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A review by faeriedrumsong
Marvel Fairy Tales by Ricardo Tércio Vinagre Guimarães, Claire Wendling, C.B. Cebulski, Nuno Plati, João M.P. Lemos, Kyle Baker, Takeshi Miyazawa
3.0
A number of folk and fairy tales are so ubiquitous that they are seemingly learned by cultural osmosis rather than through any conscious instruction. With largely recognizable characters like Batman and Wonder Woman, comic books have added to this pantheon of cultural knowledge. Writer C.B. Cebulski and a talented team of artists, including Kyle Baker and João Lemos, have reimagined the storylines of six literary and fairy tales with a cast of actors from Marvel Comics.
In Once Upon A Time… Captain America becomes Peter Pan and the Scarlet Witch is Wendy. Cebulski combines the characters by giving “Cap” flight and giving the normally passive Wendy the power to mentally cause explosions. She saves the day in the midst of a dramatically drawn panel of violent lines and shapes. Bright colors and a feeling of openness fly the reader smoothly from scene to scene. With only a rudimentary knowledge of the comic characters involved, it is possible to follow the story and gain enjoyment from the twists in the Peter Pan tale.
But, not all stories fare as well. In Created Equal, the superheroes used to reinterpret the tale of Pinnochio may be less familiar to the general population. Dr. Hank Pym, scientific genius, becomes Gippetto and Vision, an alien android, plays the part of Pinnochio.
Much darker in art and tone, this story is filled with subtext that is completely lost without prior knowledge of how these characters are connected in the Marvel Universe. Without that knowledge, the storyline seems needlessly convoluted. The introduction of a teacher intent on isolating and abusing Pinnochio, instead of the traditional fox and cat or the Disney donkey-boys antagonist, seems exceptionally odd - unless you know that the teacher is played by Ultron, Dr. Pym’s enemy, who created Vision to destroy Dr. Pym.
This collection, using stories previously published in other volumes, fulfills the promise of the cover and introduces a nicely drawn series of stories using tales of fandom to infuse tales of fairies with a fun twist. If the reader can bring the backstory of the Marvel Universe, Cebulski and his team will do the rest.
(Can you tell this was for class?!) hahahaha!
In Once Upon A Time… Captain America becomes Peter Pan and the Scarlet Witch is Wendy. Cebulski combines the characters by giving “Cap” flight and giving the normally passive Wendy the power to mentally cause explosions. She saves the day in the midst of a dramatically drawn panel of violent lines and shapes. Bright colors and a feeling of openness fly the reader smoothly from scene to scene. With only a rudimentary knowledge of the comic characters involved, it is possible to follow the story and gain enjoyment from the twists in the Peter Pan tale.
But, not all stories fare as well. In Created Equal, the superheroes used to reinterpret the tale of Pinnochio may be less familiar to the general population. Dr. Hank Pym, scientific genius, becomes Gippetto and Vision, an alien android, plays the part of Pinnochio.
Much darker in art and tone, this story is filled with subtext that is completely lost without prior knowledge of how these characters are connected in the Marvel Universe. Without that knowledge, the storyline seems needlessly convoluted. The introduction of a teacher intent on isolating and abusing Pinnochio, instead of the traditional fox and cat or the Disney donkey-boys antagonist, seems exceptionally odd - unless you know that the teacher is played by Ultron, Dr. Pym’s enemy, who created Vision to destroy Dr. Pym.
This collection, using stories previously published in other volumes, fulfills the promise of the cover and introduces a nicely drawn series of stories using tales of fandom to infuse tales of fairies with a fun twist. If the reader can bring the backstory of the Marvel Universe, Cebulski and his team will do the rest.
(Can you tell this was for class?!) hahahaha!