Grimm Fairy Tales: Robyn Hood by Patrick Shand

I initially picked up this story because I thought it would be a good book to read for Fairy tales Retold reading challenge. But I was so so wrong. This is a good comic, to be sure, but it's also very dark and definitely not meant for younger kids.

Robyn Hood tells the story of a girl (who may be born to the dark side), that was left to grow up in the human world. She has a terrible childhood, culminating in a rape that left her blinded in one eye. But somehow, she stumbles into well, Robin Hood's world (the world of Grimm I guess), and finds out that to get home to take revenge, she has to help create a revolution to topple King John.

So basically, her motives are revenge and revenge. There are really no morals in the story - Robyn says so a few times, that she doesn't feel any remorse for killing people. There is, I suppose, a fairly good social commentary on the herd mentality, but it was overshadowed by the number of graphic killings.

The violence in this comic was to be expected (at least, once I grasped the direction of the story), but what I didn't understand was Robyn Hood's outfit. Her initial outfit (hoodie and jeans) were appropriate, but what was the skimpy thing she was wearing in the forest? Somehow, it looked more modest on the cover. >.<

Most of the humour came from Robyn using language from our world, and the inhabitants of this separate dimension not understanding it. That would be fine, but a lot of the words are insults, so those needing a clean comic, step away now.

In conclusion, this is a dark comic for those who want a modern day Robyn Hood. There are no morals in this story, and Robyn is motivated only by thoughts of revenge (sadly, her mother dies early in the chapter). From how the story ends, it seems like the moral developement will come later, as the real villian emerges, but somehow, I don't feel too inclined to follow this series.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this comic from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.