Advance Review: The Sheriff Stalks A Traitor In ‘Nottingham’ #3
by Brendan M. Allen
In the last chapter of Nottingham, we discovered that young Locksley wasn’t the only green soldier to rush off after the Lionheart on the Third Crusade. Our man the Sheriff was also present and participating in the Massacre of Ayyadieh, at the behest of Richard I. This throws an interesting wrench in the classic depiction of the relationship between these two. There was even a moment there, where young Everard broke down after the battle and… cried?
Now in Nottingham #3, the Sheriff is up against a troubling figure from his past, and while the Nottingham Guard is distracted, Hood and the Merry Men plot their next move. 
This is the least gory chapter thus far. Plenty of fisticuffs and sword play. Just the one body, though. David Hazan uses this one to get inside Ev’s head, and if you really listen to the stuff he’s got to say about the Hood, a lot of it actually makes sense. This is brilliant, because in order for this version of events to work, it isn’t enough just to smear Robert Fitzooth. If Robin Hood is going to be seen as the heel, the Sheriff needs to present a credible babyface.
No gore means the art needed to shift in this chapter, but it really needed to go down this way. Shane Connery Volk doesn’t get to slash any throats or open any bellies. There is one tense standoff, but the only substantial bloodshed in this chapter comes in a flashback to Edwinstone, and even then, it’s probably just a broken nose. The strength in this month’s art comes, shockingly, from subtle emotional shifts on the players’ faces and in their posture and ambulation.
This is the slowest paced chapter in the series thus far, but some really big and important things went down, setting up the Hood’s heel turn. Things are about to pop off again in the next chapter. If I’m not mistaken, we’re headed into Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, but with more evisceration. 
Nottingham #3, Mad Cave Studios, 12 May 2021. Written by David Hazan, art by Shane Connery Volk, color by Luca Romano, letters by Joamette Gil.
Summary
This is the slowest paced and least gory chapter thus far, but it’s a necessary break in the action, setting up the Sheriff as a potential babyface, and Hood for his heel turn. Everything’s set to crack off again in the next chapter.
