This version of Robin Hood is gritty and violent. It packs a gory punch and does a good job of updating the folklore. Maid Marian is a badass which is refreshing and the Merry Men are masked and scary. Overall, this is a good read and definitely not one for younger readers.

My thanks to Diamond Book Distributors Mad Cave Studios for a temporary review copy of ‘Nottingham’ written by David Hazan with art by Shane Connery Volk and Luca Romano. This volume contains Issues 1-5 of the individual comics.

The publishers describes this dark and twisted take on the Robin Hood legend as a medieval noir and I feel that is very accurate.

The Sheriff of Nottingham is hunting a serial killer with a penchant for tax collectors. At the head of his suspect list are the Merry Men, terrorists (or freedom fighters?) lurking within Sherwood Forest. Their leader is an enigmatic figure known only as ‘Hood’.

So Nottingham, but definitely not as usually depicted. All the gang is here - from Robin, Little John, Will Scarlet, and Alan Dale; along with Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, and Guy of Gisborne. Interestingly, Blackthorne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, is portrayed as a noble figure rather than the villain. As for Robin and Marian, their relationship status definitely is ‘it’s complicated’.

The artwork by Volk and Romano is dark and dramatic, the reds of blood are very red indeed. The individual characters appear like looming giants in the dark forest and within Nottingham castle. It’s superbly Gothic.

Following the main text is concept art for the characters and a series of covers for the individual issues including variants and different printings. Some of these were just breathtaking.

While at first I was a little wary of the disturbing imagery (that mask!), I was soon won over by the impressive storytelling and art. Yes, there is strong language and some scenes were definitely over the top in terms of bloody violence but there’s no doubt it fits the medieval noir description.

Overall, an unsettling yet compelling vision of the legends of Sherwood and Nottingham.

Happily, Part 5 is listed as the ‘conclusion to the first arc of the smash hit series’. I certainly will be looking out for the beginning of the second arc of ‘Nottingham’.

Note: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.com.
It is a grimdark fantasy retelling/remix of the Robinhood fairytale. I didn't want to like it. It's ugly, grimy, violent, cynical, with some edginess that feels forced. "Who needs to dirty up Robinhood?" I asked myself.
Nottingham provides the answer. It twists the story in inspired directions and is backed up by artwork and framing the evokes masterclass films and comics in the genre like Oldboy, V for Vendetta, and Gane of Thrones to produce a stylized England that doesn't shy away from who England was, and in some ways still is. Volume 1 wasn't perfect by any means, but it sets up a series with a ton of potential. Looking forward to following up with volume 2 as soon as possible.

A gory, bloody, violent and ugly retelling of the Robin Hood story that basically asks, "what if every single person involved in the story was just absolutely awful with no redeeming qualities whatsoever and completely up to no good."

This book is a very dark and violent retelling of the classic Robin Hood as explored more through the eyes of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
It is not the story of the noble Robin and his true love Marian working with the Merry Men to take from the rich and give to the poor in an attempt to keep Prince John and Sir Guy of Gisborne. It takes a more noirish view of things and sets up a violent and bloody feud where the Merry Men are somewhat cultish terrorists, Robin and Marian have a complicated relationship and the Sheriff of Nottingham is actually a noble man. A darker, more sinister take on a classic that stands out due to eye-catching art and originality.
Full props to Hazan for the way he managed to take tried-and-true characters and stories and made them wholly his to play with. Even those who you only get to see for mere panels get their chance to be memorable and contribute to the story.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the early read!

I accidentally chose this one not realising it was a graphic novel. That being said - I rather enjoyed this grim, noirish homage to the Robin Hood mythos.

If you like your villains dark and broody, your heroes questionable and a bit off-kilter, a bit of blood and gore (understatement), fantastic artwork, then this will be right up your alley. A great start to a promising series.

The opening scenes of this graphic novel were somewhat bloody, and really did set the scene for what was to come. My first reaction was 'this is awful - I won't read any further'. I did, however, and while I reached an accommodation with the content, I can't say I enjoyed it.

This is a graphic novel and this being said, one does have a certain expectation, which is thoroughly realised. The legend of Robin Hood is grittily re-told with blood and violence aplenty, which is much in keeping with the original Japanese tradition of Manga and Anime, from which this genre stems, There are no real good guys- not even Robin or his merry men. Every character is morally ambiguous, with Maid Marian being one of the worst of them, and if there is one character that comes out better than the rest, it is the Sheriff, paradoxically enough. The artwork pulled no punches, and every character was rendered rather grotesque and ugly, again, even Maid Marian. This did well to emphasise the ugliness of the soul of every character.


