REVIEW: Robyn Hood – I Love NY #2 (of 12)

Following the marriage of her best friend, Marion, Robyn is left to her own devices for the first time.  Re-opening her private detective agency, Nottingham Investigations, Robyn begins to find a new love in her life, New York city. If like me, you feel that the long convoluted history and side stories that accompany Robyn hasn’t helped you get in to this popular book, the recent reset button may well help you.

Robyn, watching the news, resolves to find the most recent of missing persons, in part to help and of course there is the matter of the reward money.  During the search she makes a couple of acquaintances that both help and hinder. However, there is a deeper danger afoot.

Joe Brusha  and Lou Iovino provide the story and the words respectively.  Together they cobble a workable story out of a hodge-podge of various influences such as Jessica Jones, Arrow and most recognisably, Killer Croc or The Lizard depending on your own Big Two bias. Story wise, its a straight up and down affair with some good action scenes.  The saccharine elements are a tad asinine, with outcomes that are also a little unbelievable.  But that aside, the pacing of story allows for those moments to pass quickly.  The dialogue is pretty standard fare, though enjoyable enough for the most part.

The art is done via a small committee with Sergio Ariono handling the bulk of the issue with David Lorenzo Riveiro chipping in with a couple of epilogue pages.  Ariono’ pencils are consistent throughout the book, with a keen eye for action panels displayed through the use of different page structures and camera angles.  With only a coupe of pages to work with, Riveiro does well enough, with a style that resembles Ariono giving the book a somewhat uniform look.  This then begs a couple of questions, is Riveiro mimicking Ariono and why was there a need for two artists on this book?  Colors are also provided by committee with Grostieta working with Ariono and Hedwin Zaldivar working with Riveiro.  Grostieta uses a variety of techniques to help convey the perils of the situation.

Overall, this book was a lot more fun to read than Robyn’s other adventures.  The easy jump on point helps, although I am sure that some fans may miss Robyn’s supporting cast.  Whilst the overall story seems lightweight, I have to say that I am quietly looking forward to the next issue of Robyn in the Hood.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network

Latest entries

• Comic BooksOctober 14, 2024Review: Absolute Batman #1
• Comic BooksSeptember 25, 2024Review: Defenders of the Earth #2 (of 8)
• Comic BooksAugust 7, 2024Review: Gatchaman #2
• Advance ReviewJuly 30, 2024Advance Review: Defenders of the Earth #1 (of 8)