Muppet Comic Mondays - Muppet Robin Hood Trade Paperback Review

Muppet Robin Hood Comic Book

Trade Paperback

Michael Wermuth, Jr. - “Muppet Robin Hood” was the first Muppet fairy tale comic book series from BOOM! Studios. I never found any of the individual issues in stores, so I bought the trade paperback that combined all four issues, and it probably is better reading them all as one story as opposed to individual issues.

If you’ve read the previous reviews, you’ll know that it’s the Muppets in their own version of Robin Hood (or maybe you’d know that by the title). Kermit stars as Robin Hood, while Robin plays a character called Squirt. Other roles include Miss Piggy as Maid Marian, Rowlf as Alan-A-Dale, Sweetums as Little John, Janice as Willa Scarlett, Fozzie Bear as Friar Tuck, Gonzo as Guy of Gisbourne, Sam the Eagle as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Johnny Fiama as Prince John, among others.

I would have cast either Fozzie or Robin as Little John as opposed to Sweetums, but it’s great that he gets a big role. Unlike Roger Langridge’s Muppet Show comics, Muppet Robin Hood heavily feature characters from Muppets Tonight, including Johnny Fiama, Sal, Pepe, Clifford, and Bobo. And a lot of minor and obscure characters make appearances, including Hilda, Mildred, Mahna Mahna, some of the jug-band members, and Fleet Scribbler. The archery contest in issue #3 features many obscure characters. This would have also been a great way to have used The Newsman, Louis Kazagger, and Fleet Scribbler (but at least they all do make appearances elsewhere in the comic).

Many fans have expressed dislike for the artwork, and have said that the characters don’t seem to be written right, but I’m not really bothered by the artwork or the writing. The Muppet Show Comic Book is better, but this is still a good read.

There seems to be a minor plot hole. At first, it seems like Maid Marian isn’t too interested in Robin Hood, but by the time of the archery contest, she’s interested (and not because Robin does anything adventurous or heroic at the contest, because he doesn’t). Even when the “trap” to lure Robin to the contest with the prize being a kiss from Maid Marian is planned, she doesn’t seem interested, but when unknowingly talking to Robin Hood, she expresses a desire in Robin Hood.

Unlike The Muppet Show Comic Book: Meet the Muppets trade paperback, this one does not have the covers between each issue, instead placing them in a cover gallery in the back of the book, while artwork from the comic is placed between each individual issue. I would have preferred the comic covers to be placed between each issue (and unless I read wrong, it seems that the trade paperback for The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson will have its covers in a gallery at the back as well).

Still, this is a good book. I can’t decide whether it’s better than the version of Robin Hood from the Lynn Redgrave episode of The Muppet Show, but it’s still good. It’d be great to see a video game based on this comic.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier.

Muppet Comic Mondays: Muppet Robin Hood #4

NEWS UPDATE - OCTOBER 19, 2009

Sesame Street's Sonia Manzanno (Maria), Elmo, and Cookie Monster will be appearing on Food Network's "Dinner: Impossible" television show this Wednesday, October 21st at 10pm EST. According to Tough Pigs' Twitter feed, they'll be cooking foods that start with the letter B.

Archaia Comics hosted a panel at the Long Beach Comic Con discussing their future projects; including Fraggle Rock comic books. They also discuss other planned Fraggle merchandise. Comic Book Resources has the full scoop.

Muppet Robin Hood #4
Comic Book Review

Ryan Dosier – The final installment of Muppet Robin Hood written by Tim Beedle and drawn by Armand Villavert, Jr. closes off the story of Robin Hood (Kermit), Maid Marian (Miss Piggy), and the Merry Men in their fight for freedom from the tyranny of Prince John (Johnny Fiama) and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Sam Eagle).

Issue #4 was released in September 2009.

PLOT
Issue #4 picks up right where #3 concluded—Robin Hood, betrayed by Friar Tuck (Fozzie Bear), has been captured by the villainous Prince John and the Merry Men must devise a plan to save him.

