave, each one presents such sincere stirring in the heart, and yet alone, they seem like nothing important. But when you coordinate them with what has happened before and at the present within the story, they become the foundation of mammoth proportions. Each illustration is a brick in this gorgeous facade but alone, they are meaningless. However, once you stack them with the mortar of the story, they gradually rise to the sky, until she brings in the wrecking ball of the Horsemen, grounding the new structure in the grimy reality of human arrogance.
Robyn Hood is a brilliant dialogue on the human condition presented to we the readers in all its unflattering tenacity, wrapped up within the rebellious form of an unruly twenty-two-year-old flaxen heroine. Pat Shand unveiled Robyn Locksley and Marian Quin to us four years ago, and yet, the relevance of their quest to find justice, friendship, love and understanding still holds true as that day when we cringed to seeing a poor girl’s eye being gouged out of the socket. We watched as we saw Robyn save the villagers from King John, try to rescue Will and Marian from Cal, fight a feral bounty hunter and then finally confront the Cabal and the Horsemen; how many fights has she been in and still she manages to crack a joke, whine about something or impale someone with a little pointed stick … and it never gets old.
Just when we thought things couldn’t get any better, Roberta Ingranata then is brought into the fold and presents us with her wonderful renditions of Robyn’s world. The emotions which stirred within us as we read only served to intensify the brilliance of Shand’s wonders. Each story built on the previous cliffhanger until the inevitable conclusion, which came too soon for my taste. We know that all good things must come to an end, but why does it have to have to feel like a hole has been ripped from our hearts?
The saga of Robyn Hood may be over, but the end is still in the making as we patiently wait for the Robyn Hood 2016 Annual with the wedding of Marian Quin and Sam Cavandar in May. We know that Shand will not make it a peaceful ceremony and with the return of Larry Watts, the original artist from the first mini-series, it will certainly become a Zenescope classic, just as the series itself will forever become engraved in our hearts. Get a box of tissues (or two) ready, you will need it!
Grade: A+++
Series: A++++
Rating: 16+
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: March 23rd, 2016
MSRP: $5.99
