Merry Men - a Graphic Novel

Merry Men
A Graphic Novel
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication Date (December 2018)
ISBN 10 - 1620105470
ISBN 13 - 978-1620105474
152 Pages

A couple of years ago, Oni Press (an independent comic book company) offered up a new series called Merry Men, which was a new take on the Robin Hood mythology, where Robin and his friends were all gay and had become outcasts due to the villainous Prince John and Sheriff of Nottingham wanting to rid the land of such "merry men." The first three issues came out, and then ... nothing. The remaining issues in the series never appeared, and I sadly gave up hope of ever reading the conclusion to the story. Recently, however, Oni Press published a trade paperback of Merry Men which featured not only those first three issues, but the remaining 7 issues as well, finally providing readers with the complete story!

Written by Robert Rodi, who is probably best known for his comic series, Codename: Knockout, a Vertigo series back in the early 2000s. With Merry Men, Rodi teams up with artist Jackie Lewis to tell the story of Robert Godwinson, who is the former lover of King Richard in 13th century England. Godwinson is forced to flee because of his gay nature, so he bands together with other "merry" men in Sherwood Forest. Prince John has outlawed any homosexuality, and with the help of the Sheriff of Nottingham, is working hard to rid of the land of any such men. Godwinson, who is nicknamed "Robin," is content to simply hide in the forest with his friends - until the mysterious young lady, Scarlet, shows up begging for Robin's help. The Sheriff has captured Daniel of Doncaster, a close friend of Robin's and benefactor to Scarlet. Robin is reluctant to help at first, but through circumstances beyond his control, he and his merry band get sucked into the battle.

This is not simply an updated version of Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights. This is a story of friendship, of love, of discrimination, of exile, of loyalty, and of true heroism - standing up for what is right in the face of real danger.  There are some soap opera elements to the story (cheating lovers, friends turned enemies, surprise betrayals, and daring rescues), but Rodi keeps the focus on the Merry Men's fight to be accepted and be free from the hatred and discrimination. After freeing the men in one town, who were being held captive to be turned over to the Prince, Robin's merry band begin to realize the good they could do in freeing men from other villages who faced the same fate. While Robin is reluctant to become any kind of hero or go on any kind of crusade, he eventually goes on the quest to find and rescue his old friend, Daniel, and along the way, his world expands, as does his group of friends.

Lewis' art is on the edge of cartoony, but her ability to capture expressions is exquisite.  Her expressions of love, anger, surprise, mirth, slyness, and sadness shine forth beautifully in the panels of the book, and she keeps the action and story flowing from panel to panel, page to page, which helps make the book a very nice, smooth read from beginning to end.

I would certainly recommend this book to any Robin Hood fan, as well as any comic book fan that loves a good non-super hero story.  I'm curious to see if there will be any future stories with these characters, as that final page, last panel definitely says that there is more story to tell....

RATING:  8 severed hands out of 10 for spinning a new twist on an age-old story, making it fresh and relevant for today's readers.