A Half Century of Robin Hood Comics (1941-1999)

Robin Hood has always been a bit of thorn in my side as a lover of heroic fantasy. Traditional, fun, adventurous, the stories of Robin, Little John, The Sheriff of Nottingham and King John have never been quite Fantasy enough. These days there are writers who inject some Celtic mysticism into the tales but over-all, feet on the ground stuff.

Despite that I was quite fond of an old DC reprint mag back in the late 1970s. DC Special #22-25 reprinted Robin along with the Three Musketeers, Viking Prince and others from 1955’s The Brave and the Bold. I knew they weren’t new comics but like the reprints in the Tarzan comics I enjoyed them all the same. I had no idea back in June-July 1976 that Robin Hood comics went way back and were often repacked and reprinted.

So here you go. Robin Hood and his long and winding history…

The adventure doesn’t actually start in the comic strips as it did with Prince Valiant. This time it was Hollywood that got things going. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone (before Sherlock!) and Claude Rains was a big hit. Despite being a movie that encouraged Americans to stay out of WWII and Flynn being a fascist sympathizer, it is well remembered and loved as a classic.

1940s

Now for the good news. Since Robin Hood was part of literary history, there was no copyright on the character. This meant comic companies could have Robin Hood comics without paying any fee to Warner Bros. The first one to do this was a Canadian outfit called The Anglo-American Publishing Company. They did 34 issues between March 1941- December/January 1947.

The first American company to get in the game was Popular Comics from Dell. They had a feature called “The Return of Robin Hood” that ran in Issues #79-84 (September 1942-February 1943). The art was done by Arthur Jameson and R. S. Calender. The strip never got cover mention (let alone an illustration) so I guess it wasn’t that ‘popular’. Not surprising really since this was in the middle of WWII and superheroes that beat up Nazis were the stars. The choice of title is interesting “The Return”, perhaps implying a new appearance since the 1938 film.

The next company was French. Éditions Pierre Mouchot did a series in 1947 that ran 32 issues. Covers were by Pierre Mouchot. The writers included Marcel Navarr, Karin Bleinroth, Marcel Navarro, Karin Bleinroth and René Charlas. The interior art was supplied by Bertrand Charlas.

Gilberton, who would sell millions of Classic Illustrated comics, adapted Robin Hood for Classic Illustrated #7 (December 1942) There was also a Saks giveaway version. Written by Evelyn Goodman, it featured art by Louis Zansky and Fred Eng. Gilberton would reprint it twice.

1950s

The Frew Company put out Robin Hood in 1950. It ran for three issues. Little is known about this comic.

In 1952, Walt Disney was busy building his live-action film studios. Walt Disney’s Robin Hood was in Dell’s Four Color #413 (August 1952) and then reprinted in #669. It was based on The Story of Robin Hood starring Richard Todd. Written by Gaylord Du Bois, it had art by Morris Gollub, Jesse Marsh and Jon Small. There were two giveaway versions for Robin Hood Flour.

The Brave and the Bold #5 (April-May 1956) introduced Robin Hood to the cast of the comic. Written by Bill Finger and drawn by Irv Novick, he became a regular up to issue #15. The comic would come to be dominated by Joe Kubert’s “Viking Prince” then become a superhero mag.

“Robin Hood” from Swift , the British Weekly from IPC, ran in segments from 1956-1957. Written by Clifford Makins, it featured the brilliant art of Frank Bellamy. The strips were collected in 2005. IPC ran reprints in the Robin Hood Annual 1957-1959.

The Brown Shoe Company seems an odd publisher for Robin Hood (1956) but comic giveaways were good business in the 1950s. Rather than have someone else produce the comics for them, BSC did their own. They produced 7 issues. The writers are not known but art was done by Ray Wilner and Reed Crandall.

Six issues of Robin Hood Tales was published by Quality Comics. (February-December 1956). Writers included by Joe Millard and Robert Bernstein with art by Odgen Whitney, Sam Citron and Harry Anderson. Some covers were done by Dick Dillin and Charles Cuidera.

Robin Hood and His Merry Men was Charlton’s venture into Robin Hood territory. They published 11 issues from April 1956-August 1958, numbered #28-38. These comics were probably written by Joe Gill.  Artist included by Bill Molno, Sal Trapini, Steve Ditko, Vince Alascia, Rocco Mastroserio, Charles Nicholas, Dick Giordano, Maurice Whitman, Sam Glanzman and Harold S. De Lay. The writers brought in a number of other characters including Sir Lancelot, The Crusaders, King Richard and others.

Robin Hood later The Adventures of Robin Hood from Sussex was based on the 1955-1960 TV show, starring Richard Greene. The comic ran 8 issues from November 1956-March 1957 and then June-November 1957. Art was by Frank Bolle. This is the comic that seems to get reprinted the most. I remember watching this show in reruns in the 1970s. The only scene that stuck was Robin and a Saracen friend comparing the qualities of the broad sword versus the scimitar.

