Friday, March 03, 2006

TCR Review: The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty TPB




How could you NOT be intrigued? A unique story harkening back to a famous source material that most every child in the world knows to some degree, but with a unique twist: the book is a western. Sort of.


I enjoyed Benson and Hawthorne’s reinterpretation of the long-loved tale about a beautiful girl who was cursed through no fault of her own to a world of sleep. But, this is no mere re-imagining of a story, which is a popular story-driven vehicle these days. Instead, we are introduced to interesting characters with depth and heart. In just a few panels, pages, and issues, we are introduced and immersed into a new world with a sleeping beauty all its own which echoes to the original Grimm Brothers’ tale.


The first page introduces us to Cole and Red. Both are standing at the place of their impending execution with nooses tightened around their necks. The first line of the first page of the first panel catches readers: “You want to know how my story ends?” A not too interested Cole later finds out about a family attempting to leave their city of Briar-Rose. The townspeople can only look through the curtain of their windows as the family braces themselves for their departure. As the family races past the city limits, they begin to sizzle and combust into flames as the horses ride on unbridled. No one leaves Briar-Rose

(Read the rest of the review which was posted on The Comics Review site here!)

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