As Prince John relishes in his victory over the thief, Robin Hood grieves in his dungeon cell. The Merry Men toss around ideas of how to free Robin from his prison but, unsurprisingly, none of them are very feasible. Friar Tuck comes up with the plan of going out to find The Two Legendary Knights of Renown, but no one will comply with him since he betrayed Robin. After having his plan declared “a fool’s errand,” Tuck, a fool himself, embarks on the journey alone.

The rest of the Merry Men finally get fed up with the omnipresent voice of the narrator and decide to travel hill and dale (no, not Alan-a-Dale) to find where this mysterious voice, which knows what is happening and what will happen, is coming from.

The Merry Men soon find the Narrator (The Muppet Newsman) and he shows off his skills in character understanding by revealing an embarrassing fact about Willa Scarlet (Janice). The Merry Men beg the Narrator to help them to save Robin, but he says he can’t—he has to follow the script. The Merry Men won’t have this, of course, so they prod the Narrator until he gives them the address to writer Tim Beedle.

The very next frame is a small post-it note from artist Armand Villavert, Jr. asking editor Aaron Sparrow, “Hey, where is the rest of the script?” The next page is a letter to the reader from The Muppet Robin Hood Editorial Team regretting to inform the reader that the writer has inexplicably gone missing. They soon replace him with another writer, whose version of the story is… interesting, to say the least.

Thankfully, Tim Beedle is found soon enough and the story resumes as before—except this time with a new ending.

We soon catch up with Tuck as he enters the hall of The Two Legendary Knights of Renown, who are revealed to be Statler and Waldorf. Fozzie attempts to persuade them to join him and the Merry Men in their fight to save Robin, but they’re reluctant and prone to heckling Tuck’s every plea. There’s a brilliantly hilarious twist that finally sways them—it’s arguably the funniest part of all four books.

The next day we join Prince John, Maid Marian, and the Sheriff at Robin Hood’s hanging. After a few difficulties with the noose and a much-needed karate-kick from Maid Marian, we find that Robin Hood was nowhere near the noose—The Swedish Chef stood in his place. Robin and the Merry Men rush to completely dismantle the hangman’s noose and completely embarrass Prince John—again.

Tuck and the Knights soon arrive and completely demolish John’s guards. Robin soon flies into combat with the Sheriff, triumphing creatively. Just as the Merry Men have Prince John and Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Gonzo) cornered, King Richard (Pepe) and the Crusades (The Electric Mayhem) arrive. Richard takes back his thrown, restores the Loxley Swamp to Robin Hood’s family, pardons the Merry Men of their crimes against the crown, and allows Robin and Marian to be wed.

In the very end, Willa Scarlet and Alan-a-Dale (Rowlf) join the Crusades in Richard’s place with Much the Miller’s Son (Scooter) as a manager, Tuck, Squirt (Robin the Frog), Rich the Fish Monger (Lew Zealand), Tuck’s Ma, and The Swedish Chef open a bakery, Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham reside in the dungeon with Arthur a Bland (Rizzo), Prince John and Sir Sal act as court jester, and Robin Hood and Maid Marian are wed and they live happily ever after.

TONE
The tone in issue #4 is surprisingly better than in the previous three issues. It feels much more Muppety in instances that call for it—such as Statler and Waldorf’s scene. Unfortunately, some of the book still feels awkward at times, but for the most part the tone is much, much better.

WRITING
The writing has also slightly improved in this issue. I still have my gripes with the way Pepe, Scooter, Sam, and Gonzo are written, but many of the characters are written well in this issue. Fozzie is good, for the most part, Janice is stellar, Rowlf is also good. The stand-out characters here, though, are Statler and Waldorf. Their “voices” are really there and they act very much like themselves. I also really like how Johnny Fiama is written throughout this issue. He seems more like himself than previously.

