Sherwood Texas Free Comic Book Day 2014
writer- Shane Berryhill
artist- Daniel Hillyard
published by 12-Gauge Comics
12-Gauge Comics celebrates Free Comic
Book Day 2014, by bringing us a modern, tough and gritty take on the
legend of Robin Hood. This free preview, available at your local
comic shop on May 3rd, tells an old story in a whole new
way.
It stars Rob Hood, a biker just back
from the Navy. When the gang of rival bikers that killed his father leave Rob for dead, he comes back with a vengeance in the style of
Spaghetti Westerns fused with Sons of Anarchy. Rob wages his own war
against the sinister Sheriff of Nottingham and the Nobles, the rival
gang led by Prince.
The premise is clever. The legend of
Robin Hood told as a modern day biker epic is a totally new concept.
It takes me back to FCBD 2004, when Beckett Comics released The
Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, the fusion of another legend and the Old
West. In Sherwood Texas, writer Shane Berryhill really plays on the
Robin Hood mythos. In this FCBD issue, not only do we meet
characters like the evil Prince, Rob Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham,
Little John, and Will Scarlet, but we also get a full map of
Nottingham County. Nearby locales include: Nottingham City, the
town of Sherwood, the Sherwood Forrest, and Juarez in Mexico.
Berryhill has a style that embraces the
sort of storytelling you might find in an Elmore Leonard novel, or
from Kurt Sutter, creator and writer of Sons of Anarchy and The
Shield. In this preview, he sets up readers for a what could be a
revolutionary ongoing series, and a step for 12-Gauge Comics in the
right direction.
The visuals on Sherwood Texas come from
the talent of Daniel Hillyard, who was also the artist for 12-Gauge
Comics' hit, Anti. Anti made a big splash back in 2012, when the
book was released for FCBD as an issue #0. Hillyard's gritty and yet
somehow clean style plays with the mind of the reader. His “art
psychology” helps us realize who the good guys are and who the bad
guys are, and in a way, gives us permission to cheer when our hero
executes horrible violence on his would-be killers.
Sherwood Texas is a good read and a
nice lead-in to a highly anticipated ongoing series from 12-Gauge
Comics beginning July 2014.
As a nice treat, Boondock Saints serves
as a double feature to Sherwood Texas. The story is told by the
film's writer and director Troy Duffy, as well as writer JB Love and
artist Toby Cypress. This tale is from a 2010 printing, but a new
regular series is being released in 2015, so Duffy and Co. are
jumping on the FCBD bandwagon to promote hype for the new series.
This little back-up is also a good read and I'm sure the regular
series will be a “can't miss.”
Remember to visit your local comic
shops Saturday, May 3rd. There's no better comic book
than a free comic book! Outside The Cube loves Free Comic Book Day!
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