In the summer of 1991 movie theaters were overrun with outlaws when Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves hit the screen. It was and is a fantastic retelling of the Robin Hood story. It was the second highest grossing movie of the year. Beat only by the invincible robot from the future.
In September 1991 DC released a Robin Hood limited series titled Outlaws. Not to be confused with Red Hood and the Outlaws. Outlaws was DC’s version of the Robin Hood legend set in a dystopian future and not the medieval past.
Outlaws #2, “The Hunt” October 1991
Outlaws was a 8-issue limited series following the exploits of a man called Hood against the evil King and his henchmen led by the Lord Conductor. The series does an excellent job of following traditional Robin Hood legends and adapting them to a post-apocalyptic future.
In issue #2 the Sheriff of Nottingham Lord Conductor is questioning Friar Tuck Father Bruno for the whereabouts of Hood. Father Bruno doesn’t give up any information so the Lord Conductor terrorizes a local village to find his answer.
A trader offers to provide the information for a small fee. The Lord Conductor accepts, finds Hood’s location and attacks. Only it was a trap and the Lord Conductor and his men are ambushed by Hood.
Can Hood and his band of (not so) Merry Men defeat the Lord Conductor and the evil King? If you know the legend of Robin Hood you might know the outcome. Or did the writers change it to match the dystopian future?
To find out you should read Outlaws. I enjoyed the series.
The question is, did Hood steal good ads from the other comics to give to this one? Let’s find out…
Generation Zero
When your reading a comic about a dystopian future you might be interested in the subject. At least that’s what the ad department thinks.
Generation Zero is another story set in a post apocalyptic world. If you like stories about surviving in a nuked out world, trying to avoid the evil empire, then Generation Zero is for you.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Flyer
We looked at the ads in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight in a previous issue. This is an ad for issue #24 of the series. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight was one of my favorite comics to read in the 90’s. It chronicles the early years of Batman’s career, following the events of Batman: Year One. The timeline in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight interweaves with Batman: The Long Halloween.
If you like the early days of Batman, how he became a hero, how he learned and improved his craft, how he balanced being Bruce Wayne and Batman then you need to read Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. It’s over 200 action packed issues of Batman becoming, well Batman.
War of the Gods
The crossover event of 1991!
Really? It’s safe to say 1991 was the year of crossovers. War of the Gods, Armageddon 2001, Infinity Gauntlet, the list goes on.
War of the Gods focuses on Wonder Woman and a war between the old Roman gods and the gods of Olympia. The story was used as a way to highlight the character and celebrate her 50th anniversary.
War of the Gods spanned 24 issues of DC titles over four months from September 1991 to December 1991. It’s a good story. I’d pick Armageddon 2001 as the better DC crossover but War of the Gods is certainly worth reading
Batman: Holy Terror
This Batman tale is set in the Elseworlds universe. It’s an alternative history of Batman taking place in the late 1660’s. It revolves around the Inquisition and God’s will being imposed on the population by the King.
As you can imagine, Batman would be seen as evil and even a devil back in 1660. It’s not a bad story. I’m not a huge fan of alt-history stories. But this one is pretty good.
DC Annuals
In 1991 you needed to read the DC annuals to keep up to date on the Armageddon 2001 crossover. You can read about the crossover in the Armageddon 2001 issue.
The Griffin
A super-soldier for an alien race? Sounds great. Unfortunately I never read The Griffin.
The first issue is free on Comixology. I’m going to read it right after this.
Ultima: Runes of Virtue, Game Boy
Oh baby!
Ultima is one of my all time favorite games from the 80’s and 90’s. I started playing Ultima in 1983 when Ultima III: Exodus came out on the Commodore 64. Then in 1985 Ulitma IV: Quest for the Avatar came out and changed computer gaming forever.
There are a total of nine games in the Ultima timeline and numerous spin offs. I played through Ultima VII and a few of the spin offs. In 1997 Ultima Online came out. It was my first foray into massive multiplayer online games. I loved it!
There was a group of us that would play every Wednesday night from ten at night into the wee hours of the morning. Ultima Online is one of the few online games I enjoy playing.
One game in the Ultima universe I didn’t play right away is the one in this ad, Ultima: Runes of Virtue. The reason is simple, I never owned a Game Boy. (cue the sad music) I always borrowed the Game Boy from a friend of mine, but he was gone, joined the Navy and off sailing the seas.
I’d play this game later but it would’ve been nice to play it when it came out with all the excitement still surrounding it. I can’t find a version of it online, which is a shame. You can play the sequel over at RetroGames.cc
That’s it for ads fro Outlaws #2. Ultima: Runes of Virtue is the easy winner.
What’s your favorite ad? Let us know in the comments below.
Until next time, keep your comics bagged and boarded…unless you want to thumb through them to check out the great ads!
Check out the previous installments of
Check Out Those Ads!
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