Is It Good? Robyn Hood #2 Review

A female version of Robin Hood set in modern times? Sounds cheesy, but is it good?

Robyn Hood #2 (Zenescope Entertainment)

It is good, mostly because the dialogue and pacing is top notch, but also because there’s some street level storytelling going on. The character discovered a priest with some evil tendencies last issue—we’re talking piles of bodies—and he was all too happy to take Robyn Hood. She’s got a cast of characters around her that are interesting and dynamic, much like Robyn, but let’s get to this issue shall we?

Brutal beat down!

Writer Pat Shand opens this issue with his signature punchy writing, this time with a shot of Robyn and her cohort standing in roller blades with a box that reads “Well. This is happening.” The next page reads, “but first…” cutting to a full-on brawl with the priest from last issue. It goes a long way to add a bit of humor and spunk to the proceedings and also creates a sense of anticipation. Robyn proceeds to fight the priest in hand to hand combat with some choice choreography by artist Claudia Balboni.

The issue does go into some heavy exposition, mostly with Robyn hanging around roller derby girls, but the dialogue is clever enough to keep your interest. A lot of the detective work is done by narration (heavy boxes of it), which is fine to some extent, but they hit in clumps which slow things down a bit. The rest flows nicely though and it’s a fun read.

Balboni draws some great facial expressions which are especially good when the dialogue is punchy. I can’t say I liked the final page. It’s a bit flat and hurts the cliffhanger and looks like something a kid might draw. The perspective is blah and ineffective. Layouts are good throughout though and that opening action sequence is top notch.

Sleep!

Is It Good?

Overall a good issue with some exposition heavy moments that could have used more pages and action to punch them up.