ART
I know I seem relentless in my bashing of the artwork of Armand Villavert, Jr., but… it’s just not good. You all already know my annoyances with most of the characters, and they remain throughout this issue. I grew to like how his Statler and Waldorf were drawn, and his Muppet Newsman is great, but beyond that the art is passable at most—just as it has been throughout the series.

CONCLUSION
In the end, this stands out as the best issue of the Muppet Robin Hood series, but unfortunately that wasn’t hard to do. I consider this an early speed-bump in the Fuzzy Muppet Renaissance—one that we can easily forget. While I do want to support the Muppets in all of their ventures, if another comic book features art by Armand Villavert, Jr. I will have to think very critically before I buy it.

Buy your copy of the Muppet Robin Hood trade paperback containing all four issues before the Merry Men get to it!

CAST
Kermit the Frog as Robin Hood; Miss Piggy as Maid Marian; Gonzo the Great as Sir Guy of Gisbourne; Sam Eagle as the Sheriff of Nottingham; Fozzie Bear as Tuck, The Fool; Sweetums as Little John; Robin the Frog as Squirt; Scooter as Much the Miller’s Son; Janice as Willa Scarlet; Rowlf the Dog as Alan-a-Dale; Rizzo the Rat as Arthur a Bland; Lew Zealand as Rich the Fishmonger; The Swedish Chef as himself; Mildred Huxtetter as Maid Marian’s Lady in Waiting; Johnny Fiama as Prince John; Sal Minella as Sir Sal; Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, and Animal as The Crusades; Pepe the King Prawn as King Richard; The Muppet Newsman as the Narrator; Statler and Waldorf as The Two Legendary Knights of Renown; Uncle Deadly as Captain of the Guard; Behemoth and Green Frackle as Guards; Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker as Themselves; Ma Bear as herself; Beauregard, Annie Sue Pig, Fleet Scribbler, Andy and Randy Pig in cameo appearances.

Muppet Comic Mondays: Muppet Robin Hood #3

Muppet Robin Hood #3

Comic Book Review

Ryan Dosier – Muppet Robin Hood from BOOM! Studios continues with the third issue. In issue #2, Robin Hood (Kermit) and his Merry Men had just trashed the dinner party of Prince John (Johnny Fiama) and royally ticked off the prince (get it?).

Issue #3 was released in August, 2009.

PLOT
Issue #3 starts in the middle of a concert. Above the stage is a banner that reads “King Richard and the Crusades: The Hot ‘n Holy Tour.” We soon find out that the Crusades are really Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Animal, and Dr. Teeth. After a few bad puns (even by Muppet standards) Pepe the King Prawn is revealed as King Richard—for once the shrimp actually is the king prawn. Who’da thunk it? King Richard has been touring with the Crusades for reasons that aren’t explained very well—all I really caught was that Robin Hood left the Crusades to return to England and now he’s more popular than King Richard ever was, thus making the prawn jealous and causing him to cancel the Holy Land tour and return to England.

Just as soon as we’re introduced to the Crusades, we’re taken to a new scene. Prince John is in need of a new plan to capture Robin Hood. With the help of Sir Sal, Guy of Gisbourne (Gonzo), and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Sam Eagle), Prince John devises a trap for catching Robin Hood. After a suggestion from Bean Bunny (in a very brief, yet surprisingly funny, cameo appearance), it’s decided that an archery contest will be used to catch the thief.

Upon returning to Sherwood Forest, Friar Tuck (Fozzie Bear) informs Robin Hood and the Merry Men about the contest. They immediately realize it’s a trap, but the head-strong Robin decides to go anyway, only in a disguise. Much the Miller’s Son (Scooter), who has an affinity for sewing, agrees to make the disguise.

Now we’re back at the castle, where Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are conducting experiments with technology that is far to advanced to have existed in the Dark Ages, but that’s beside the point. Wait… no it’s not. After setting an entire story in this time period, it feels weird to create a “Voice-Activated, Motion-Sensing Arrow.” It completely breaks the fourth wall—and not in the good way the Muppets usually do.

