IGN: How, if at all, does being gay change the character of Robin Hood? Robert gives me the shifting sands of relationships. Jackie gives me plenty to work off of in terms of light, form and depth. Louise: For me, I want to show the team's connection through color cues. I also wanted to make sure that the more well-known characters were recognizable, without getting too close to the Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood. I like to go crazy on textures and heavy areas of shadow in my inks, so hopefully that lends itself well to the tone.
Lewis: I wanted the visual tone to match the grittiness of Robert's script. IGN: Could you talk about the art direction and what visual tone you wanted for the book? I really love her art so when Oni offered my the opportunity to test, I pulled out all my tricks so I could work with her on this cool project. Marissa Louise: Jackie and I met at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC last year. It's been incredibly fun, and I couldn't be more grateful to be working with our team. I think they were two sentences into telling me about it and I was already chomping at the bit to draw this book. Jackie Lewis: Yeah, I was working on The Lion of Rora when Oni approached me about this project. Rodi: The genius creative matchmakers at Oni brought us together. IGN: How did you all come together on this project? But I thought, dang, there's a helluva story in that, if someone would only take it on. I fell down that rabbit hole for a while, reading everything I could and like everything else to do with Robin Hood, it's all very speculative and inconclusive. A few years ago I came across some discussion of whether "Robin Hood" was gay-i.e., whether the model for the legend was an outlaw of the sexual variety. Robert Rodi: I'm a history buff, especially ancient and medieval history, and I spend a lot of time on websites discussing various aspects of these periods. IGN Comics: Where did the idea for this comic come from? It’s almost strange that no one has thought of this spin on Robin Hood and his Merry Men before. We talked to the creative team about where this idea came from, how gay people were perceived back in those days (it’s very different than today), and how being historically accurate adds to the story.