One expects such a book to be grim and raw and this one certainly is, but what came across as a tad puerile was the occasional use of profane language. In a book like this swearing usually proliferates, so the occasional insertion of the 'f'' word (and, in some cases, worse) seemed totally incongruous and quite unnecessary, In fact, it was refreshing to find such a dark, gritty tale that was not liberally peppered with bad language. It was as though the author felt the need to add a few swear words, much against his will and better judgement, just because he thought it was expected of him. It was unnecessary and the book would be much better without. The story hits hard enough without the addition of gratuitous profanity.

As aforementioned, the book was much as expected, but it was not for me. In my youth I would have enjoyed such a book and I requested it with that in mind. However, reading this, I realise now that I have passed beyond such things so while I realise the book's quality within its genre, It did nothing for me. To be fair, I rate it on its inherent quality, however, not on the fact that I have grown up, and out of such books.

I received this and as an eARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for giving me access.

This is not the Robin Hood you remember. This is much darker and the Merry Men have no issue with a little murder. Hazan didn't spare us from the blood shed -- which I am here for. The storyline flowed nicely and I enjoyed this take on Robin Hood.

This graphic novel was definitely one for the books! I absolutely loved the artwork in it. I wasn't sure what to expect out of it as, I went into the graphic novel blindly. However, I am so glad that I did go into it blindly because I tend to enjoy graphic novels and books in general more if I don't know what to expect out of them. I loved the plotline of this graphic novel. Honestly, at the point where a character in the graphic novel mentions a bible verse, I was curious if they referenced it correctly. I ended up going to the bible and looking up the verse and it was 100% accurate. I definitely recommend this book to anyone just getting into graphic novels or anyone who wants to continue their journey of reading this genre!

Nottingham is a graphic retelling of the legend of Robin Hood. This telling takes advantage of the graphic format, coming in at the goriest and most violent version of this story I've seen in any medium. Nottingham isn't just unique due to its bloody nature, though. While we do have a few scenes from the perspective of Robin and his Merry Men, we primarily follow the Sheriff.

Why is that? Well, in this version, Hood has taken the proxy war that's nearly always at the root of these legends, that is King Richard and Prince John fighting for power, a bit more seriously than he normally does. Rather than funding the poor, Hood is funding the opposition to Prince John in the name of the absent King Richard. The Sheriff is played off as a sympathetic character and also as one who seeks true justice. Hood is spun into a violent and ruthless revolutionary, albeit one fighting for the existing king.

The story itself isn't terribly new. We have Robin Hood from a different perspective with a noir twist. The noir addition is good, and I fully appreciate the different perspective. The writing is better than passable, and while some bits feel a little stiff, most of it flows well from one scene to the next.

I don't believe Hazan and Volk do a great job with the characters, though. He's attempting to paint everyone as morally grey; some are only doing what they're doing to get by, others believe their ruler is the true ruler, and still, others think they're fighting for the little guy. The thing is, they all commit atrocities. So they're morally grey, but Hazan and Volk aren't just giving us fresh characters that are complete putty. They're giving us characters we've seen forever, some going back to foxes, bears, and wolves. There are built-in assumptions many readers will have regarding the heroes and villains in this story, and while the authors were clearly going for grey throughout or possibly the Sheriff being the hero, I don't believe they did enough to really make the reader feel that intention. By the time I got to the end, I was still cheering for Hood and Little John and the rest, even knowing what we do by the end of the story.

The art is very bold. There's lots of blood, lots of gore. The colorist, Luca Romano, did a fantastic job of really emoting through the colors. As for the general art direction, though, which is bloody, action-heavy, and focusing on the grotesque and the ugly, was also a good fit for the story it was telling. The way Volk drew faces, for example, really meshes with the grittiness of the plot. Now, my biggest critique is sometimes, it's overdone. The action is often overdrawn, and between that and the fast pace, it's difficult to follow along in fight scenes, of which there are many.

All in all, if you're into dark and gruesome comics, this is a good route to go, especially if you enjoy a bit of noir. It is an ongoing story, so it does leave off with a lead-in for the next issue. The first four, though, have convinced me to keep an eye out at my local comic store.

If you like retellings of classic pieces of literature, more gory than not, Nottingham is your perfect comic.
The story of Robin Hood we all know takes an interesting twist in this volume and it is really pleasing to read something quite different than the original and "happy" tale about the Merry Men and their quest to steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Overall this is an interesting comics I recommend if you like gory retellings and eyeporn (I LOVED the illustrations), but sometimes I found the boards to be quite confusing, especially two or three times I found myself not really grasping what was happening. With that said I enjoyed the comic and the plot twist in the end!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this!

This was an awesome action-packed, violent take on the classic Robin Hood Tale and I loved it haha.

