ROBYN HOOD ANNUAL: CHILDREN OF DARKNESS, from Zenescope Entertainment on June 22nd, 2022, reveals the painful history of Richard Fuchs’s past as he hunts down Robyn, Mystere, and any other wielder of the Darkness.
The Details
- Written By: Joe Brusha
- Art By: Julius Abrera, Sergio Ariño
- Colors By: Robby Bevard
- Letters By: Taylor Esposito
- Cover Art By: Igor Vitorino (cover A)
- Cover Price: $7.99
- Release Date: June 22, 2022
Was It Good?
ROBYN HOOD ANNUAL: CHILDREN OF DARKNESS is the latest one-shot, starring the titular character, that feels less like a one-shot and more like a continuation of an ongoing story. In other words, if you haven’t read the previous one-shots, you’re going to feel a little lost. Brusha and the crew fill in enough backstory and reference information to give you the basics of what’s happening, but the big moments won’t hit as big or as hard as they should without the previous issues.
However, the story is decent enough. Robyn and Mystere track down the Balzarus and his dark warriors while Fuchs and Divinity track down Robyn and Mystere. Balzarus manages to capture Mystere so that he can use her power as part of a ritual to open a portal to the Shadowlands and become a conduit for the Dark Gods’ power. As far as epic stories go, it feels big, and plenty of developments happen to establish a new status quo within the Shadowlands and for the characters on Earth.
The downside, which may be more about taste than a technical flaw, is the focus of this annual. This story is almost entirely about Fuchs, his backstory, his motivations, and his character evolution. Robyn Hood is present, and she’s an active player in the story, but if you remove her key participation in the final battle, she’s almost irrelevant to the main plot. So, if you’re looking for a kickass Roby annual, you’re really getting a Fuchs annual with Robyn as the sidekick.
The art by Abrera and Ariño is very good. There are plenty of magical shenanigans happening, from swirling portals to magic lightning bolts to monstrous conjurings and more. The art team flexes its magical muscles to add as much visual pop to the story whenever possible, even in short scenes where characters are simply demonstrating what they can do. Visually, this is an excellent annual.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Technically, this is a self-contained one-shot, but it helps if you read our ROBYN HOOD: HEARTS OF DARKNESS review, it helps. It really helps.
We begin with a brief prologue about Robyn’s birth parents and the Lightwielders. Their secret base is attacked by the forces of Darkness when Robyn was still an infant, showing Robyn’s battle with Darkness began long before she even remembers.
Now, Mystere and Robyn are attacked by Balzarus and his lieutenants while Fuchs and Divinity watch from a distance. Mystere is kidnapped, and Robyn is left unconscious. Grudgingly, Fuchs helps Robyn to use her as bait and a tool to defeat Balzarus.
Later, Robyn, Fuchs, and Divinity track down the location of Balzarus’s ritual where he opens a portal to the Darklands for access to the Dark Gods’ power. Divinity holds off Balzarus and his lieutenants while Robyn and Fuchs cross into the Shadowlands to stop the Dark Gods for good. We conclude the annual with a revelation about family connections, redirected energies, and an uncertain future.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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ROBYN HOOD ANNUAL: CHILDREN OF DARKNESS is an average annual from Zenescope with plenty of big, magical action and status quo updates, but the titular character takes a backseat in her own book, and the focal character isn’t very interesting. If you’re into great art and great magical action, this is a tentative recommendation.
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