Anyway, Honeydew gives Prince John the arrow for the Sheriff to use in the contest and Prince John sulks into the darkness outside for some reason. Here, he meets Tuck, who tells him that Robin Hood will be in attendance at the contest in a disguise. It’s here we finally see a Fozzie-like side to Tuck who feels guilty for spying on Robin and the Merry Men. We quickly see Fozzie’s Ma being held in a dark tower as Prince John’s prisoner and we understand why he does whatever John asks.

The next day, with awful costume in hand, Robin and the Merry Men abscond to the archery contest. Some fun Muppety mayhem ensues for the first time at the archery contest. Robin Hood flirts with Maid Marian (Miss Piggy) and is totally rejected again—no matter, though! He’s Robin Hood! The Sheriff gets heckled by the crowd and completely misses his shot, and Robin wins.

But, of course, this is a victory that ends with Robin being captured by the Prince’s guards and tossed in the dungeon.

TONE
The tone in issue #3 is better than the previous two issues of Muppet Robin Hood. We finally get to see some Muppety fun at the archery contest—unfortunately it only lasts a few pages. The rest of the story still feels weird and unfunny. I do like the sympathy we get to feel for Tuck when we find out Prince John has his Ma, but other than that the tone remains all wrong.

Actually, thinking about it more, I think I’ve figured out what’s wrong. All of the characters are rude. King Richard is a total jerk to Dr. Teeth and he just takes it—Dr. Teeth would not take that. Even Kermit plays the jerk a few times in his fights with Gonzo and Sam. Kermit should never play the jerk.

WRITING
The writing here has improved slightly. I still have my gripes about the way Tim Beedle writes Kermit, Sam, Gonzo, Sweetums, Robin, and Miss Piggy—and now I can add on that I really despise the way Pepe, Bobo, and the Electric Mayhem are written.

I do, however, like how Johnny, Sal, Fozzie, Bunsen, Clifford, George the Janitor, and Pops are written. I suppose that may look like the good outweighs the bad, but most of the characters that I like are too minor to really make an impact.

I just don’t really understand some of the things some of the characters say. Yes, this is the Muppets playing the Robin Hood cast, but they don’t have to say things that are so uncharacteristic to their personalities. Sam loses his temper twice in this issue for ridiculous reasons—Tim Beedle doesn’t seem to understand that Sam only loses his temper as the last straw. He just gets annoyed and disgusted by the Muppets, not so angry that he spits.

Sam is just one example of the bad writing/characterization given here. It’s really a shame.

ART
The art continues to be the worst part of every issue. These grievances are meant as no insult to artist Armand Villavert, Jr.’s talent—he really is a very good artist—he just has no sense of what the Muppets should look like at all.

Clifford looks like a woman in two panels and an eel in the rest, I can’t tell the difference between his Piggy and his Annie Sue, his Scooter’s head is misshapen, Beaker looks like a cocaine addict, Floyd looks like a demon in one frame, and Dr. Teeth looks like a hobo and doesn’t even have glasses.

Pepe, Animal, Bobo, Bean, and Pops look okay though. Oh, and Crazy Harry and George the Janitor are spot-on perfect. George even does archery with a mop—one that Crazy Harry quickly blows up. That was a highlight. Too bad it only took place in four frames all together.

CONCLUSION
While I do support the Muppets in all of their comic book under-takings, if you’re going to skip one of them, Muppet Robin Hood is the one to skip. It pales in comparison to Roger Langridge’s The Muppet Show Comic Book and Grace Randolph and Amy Mebberson’s Muppet Peter Pan. Both of these books are so vastly superior to this that it’s almost unfair comparing the two.

If you do want to buy it, however, buy the trade paperback containing all four issues of Muppet Robin Hood here!