DC got back into the game with Robin Hood Tales, January-February 1957-March-April 1958 for 8 issues. They continued their numbering from the Quality comics line. The comic was written by Bob Haney, Julius Schwartz, Jack Miller, Bill Finger, France Herron and Sol Harrison. Artists included Ross Andru, Mike Esposito, Morris Waldinger, Tommy Nicolosi, Irv Novick and Sol Harrison. Some of these stories would appear in those reprints in the 1970s.

Robin Hood in Thriller Picture Library is probably the longest series cumulatively. Robin appeared in 166, 170, 174, 182, 186, 190, 192, 198, 202, 206, 210, 214, 218, 222, 226, 230, 236, 243, 251, 255, 259, 263, 267, 271, 275, 283, 287, 295, 299 and 303. From 1957 to 1959, Robin appeared beside characters such as Dick Turpin, The Three Musketeers, Daring of the Mounties and Battler Britton. Writers included R. Perrins, Alf Wallace, V. A. L. Holding, J. Lockheard, J. A. Storrie, J. H. Higgins, Alan Fennell, Angus Allan, David Satherly and Ralph Coveney. Artists included Reg Bunn, Vitor Peon, Angel Pardo, Nadir Quinto, Martin Salvador, John Millar Watt, Fred Holmes, Raffaele Paparella.Covers were usually by Sep. E. Scott.

Robin Hood was a reprint comic by IW/Super Comics in 1958-1964. These were reprints of the Frank Bolle comics from the Sussex Comics. Most had new John Severin covers.

1960s

Very little is known about G. T. Limited’s single issue of Robin Hood Adventures in Pictures (circa 1960).

Robin Hood from Dell Comics ran from May-July 1963. It featured art by Gerald McCann.

1970s

Robin Hood from Cartoon Press from Sweden dates to 1970. Little is known about it. Could be reprints?

Robin Hood: Der Herr Der Walder from Bastei Verlag of Germany published 98 issues beginning in 1973. Writers included Jean Sanitas, Jean Ollivier, and Robin Wood. Art was provided by Christian Gaty, Lucien Nortier, Martin Sièvre, Francisco Díaz Rojo, Sergio Mulko and Ricardo Villagrán (who would later work on Savage Sword of Conan).

Robin Hood from Western Publishing produced four issues in December 1973. Based on the Disney cartoon feature, these issues would be reprinted later in Gold Key editions. Art was by Al Hubbard.  The film featured voice work by Peter Ustinov, Phil Harris, Terry-Thomas, Pat Buttram and Andy Devine. Character design was by Ken Anderson.

The Adventures of Robin Hood  was the Gold Key version, reprinting the earlier comic in March 1974-January 1975. The comic was written by Carl Falberb and Don R. Christensen. The art by Al Hubbard was used as well as material by Sparky Moore, Pete Alvarado and Tony DiPaola and Joe Messerli. Some of the stories appeared in Donald Duck comics.

Marvel was late to the party with Marvel Classics Comics #34 Robin Hood (1978). Adapted by Doug Moench, it had art by Rudy Mesina and Alfredo Alcala. It was reprinted in 1984.

1980s

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Book & Record) was a recording and comic from Peter Pan in 1981. Cover art was by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano. Interior art was by Jack Sparling.

The independent publisher, Malibu Comics had a successful series with Arthurian material. They tried Robin Hood for four issues in August 1989-April 1990. Covers were classic paintings by N. C. Wyeth. The comic was written by Martin Powell with art by Stan Timmons.

1990s

Robin Hood from another independent, Eclipse Comics, appeared in three issues, July-December 1991. Covers were by Christopher Schenck. The comic was written by Valarie Jones with art by Tim Truman, Christopher Schenck and Roger Peterson.

A-Plus Comics did Charlton reprints in 1991 with Swords of Valor’s Robin Hood. The cover was by Sam Glanzman.

Avalon (probably A-Plus in another guise) did more Charlton reprints with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1999). Again, the cover was by Sam Glanzman.

I may have missed some comics. There were many reprints in different languages in Europe. There were certainly other Robin Hood comics in the 21st Century. My favorite is probably the Muppets version from BOOM (2009) or Bo Hampton’s Demons of Sherwood (2015). Despite new films with Russell Crowe (2010) and Taron Egerton (2018)— poor shadows to Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), the comics haven’t been too interested in Sherwood Forest. Though if Jack Whyte is to be believed the legend began with the Scottish rebel, William Wallace, best known to us from the 1995 film Braveheart. Certainly there is a comic in there!

But fear not, brave readers, for if there is anything we have learned about Robin Hood and his band of rascals, is there is always another version on the horizon. That is why his legend has persisted so long. Ooh de Lally, Ooh de Lally!