The art is cool, a great tale.

NB: free copy received in exchange for an honest review

Having grown up with stories of Robin Hood, I am sucker for pretty much any adaptation of the Sherwood legend. This one is quite the subversion of the norm, taking as its starting point the fact that Richard I did not deserve the loyalty his people showed for him and asking the question 'what kind of person might support such a King?'. It's very much a deconstruction of hero worship of both 'the Lionheart' and 'the Hood'. Taken through that lens, I liked it quite well, and I enjoyed seeing the ways that it used and reinterpreted traditional tales of Robin Hood while telling a different version of events.

Stylistically, I was not a huge fan of the art, but I think it is well executed within that style.

Wauw - that was bloody!

"Nottingham" is a different take on the classic story of Robin Hood. Here, it is not obvious who is fighting the good fight, and who is not.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel.
Most of all I love the fact that Maid Marian is quite the bad ass girl, holding her own... More of that, please!


Thank you so much for the ARC <3
I will post on my Goodreads and Instagram sites closer to the publishing date.

When I read the description of this comic, I was really excited as I love retellings, especially if they switch the roles of the villain and protagonist. However, I didn’t really enjoy this. Personally, I didn’t like the art style. Even though it fit the vibe of the story, it felt muddy and the faces seemed similar. None of the characters are likeable, which I guess is the point, but I would like to at least relate to one. Also, the characters in general were pretty bland, the only one mildly interesting was Lady Marian because of her badass, “i can save myself” attitude. Overall, not the comic for me, but I can understand that it is a series some would enjoy.

I loved the idea of this graphic novel but it never made it to my expectations. It was almost like running 3/4 of the marathon to just quit. The plot was meh. It doesn't work well as a graphic novel in my opion. It would've made a better tv show.

In this twist on a classic tale, the Sheriff of Nottingham hunts the Merry Men, a terrorist group murdering tax collectors led by the mysterious figure “Hood.” This isn’t your grandma’s Robin Hood.

I really enjoyed this retelling. It’s more complex that stealing from the rich to give to the poor. It paints Robin Hood, Maid Marian, and the Merry Men in a more realist light, men who do take from the rich but with complex motives and politics. Plus, the Sherriff isn’t the caricature villain, rather a man trying to do his job to stop killers. It’s way grittier than the original telling, but the characters are richer, deeper, and way more complex, just like actual people. Perhaps they began with a noble dream, but the dirty work of hurting others to maybe save some isn’t as black and white as we’ve always been told.

This one’s out in October, and thought not technically horror, there’s enough blood to keep you interested for Halloween-ish reading.

Thank you netgalley and the author/publisher for a chance to review!

Nottingham is told from the Sheriff of Nottingham's point of view. While yes the sheriff is a bad guy, He is not as bad as the hood and the merry men. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this or not. I absolutely loved it! I loved how it was much darker than Robin Hood. Would definitely recommend to a friend!

This was brilliant. It's yet another Robin Hood retelling but like nothing, I have come across before and I enjoyed every second of it. A solid 4.5 stars for me.

It's told primarily from the perspective of the Sheriff of Nottingham but it doesn't make him the 'good guy' it just juxtaposes him against darker, more vengeful Merry Men and it works fantastically.

The artwork is wonderful and it matches the story remarkably well. I usually don't like this sort of art style in comics as it makes everything seem a little ugly and harsh but it suits this darker noir style. It was striking and eye-catching. The imagery doesn't skimp on the violence and it ties in with the narrative perfectly.

The plot follows a lot of the key 'Robin Hood stories' but not as they've been told before. We also get a backstory for the Sherrif (and a first name which amused me more than it probably should have) and whilst the Sherrif is still not an empathetic character it's very interesting to see this particular story told more from his perspective than Robin's.

The entire narrative is dark, twisty, and violent. All of the characters more than they seem and out for themselves, even when they're claiming to be working towards the greater good. Marion is all over the place and I loved it. Every single character in this was at the very least morally grey and it was delightful.

I'm a massive Robin Hood fan and will inhale any form of media retelling the story so I expected that I would enjoy this but I was still blown away.

“England is sick. We are the cure. We steal from the rich. We give to the poor.” So say the Merry Men of Nottingham in this new graphic novel.

By graphic, I refer not just to the art, which is beautiful, but also the incredibly bloody depictions of many murders within its pages. The plot is a retooling of Robin Hood for a modern horror-action audience.

I enjoyed reading Nottingham. However, the art raised the bar for future horror graphic novels. It was excellent. 3 stars for the plot and 5 stars for the art makes this book a 4 star read!

Thanks to Mad Cave Studios, Diamond Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.