CAST
Kermit the Frog as Robin Hood; Miss Piggy as Maid Marian; Gonzo the Great as Sir Guy of Gisbourne; Sam Eagle as the Sheriff of Nottingham; Fozzie Bear as Tuck, The Fool; Sweetums as Little John; Robin the Frog as Squirt; Scooter as Much the Miller’s Son; Janice as Willa Scarlet; Rowlf the Dog as Alan-a-Dale; Rizzo the Rat as Arthur a Bland; Lew Zealand as Rich the Fishmonger; The Swedish Chef as himself; Mildred Huxtetter as Maid Marian’s Lady in Waiting; Johnny Fiama as Prince John; Sal Minella as Sir Sal; Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, and Animal as The Crusades; Pepe the King Prawn as King Richard; Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker as themselves; Crazy Harry, Shakey Sanchez, George the Janitor, Black Bart, Mahna Mahna, and Bobo the Bear as archers; Clifford as the archery contest emcee; Pops as the archery contest judge; Uncle Deadly as Captain of the Guard; Behemoth and Green Frackle as Guards; Bean Bunny, Ma Bear, the Snowths, Lubbock Lou and the Jug-Huggers in cameo appearances

Muppet Comic Mondays: Muppet Robin Hood #2

The Muppets have apparently started filming for an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition coming soon to ABC. Not much news about this has surfaced yet, but as it trickles down, I'll be sure to keep you updated!

Muppet Robin Hood #2

Comic Book Review

Ryan Dosier – BOOM! Studios’ Muppet Robin Hood series continues with the second installment written by Tim Beedle and drawn by Armand Villavert, Jr. In the last issue, we met Robin Hood (Kermit the Frog) as he fought against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (Sam Eagle) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Gonzo the Great) and rallied his Merry Men (Scooter, Janice, Sweetums, Rowlf, Rizzo, Lew Zealand, Swedish Chef, Robin) to fight the tyranny of Prince John.

Issue #2 was released July, 2009.

PLOT
The story in this issue picks up right where issue #1 finished, with Robin Hood and the Merry Men attempting to bring down the tyranny of Prince John. They do this by disbanding his cruddy tourist traps such as “The Cheese Castle,” “The Land of Imagination,” and a sock museum.

We soon meet Maid Marian and her lady in waiting (Mildred Huxtetter) as they pay a visit to the World’s Largest Venus Flytrap (another of Prince John’s schemes). As Robin Hood and the Merry Men steal the day’s earnings from the purveyor of the flytrap, Maid Marian is suddenly eaten by the plant. Of course, it’s now up to Robin Hood to save her in an incredibly disgusting, disturbingly un-Muppety way.

We also finally meet Prince John (Johnny Fiama) who is more than fed up with the lackluster performances of the Sheriff and Guy. Prince John decides to hire some one new, Sir Swineman of the Sword (Link Hogthrob) who refuses to enter Sherwood Forest because he’s afraid of raccoons. After Sir Swineman falls through, Prince John sends his court jester, Tuck, to infiltrate Robin Hood’s camp as a friar.

We then return to Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood has blind-folded Maid Marian and her Lady in Waiting. After removing Maid Marian’s blindfold, Robin and Marian proceed to get into a fight, which ends with Robin kissing Marian right on the lips. (Which is completely uncharacteristic of Kermit—having the frog fall for the pig first and having the pig totally reject him just feels awkward.)

Soon enough, Friar Tuck arrives and tells Robin and the Merry Men all about Prince John’s big feast and celebration in the honor of Saint Shecky—the patron saint of propeller hats. Robin Hood and the gang decide to take their fight to Prince John in person.

Little John (Sweetums) has the idea of disguising the Merry Men as monsters to get past Prince John’s monster guards. After a passing reference to Roger Langridge’s (vastly superior) The Muppet Show Comic Book, the Merry Men storm the castle. The captain of the guard (Uncle Deadly) allows them in to the party.

