A day out at Comic Con among crazed cosplayers and obnoxious onlookers … what could go wrong?
Creative Staff:
Writer Pat Shand
Artwork Roberta Ingranata
What They Say:
One year ago, Robyn Locksley wa 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):
After surviving the machinations of the Cabal and now the threat of a pending lawsuit, Robyn and Marian need to take on more case work just to pay the rent! Anything will do, no matter how crazy it may sound or what they must do to accomplish their goal – even if it’s going to the New York Comic Con? Come on, they just need to survive the day among crazed cosplayers, obsessed comic fans and obnoxious onlookers. What can go wrong (famous last words)?
A straightforward retrieval mission: just find a cursed war hammer, buy it back and bring it home before they succumb to the magic. No problem! But of course, nothing is that easy and when these two are involved. Why can’t they ever get a simple payday? Go battle a few monsters, get the goods and then get a check with a lot of zeroes? But then Robyn wouldn’t be able to let out her frustrations and Marian wouldn’t be exposed to this little slice of heaven called New York! That’s the whole premise of the series, right?
Of course, the new owner doesn’t want to let it go that easily. Even under threat of our huntress (by the way, never call her a little lady or a broad unless you want a few less teeth), he still wants to make a profit at that chaos-ridden idea called Comic Con. And now the original wielder wants his weapon back. Two parties going after the same thing + Comic Con = fun galore! And add our favourite blonde when she’s got the hammer and you’ll get double the smashy goodness! Hope their insurance it paid up … otherwise this is going to get expensive – real fast!
In Summary:
I loved how this issue is a departure from the last story arc; that one was so depressing with Marian’s pending death that this one is a refreshing breath for the dual – let them decompress before the next monster attack. But of course, the threat of a lawsuit and the late rent brings them back to reality, so they better have as much fun as they can before they have to return to the fray.
Shand lusciously depicts the madness of Comic Con and with Ingranata’s artwork, she helps to bring to life the insanity of that event; just going back over those convention pages to wonder at the details made me chuckle and gringe at the truths hidden within. But, the best part of the issue was trying to figure out all of the pop culture references: from Marian’s costume choices, to the overt re-naming of a certain Doctor and the hammer wielding by our marvelous blonde heroine, there were too many to count! (Almost as many as the slave princesses on that one page?)
But perhaps the best part of all were the Villains du Jour – the hyenas. You knew as you read on that these guys were familiar somehow, but where have you seen them before? A book, a cartoon or maybe a certain movie? Shanzi and Bansai – who are they? Wherever they were from, we knew as the story progressed that they would not get their prize at the foul gathering and that they would pay for it by Robyn’s hands. The shame of it all … the bad guys didn’t win?
But now that the entertainment is over, it’s time to get back to work! Who will they help next with their special brand of justice? And what is the Cabal planning for them? The surprises are coming and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
(BTW, I conversed with Shand that the hyenas are from a certain animated movie series. The hints are in the story to figure out who the animalistic trio are if you can scavenge the clues. I wouldn’t be lyin’.)
Grade: A+
Rating: 16+
Released By: Zenescope via ComiXology
Release Date: June 10th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
