Nottingham, Vol. 2: A King's Ransom

Nottingham #2

by David Hazan, Shane Connery Volk (Illustrator), Luca Romano (Colorist)

Everard Blackthorne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, is strongarmed into working with Robin Hood after Richard the Lionheart is kidnapped by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI.

When Richard the Lionheart is kidnapped and ransomed by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Everard Blackthorne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, is strongarmed into delivering the ransom and bringing the King home, on penalty of death. The treacherous Prince John and his ally, King Phillip of France, will stop at nothing to ensure Richard remains in captivity, so the Sheriff finds the unlikeliest of allies in none other than Robin Hood and the Merry Men. With Robin and the Sheriff away, Marian hatches her own devious plan to take back Nottingham.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Historical

136 pages, Paperback

Published December 13, 2022

Reviews

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this second arc just as much as the first. Hazan dips more into historical fiction with the main plot revolving around a mission to rescue Richard the Lionheart. There’s some political intrigue and moral ambiguity at play that really makes for a fun read. Volk’s artwork evokes the appropriately moody tone and depicts the violence well. I’m pretty impressed that this is the debut work from this creative team, and really hope they continue on with more of Nottingham.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot thickens in this issue, as the true King of England is kidnapped due to a plot between the king's brother and the King of France. The Sheriff of Nottingham ends up in an alliance with the Merry Men due to the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing. There's a few more twists and turns, and by the end there are big changes in the status quo. It would be nice to see this series continue.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to be posted for MadCave Studios soon. See social media for review.

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin of Locksley and Sheriff Blackthorne of Nottingham come to some understanding. Together, they plan to deliver a ransom to the Holy Roman Emperor in exchange for Richard the Lionheart. Prince John and the French King Philip will stop at nothing to thwart Robin and Blackthorn, ensuring Richard remains captive. With Hood and the Sheriff away, Lady Marian enacts her schema to take over Nottingham with the help of Little John and the Merry Men.

Nottingham: A King’s Ransom is the second graphic novel featuring the characters from the Robin Hood stories. Written by David Hazen, this political thriller is full of scheming, backstabbing, and double-crosses. Loosely based on the legends from Sherwood Forest, this is not your Disney Robin Hood story. The artwork of Shane Connery Volk and coloring by Luca Romano, actions portrayed in this graphic novel are darker and much more bloody. This book is part of an ongoing series. The story continues from volume 1 and makes more sense when read in order. Fans of reimagined mythology and medieval comic book art will enjoy Nottingham Volume 2: A King’s Ransom.

This review was originally published at https://seattlebookreview.com/product...

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nottingham makes a bid for the best historical drama being done in comics today in the style of Tudors, Vikings, and The Last Kingdom. Nottingham is a great retelling of Robin Hood, but I was hesitant to buy into a second arc. The first chapter seemed to use just about all of the source material. I'm loving this gritty take on Robin Hood and the story continues to get better in the 2nd arc. Nottingham lays the groundwork for a new arc that is character driven and believable. This second arc ends with a lot of questions that still need to be answered about our characters. Shane Connery Volk perfectly complements the dark, gritty elements of the story with the art. The art is brilliantly stylized, full of action and brutal in its depictions of violence. This one's worth both your time and money.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much the same as volume 1. Still ultraviolent, still with pretty rough artwork and still strange recastings of all the main characters. The Sheriff of Nottingham is weirdly made to be Jewish in this, an recasting of a man who is generally cast as persecuting the Jews of Nottingham who were in turn protected by Robin Hood.

Richard the Lionheart is a totally one note murderbot, we are taken once again to Ayyadieh and Maid Marion is some kind of Stalinist. There's a lot of characters in this who are very similar looking with their artwork and so it becomes difficult to distinguish between Guy of Gisborne or the Sheriff of Nottingham or Richard the Lionheart or John Lackland or the various Merry Men.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hazan's violent, alternate take on Robin Hood continues. Robin and the Sheriff are briefly allies, as they head to Rome to free King Richard the Lionheart. While they're gone, Maid Marian has her own plot to see to. The art continues to be pretty stylized and is sometimes difficult to parse, especially during action scenes. But this is an interesting story and I'd be interested to see where it's gong next.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A way more complicated and violent take on Robin Hood than I've seen before where the Sheriff may actually turn out to be the hero, because Maid Marian, Robin Hood and King Richard certainly are not. Some of the fight scenes can be difficult to make out in the smaller panels. I really like where this is going so far though by upending these roles we've seen time and time again.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art is so undistinguished that it is almost impossible to differentiate most of the characters. Add in a penchant for crosses, and double crosses, and triple crosses, and the confusion is to much to sustain a good story.

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this series is a big NOPE for me. I think there are a lot of red flags in this book but I particularly despised the over sexualization and villainization of the one female figure of this book.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

[2.7]
Didn't live up to the expectations. The story was scattered, and none of it's limbs interesting enough. Unsure if I will continue reading

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The women carried this to the finish line for me.

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less successful outside of the established Robin Hood story.

[Rich Ware · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting twist on Robin Hood and a fictional (even to the known stories and legends) Sheriff of Nottingham.