The party guests soon freak out as they see monsters storming their party. And when Robin and the Merry Men reveal themselves, Prince John, the Sheriff, and Guy start to freak out as well.

After a lot of random fighting and throwing of food, the comic ends with Prince John’s party in shambles and Robin Hood and Maid Marian falling in love.

TONE
I still don’t like the tone of these comics. It’s very odd (in a bad way). It’s not punny, it isn’t heart-warming (at all), it’s just… boring. Maybe part of this has to do with the artwork that doesn’t grab me at all when I read through it, but I also have to pin part of this on the writing. It doesn’t work for the Muppets. The good jokes only come once every few pages and the characters just don’t seem like themselves. It’s unfortunate, but the tone in Muppet Robin Hood is all wrong.

WRITING
Some of the writing works, such as the exchanges between Johnny and Sal and Johnny and Link, but most of it just falls flat, lacking the character “voices” altogether. Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy fall hardest to this—which isn’t good, since they’re the main characters.

ART
Once again, the art is passable, at most. Yes, I can look at every character and say, “Oh, that’s Mildred” or “Hey, it’s Wayne and Wanda,” but I never look at them and say, “My gosh, what a great looking Johnny Fiama!” The characters are just there, they don’t stand out at all—and aren’t the Muppets supposed to stand out?

In The Muppet Show Comic Book, even though sometimes Scooter and Kermit have teeth, at least they jump off the page with art that may be wacky and off the mark, but it’s Muppety and wacky and off the mark. Muppet Robin Hood is not.

CONCLUSION
While I support the buying of all Muppet merchandise, I don’t recommend spending your money on getting the individual issues of Muppet Robin Hood. In fact, the trade paperback with all four issues comes out this Wednesday, October 7th. It’s better than spending $3 for each lackluster issue, when you could instead spend that $3 on either of the vastly superior Muppet comic books from BOOM! Studios: The Muppet Show Comic Book or Muppet Peter Pan.

Buy your copy of the trade paperback of Muppet Robin Hood today!

CAST
Kermit the Frog as Robin Hood; Miss Piggy as Maid Marian; Gonzo the Great as Sir Guy of Gisbourne; Sam Eagle as the Sheriff of Nottingham; Fozzie Bear as Tuck, The Fool; Sweetums as Little John; Robin the Frog as Squirt; Scooter as Much the Miller’s Son; Janice as Willa Scarlet; Rowlf the Dog as Alan-a-Dale; Rizzo the Rat as Arthur a Bland; Lew Zealand as Rich the Fishmonger; The Swedish Chef as himself; Mildred Huxtetter as Maid Marian’s Lady in Waiting; Johnny Fiama as Prince John; Sal Minella as Sir Sal; Link Hogthrob as Sir Swineman of the Sword; Uncle Deadly as Captain of the Guard; Behemoth and Green Frackle as Guards; Nigel the Conductor, Wayne, and Wanda in cameo appearances.

Muppet Comic Mondays: Muppet Robin Hood #1

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa is released tomorrow in the U.S. wherever DVDs are sold (except for street corners)! Check out Disney's official site for the release, complete with video clips from the special! Keep an eye on The Muppet Mindset tomorrow for our official review of this exciting DVD release! If you absolutely can't wait for that, check out these reviews!

ToughPigs has posted their review of the Sesame Street special "Families Stand Together." It's a fun read (as always) and deserves checking out!

The Muppet Newsflash has reported that Sesame Workshop will re-release a set of long out of print Sesame Street music albums in the form of a 3-CD set billed as Sesame Street: Old School - Volume 1 on November 10, 2009, just in time for the 40th anniversary! The three albums included in the set are "The Original Sesame Street Cast Album" (1970), "Big Bird Sings!" (1974), and "Bert and Ernie's Sing-Along"(1975). This marks the first time that these three titles have been released and remastered on CD. With the inclusion of "Volume 1" in the title, this implies that even more old school albums will be re-released onto CD in the future!

