Merry Men

This unremarkable collection of 12 issues puts a queer spin on Robin Hood. With Robin’s former lover, King Richard the Lionheart, off on crusade, usurper Prince John and the Bishop of Hereford conspire to outlaw homosexual acts, targeting Richard’s supporters and leading Robin and his gay Merry Men to take refuge in the Sherwood Forest. A young woman named Scarlet seeks them out to beg aid in finding her missing friend Daniel. Her presence sparks jealousy between Arthur and Alan, two lovers among the Merry Men, and frustration from others. A gruesome discovery of Daniel’s amputated hand lets Robin know they’re up against Guy of Gisbourne, an extremely sadistic agent of Prince John’s who’s allied with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Hunting and confronting him only leads to more crises for the much beleaguered troop. Flashbacks explore the forming and training of the Merry Men amid homophobic violence. Sharply lined characters reminiscent of superhero comics often stand still against solid-color backgrounds, giving the work a somewhat unfinished and text-heavy feel. The art is just short of explicit in its bloody violence and raw eroticism. The work stumbles over somewhat stilted language and arguments over gay identity (“Is Kenneth not a Merry Man? ...How, then, came he by a wife?”). This middling take on the Robin Hood legend will find its most enthusiastic audience among LGBTQ readers. (Dec.)