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CHANGES TO THE LEGENDRobin Hood has also starred in several comic book series and has inspired other comic book characters. On September 23, 1935, the Toronto Telegram introduced a new comic strip -- Robin Hood and Company. The writer was journalist Ted McCall and the first artist was Charles Snelgrove. I gather this series also appeared in Europe, although not in the United States. The series began with a typical highway robbery and ended on August 10, 1940 with Robin Hood freeing Cypriot slaves and returning to England with a new companion, Blackbeard!
In 1941, Robin Hood and Company was resurrected in comic book form, and is in fact, one of two comic books that can make the claim of being Canada's first comic book. Originally in black and white, the comic book reprinted the earlier Telegram adventures. Later McCall told new adventures, eventually in colour, along with back-up features such as "Kip Keene, Star Rookie of the Men of the Mounted". Wartime import restrictions had blocked US comics from entering Canada. When those restrictions were lifted in 1946, the Canadian comic book industry collapsed and the series was cancelled for good. Also during the 1940s, Robin Hood came to star in the seventh issue of the fondly remembered series, Classics Illustrated [originally known as Classic Comics]. Constantly reprinted, this comic was republished with new art in 1957. The Classics Illustrated format has been copied many times -- Dell Comics published a similar one shot in the 1960, and Marvel introduced their own line of Classics in the 1970s with Robin starring in the 7th issue. In the 21st century, there have been other comic book retellings of Robin Hood for children. The 1950s were a boom period for Robin Hood comics. Several publishers produced Robin Hood comics to cash in on the popularity of the 1955-1958 Richard Greene TV series. Usually, the comic book Robin Hood of this era was clean-shaven with dark hair (like his then-current TV counterpart) and tended to have red, orange or yellow tunics rather than the familiar Lincoln green. Some of the hero's comic adventures were quite bizarre -- he faced off against tigers, hawks and apes. Once, the archer even donned a superhero disguise. Meanwhile in Great Britain, publishers such as World, Miller and Streamline/United Anglo-American reprinted the American Robin Hood comics of the 1950s. TV Heroes had a Robin Hood comic feature. And Pearson's TV Picture Stories adapted three Richard Greene stories into comic book form. Also, Amalgamated Press published a series of Robin Hood annuals, which collected both colour and black-and-white Robin Hood comic book adventures. Oddly, the 1959 Annual features a story inspired by the Errol Flynn movie, complete with the likenesses of the actors, but also incorporating details which didn't make it to the final script. The annuals reprinted comic stories from issues of the Sun and Thriller Comics Library. It seems that the Flynn movie adaptation first appeared in Knockout comics from 1947, the year of the film's re-issue. These comics vanished by the time the Greene series went off the air. But there was another Robin Hood revival around the time of the Costner film. For example, DC Comics' 1991 Outlaws was set in an autocractic future where an outlaw named Lincoln Green took on the legacy of "Hood". And in the UK, both Robin of Sherwood and Maid Marian and Her Merry Men received short-lived comic book adaptations. And it seems Robin Hood's return to 21st century television has sparked several new comic book projects. Among the first to appear is an online comic, Demons of Sherwood by Bo Hampton and Robert Tinnell, starring a Robin Hood well-past his glory days.
Chief among these is DC Comics' classic Green Arrow. He was Oliver Queen, a millionaire playboy -- a Batman with a Robin Hood motif. Instead of a utility belt, he had trick arrows -- my personal favourite being the boxing-glove arrow (yes, an arrow with a boxing glove stuck on the end of it). And he had a sidekick, a red-clad "bow bowman" named Speedy (aka Roy Harper). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he lost his fortune (to man named John Deleon, a name suggesting Prince John), grew a goatee, and became an angry, spicy chili-loving, outspoken defender of the downtrodden in a series of "socially relevant" comic books with help from fellow superhero Green Lantern. These classic issues were written by Dennis (Denny) O'Neil and drawn by Neal Adams. One such "relevant" story revealed that former sidekick Speedy had become addicted to heroin. Green Arrow has often been a member of the Justice League of America, or JLA, a team that includes heroes such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, writer/artist Mike Grell remade Ollie in a mini-series called "The Longbow Hunters". Grell wrote the regular Green Arrow series that followed. Ollie aged into his forties, moved to Seattle, ditched the trick arrows in favour of your standard pointed type and fought street crime. Thanks to the miracle of time travel and mystic (possibly drug induced) visions, Ollie has met his medieval inspiration on a few occasions. Robin of Sherwood actor Mark Ryan co-wrote a magical Robin Hood story where Green Arrow's girlfriend, the superheroine known as Black Canary, finds herself time-slipped into the body of Maid Marian. Mike Grell also drew illustrations for a version of Howard Pyle's children's book. His Robin Hood looks suspiciously like Oliver Queen. (Then again, when Ollie grew the goatee in the late 1960s, he looked a bit like Howard Pyle's Robin Hood.) For a time, Ollie was killed and replaced by his illegitimate son, Connor Hawke. But in 2001, Oliver Queen was resurrected in a new best-selling Green Arrow comic by movie writer/director Kevin Smith and artists Phil Hester and Ande Parks. Since Smith's departure, Green Arrow's adventures were written by best-selling novelist Brad Meltzer. Under current writer, Judd Winick, Ollie continues to defend Star City, along with his son Connor and a new Speedy, Mia Dearden. Recently, Mia tested HIV positive - continuing Green Arrow's trend for dealing with social issues. The original Speedy started using the name Arsenal. After serving on various versions of the Teen Titans, Roy changed his alias to Red Arrow and took his mentor's place in the Justice League. There are have been many other comic book bowmen. Marvel Comics has their own archer, Hawkeye. The purple-clad Hawkeye aka Clint Barton started as an outlaw but quickly reformed to become a brash member of the superhero team, the Avengers. Briefly, he returned to his Robin Hood roots by becoming leader of the villains turned heroes called the Thunderbolts. Clint was obviously inspired by Green Arrow and used trick arrows. On the other hand, Green Arrow might have borrowed Hawkeye's pain-the-butt attitude.