Muppet Robin Hood
Comic Book Review

Ryan Dosier – Muppet Robin Hood, the first installment of BOOM! Studios’ Muppet fairytale comic book line (followed this month by Muppet Peter Pan and in January by Muppet King Arthur). Written by Tim Beedle and drawn by Armand Villavert, Jr., Muppet Robin Hood has the incredibly difficult task of following in the wonderful footsteps of The Muppet Show Comic Book. The Muppet Show, written and drawn by Roger Langridge, features classic, witty storylines and jokes along with near-perfect characterization of every character, while Robin Hood casts the Muppets into the roles of Robin Hood and the gang.

This story chronicles the classic tale of Robin Hood (What? You were expecting Hansel and Gretel, maybe?) starring Kermit the Frog as Robin Hood, Miss Piggy as Maid Marian, and all of the other Muppets as all of the other characters. Of course the story of Robin Hood as a strict retelling is rather boring, but a Muppet retelling can't be—enter writer Tim Beedle. He does his best to create a Muppety feeling to this story.

Issue #1 was released May, 2009, with the other three issues following monthly afterwards.

PLOT
Most people know the plot of Robin Hood, but not many people know (or will ever know) the story of Muppet Robin Hood—even though they’re basically the same thing.

In issue #1, we meet Sir Robin of Loxley (Kermit) as he returns to England after three years in the Crusades with King Richard. But as Robin returns, he realizes his home is not how he remembered it to be. It’s been overrun by the scourge of the country, Prince John! Even Robin’s home of Loxley Linx has been replaced with a miniature golf course. The first three pages are back-story from the narrator, so it’s kind of hard to get immediately drawn in to this story, but I suppose it had to be done.

Soon, Sir Robin encounters the Sheriff of Nottingham (Sam Eagle) and his dopey sidekick Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Gonzo). The Sheriff stops Robin because he didn’t pay his admission to enter the mini golf course and they try to apprehend good Sir Robin. As you can imagine, that doesn’t happen, so the Sheriff and Guy flee. Robin then meets a young frog named Squirt (Robin, aptly renamed to avoid confusion—which is referenced a few times). Squirt tells Robin about more of the horror Prince John has wrought upon England, and Robin finally takes a stand to fight against the prince as he and Squirt ride off into Sherwood Forest (because Sherwood Woods just wouldn’t sound right).

After being (very) briefly introduced to Maid Marian (Miss Piggy) and receiving some plot exposition about her hatred of her uncle, Prince John, we return to Sherwood Forest with Robin and Squirt and receive more back-story before coming to a bridge where they’re attacked by a huge ogre (Sweetums).

The ogre tells the frogs that no one shall cross his bridge without paying a toll. Sir Robin, having no money (or just being obnoxious), engages the ogre in a staff battle (which, surprisingly, does not pit the staff of both Kermit and Sweetums against one another—because we all know Kermit’s staff would win that battle). After Robin defeats the ogre (and Louis Kazzager makes a brief cameo), the ogre, now identifying himself as Little John, joins Robin on his journey and takes him even deeper into the forest.

Here, Robin and Squirt are introduced to the Merry Men (Scooter, Janice, Rowlf, Rizzo, Lew Zealand, and the Swedish Chef). After some long, characterizing introductions, Sir Robin of Loxley proclaims his mission to bring justice back to England by becoming Robin Hood! A momentarily funny exchange between Robin and Much the Miller’s Son (Scooter) occurs, and issue #1 is over.

TONE
This one is hard to pin down. I can’t tell if the tone is trying to be more classic fairytale or more Muppet zaniness. Maybe it’s a mixture? I don’t know. I honestly just can’t tell. The tone never goes to the extreme of either end of the spectrum, however. It never becomes laugh-out-loud Muppety goodness, nor does it become so deathly boring and “storytelling” that it becomes unreadable.

