Castle Waiting vol. II by Linda Medley

This.

Yes.

This is good.

You should read it.

Okay, clearly I loved this. But actually I must as a provision to that recommendation. If you read Castle Waiting (vol 1), then yes, you should definitely read this.

The premise is this: After Sleeping Beauty was awakened by her Prince, she left to go be his wife in his kingdom. But who was supposed to rule her old land? And what happened to the castle she left behind? This graphic novel set attempts to answer those questions, filling the castle with a unique and wonderful mix of new characters, some giving us glimpses into a fairy tale world we are familiar with, but generally enriching it with new stories.

It's fabulous. It's funny: I laughed out loud often while reading this (vol 2), causing my attempting-to-nap husband to give me dark looks. If you aren't very into graphic novels, this is a good one to try. It's not terrible cartoony: the artwork is simple, elegant, and clear.

I suppose I should say that it's also powerfully a women's story, but to me that seems kind of silly. There are strong and well-rounded male and female characters, and isn't that how the best stories should be? I think this is one of the best stories, and I do hope Ms. Medley will continue.

Fairy Tale Mashup Week: Castle Waiting

One of my favorite formats is the fairy tale mashup: an author takes two or more favorite fairy tales and mixes them together, with unpredictable or unusual results. So this week I thought I'd highlight some of my favorite mashups, some old and some new. If you haven't read many of this format, these are the ones I would recommend starting with.

Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger on a spindle and sleeps for 100 years. Then she's awakened by her Prince's kiss and falls madly in love with him at first sight, and is carried off to his palace to be his bride.

So what happens to the castle? The kingdom remnants have slipped away... there's nothing much left to rule, but here is this castle and the servants who were asleep with the princess for 100 years. What are they to do?

Linda Medley explores the question in her beautiful graphic novel, Castle Waiting. This collection brings together the first 12 issues of the Eisner Award-winning series. This is one of those books that you can just immerse yourself into, the drawings as compelling as the writing, the story spun slowly out so that even as the action moves on, the character's past is revealed in tantalizing tidbits. With engaging nested stories (for those who like that style), this book ends up including multiple tales, all with fairy-tale flavor, feminine empowerment in a range of forms, and some wonderful offhand references to other stories.

The artwork is gorgeous and creative, a far cry from the "cartoony" feel of some comic books, so if you haven't read any graphic novels before, this might be a good one to try. Altogether, Medley portrays her story well, both in words and images, for a delightful exploration of Sleepy Beauty's castle. I'm looking forward to Volume 2.

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger on a spindle and sleeps for 100 years. Then she's awakened by her Prince's kiss and falls madly in love with him at first sight, and is carried off to his palace to be his bride.

So what happens to the castle? The kingdom remnants have slipped away... there's nothing much left to rule, but here is this castle and the servants who were asleep with the princess for 100 years. What are they to do?

Linda Medley explores the question in her beautiful graphic novel, Castle Waiting. This collection brings together the first 12 issues of the Eisner Award-winning series. This is one of those books that you can just immerse yourself into, the drawings as compelling as the writing, the story spun slowly out so that even as the action moves on, the character's past is revealed in tantalizing tidbits. With engaging nested stories (for those who like that style), this book ends up including multiple tales, all with fairy-tale flavor, feminine empowerment in a range of forms, and some wonderful offhand references to other stories.

The artwork is gorgeous and creative, a far cry from the "cartoony" feel of some comic books, so if you haven't read any graphic novels before, this might be a good one to try. Altogether, Medley portrays her story well, both in words and images, for a delightful exploration of Sleepy Beauty's castle. I'm looking forward to Volume 2.