Robin Hood-inspired heroes continue to appear in comics. In 1998, Caliber Comics started publishing Robyn of Sherwood. The title character was the daughter of Robin Hood and Maid Marian and she's reformed the Merry Men to fight King John. The writer of this series, Paul Storrie, also wrote a classic Robin Hood adventure in 2001's Robin Hood and the Minstrel.
As discussed in the previous section, Robin Hood has often been reworked into a science fiction setting such as the Rocket Robin Hood cartoon. The crooks/freedom fighters of the British sci-fi series Blake's 7 have a certain Robin Hood vibe about them. Even more Robin Hood in nature was the cult classic series Firefly (and follow-up movie Serenity created by Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). The heroes of that show were a colourful band of smugglers who didn't have the coziest relationship with authority. There was even a preacher with a suspicious past among these interstellar Merry Men. While mostly concerned with putting food on their tables, Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew of Serenity did help the common people on occasion. The episode "Jaynestown" (written by Ben Edlund) is a clear homage to the Robin Hood legend. Years before, Jayne, the most amoral Firefly character, robbed the local magistrate of a mud-farming town. Jayne's shuttle was damaged, and he had to unload this stolen loot to keep his ship in the air. The money landed on the poor mudfarmers -- and they took Jayne for a Robin Hood hero. They even crafted a ballad with the lyrics "He robbed from the rich/ And he gave to the poor./ Stood up to the man and gave him what for." Firefly was also a homage to the classic westerns. And while the wild west may look quite different from the verdant forest of Sherwood, the frontier spirit of westerns is a good fit for the Robin Hood legend. Roy Rogers starred in Robin Hood of the Pecos and The Trail of Robin Hood. Fellow cowboy Gene Autry played the lead in Robin Hood of Texas. Robin Hood comparisons are not restricted to fictional characters. Real-life outlaws Billy the Kid and Jesse James have been compared to Robin Hood as their criminal activities were romanticized. And even political types have been associated with the hero in lincoln green. Phoolan Devi, the late Bandit Queen of India, has often been called a Robin Hood figure, and she eventually became a politician. Left-wing activist and filmmaker Michael Moore has been compared to Robin Hood, but then so has Joerg Haider, the far right-wing Austrian politician. In Canada, fringe mayoral candidate the late Tooker Gomberg dressed in a Robin Hood costume and used his toy bow to challenge the then-current mayor of Toronto on the issue of poverty. Of course, there are other comparisons to the legend that one can make. In November 2005, European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso mentioned the Robin Hood legend and said that he didn't want UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to take the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham by limiting funds to poorer EU countries. It shows how diverse the Robin Hood legend has become that it can be reflected in superheroes, sci-fi smugglers, cowboys, freedom fighters and even politicians. Now,
back to the original heroic archer.... The Robin Hood and Company strip is copyrighted by E.R. McCall. If Mr. McCall's family would please e-mail me, I would like to talk with you. The Robin Hood and Company strip is copyrighted by E.R. McCall. If Mr. McCall's family would please e-mail me, I would like to talk with you. | BACK TO: Films and Fantasy | TOP | CONTENTS | FORWARD TO: Robin Hood in the Present and Future | Text copyright, © Allen W. Wright, 1997 - 2004.
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And
as a comic book fan, I feel compelled to mention superheroes that have been
inspired by Robin Hood. 
But
the most popular comic book character based off Robin Hood doesn't carry
a bow. He's Robin the Boy Wonder, Batman's long-running sidekick. In his
early appearances in 1940 Robin is described as "that young, laughing Robin
Hood of today." It is clear from those stories that he takes him name from
Robin Hood as much as the robin redbreast. Two of the Robins [three kids
have assumed that identity; the original -- Dick Grayson -- now goes by the
name Nightwing] have used the archaic sling, and in some stories Tim Drake,
the current Robin, uses a staff like Robin Hood does in some later ballads.
Robin co-creator Jerry Robinson notes that Robin's costume was also based
on that of the famous outlaw. 
But it's not just comic books that have created heroes based off Robin Hood.
Zorro, Simon Templar (aka the Saint), and even the Dukes of Hazzard have
been called modern-day Robin Hoods. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
has a few Robin Hood parallels, most notably Faramir and his rangers of Gondor.
In the film version of The Two Towers, director Peter Jackson shows an ambush
by Faramir's (David Wenham) archers that seems straight out of an N.C. Wyeth
illustration or a Robin of Sherwood episode. But it's Orlando Bloom as the
elf Legolas who performed the most crowd-pleasing feats of archery.