Writer Tim Beedle creates an interesting tone here, but it’s really not Muppety for the most part.

WRITING
The writing in Muppet Robin Hood has stiff competition with The Muppet Show Comic Book, which some have called a return to the classic comedy writing of The Muppet Show TV show in its heyday. Muppet Robin Hood, unfortunately, is not.

The characterization is sadly not there for most of the characters. True, some of the characters have their “voice,” such as Sam Eagle, but most of them remain shockingly unlike themselves. Gonzo is the most glaring example of this. He’s not weird, he’s just hyper. Gonzo and Sam Eagle should make a hilarious, complete opposite comedy team, but the writing suffers so much that it just feels awkward and forced.

Sweetums is written rather well, with his loud, burly dialogue—each of his speech bubbles have a “rougher” looking text that makes it appear he’s constantly shouting.

The writing of Miss Piggy as Maid Marian is alright; but once again Piggy falls prey to outside writers assuming that she’s always angry or rude. Beedle could have taken a good tip from Langridge on how to write Miss Piggy. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

The hardest writing to comment on is Kermit/Robin Hood’s. Is he supposed to be Kermit or Robin Hood? Neither. He’s supposed to be Kermit playing Robin Hood. Yes, Kermit is hard to write for, so writing him playing another character is difficult as well, but… Jerry Juhl did it beautifully when Kermit portrayed both Bob Cratchit and Captain Smollett. Tim Beedle does not do it well when Kermit portrays Robin Hood, and it’s rather sad.

ART
This is the sad part of this review. Armand Vilavert, Jr.’s artwork is distractingly obscure. Again, we must compare this artwork to Langridge’s work in The Muppet Show Comic book. Vilavert, Jr. draws the Muppets, it seems, without really studying the puppets. While Langridge has been known to give Kermit and co. teeth when they don’t have them, it works in the scene and it makes his art stand out as unique.

Gonzo is Vilavert, Jr.’s most glaringly bad illustration. His eyes are spread across his face, he usually lacks eyelids altogether, and in nearly every frame he has a bottom jaw full of teeth. This may sound harsh, but this version of Gonzo looks like a bad interpretation one would buy from a caricaturist at a carnival.

Not all of his characters are drawn poorly; his Scooter, Janice, Rizzo, Rowlf, Louis Kazagger, and Sweetums all stand out as fine examples of how to draw the characters. It’s just unfortunate and inconsistent that characters like Lew Zealand, Sam Eagle, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and Hilda are all distractingly bad.

Thankfully, Kermit doesn’t suffer too much (though it’s hard to mess him up). Since he is the main character and he does appear in almost every frame, it’s good to see that he actually looks like himself.

CONCLUSION

While Muppet Robin Hood doesn’t come close to matching up with The Muppet Show Comic Book in quality, it is still a fun read. This review may seem harsh, but once you see the artwork and read through some of the non-Muppety writing, you’ll understand why.

Although the beginning is tough to fight through, the writing in Muppet Robin Hood does pick up by the second and third issues (unfortunately, the art still suffers) once more characters are introduced to the plot, and it comes to a very satisfactory ending as well; but more on that next week.

Buy your issue of Muppet Robin Hood #1 today! Or pre-order a copy of the Muppet Robin Hood trade paperback containing all four issues! Why not buy it from the rich and give it to the poor?

CAST
Kermit the Frog as Robin Hood; Miss Piggy as Maid Marian; Gonzo the Great as Sir Guy of Gisbourne; Sam Eagle as the Sheriff of Nottingham; Sweetums as Little John; Robin the Frog as Squirt; Scooter as Much the Miller’s Son; Janice as Willa Scarlet; Rowlf the Dog as Alan-a-Dale; Rizzo the Rat as Arthur a Bland; Lew Zealand as Rich the Fishmonger; The Swedish Chef as himself; Hilda the Wardrobe Lady as Maid Marian’s seamstress; Louis Kazagger as himself.