Fairy Tale Comics?

Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Cover illustration by James Jean.

Note: My original post listed the above cover illustration as by Charles Vess. I've since been informed that it's actually by James Jean. Apologies for the error.

Graphic novels and comics used to be what I think of as sideline media. Most people read them, few would admit to reading them, and fewer took them seriously. But things are changing. Marvel has released a number of movies, bumping up the Spiderman franchise, bringing new artists and illustrators into play. Now it’s looking to do the same for Ironman. DC, meantime, is continuing with cartoons and series featuring tried and true character—such as The Batman and Smallville--and catching the eye of a younger demographic. Jodi Picoult, the acclaimed YA author, even wrote a Wonder Woman series, released in November of 2007.

But comics and graphic novels are fast growing beyond the traditional superheroes and mystery-solving musicians and teenagers. Sure, The Archies still exist, and Disney comics are available everywhere, but new series are popping up all the time. And many of them feature fairy tales.

There are twists on the traditional such as Vertigo’s (an indie division of DC) Fables line, about fairy tale characters forced to move to New York by the takeover bid of the aptly named Adversary. The series has proved to be so popular that now there’s a spinoff, Jack of the Fables.

Then there’s a webcomic in chapters, No Rest for the Wicked, about the adventures of a Princess, Puss in Boots (named Perrault, of course), and a grown-up, arse-kicking Little Red Riding Hood. Both series discard the amended, watered down fairy tales many of us have heard over the years instead seeking to return to the stories’ older, darker roots. This is not say any are “authentic”—authenticity in fairy tales is a matter of much debate—but they are oftentimes insightful.

Then we come to more literary and artistic forays, such as Mouse Guard. While the story exists in a new world, these works conform to many fairy tale tropes. The comics follow the adventures of a select few mice, the Mouse Guard, who keep the mouse community safe in troubled times.

Even newspapers run strips that are fairy tale based—Mike Peters, writer-illustrator of Mother Goose and Grimm, has run several parody fairy tale strips, including an Atkins diet take on Hansel and Gretel.

Legends are also fair game—Arthur, King of Time and Space, is a webcomic telling the adventures of King Arthur, Quantum Leap style. Bonobo Conspiracy features a special story arc detailing “The Legend of Pele and Hi’iaka,” the Hawaiian goddesses, while poking fun at a few contemporary authors.

Such works continue to reveal themselves—it seems as if most everyday I hear about a new fairy tale strip, or a fairy tale themed graphic novel. Fairy tales have been relegated to the children’s part of the bookstore for a very long time; the Grimms originally collected their anthologies for scholarly purposes, but even their work was said to be for children. But the resurgence of fairy tales in adult media suggests a paradigm shift—one that is most welcome in this corner of the world.