Back in 2011 I remembered hearing about Womanthology (a comic anthology that was going to be filled with comics only by female creators) and, while I found the idea interesting, after learning that the creators weren't getting paid from the kickstarter (I think all the money was going to printing with the leftovers being donated to charity) I wasn't really keen on supporting it. So when I saw this one where I was already a fan of some of the creators and they said that they were getting paid for the work here I decided to put my money where my mouth was instead of putting my foot in my mouth. I wasn't sure if I should review this or not at first however since it seemed odd to review something everyone else can't buy but I have since found out that you can still purchase a copy of this anthology, you can go to this page for more information for where to buy. Anyway, this will be more of a summary/general thoughts on the anthology since each story is rather short and it's a bit hard to review short things. But hopefully it'll still be a good overview of the anthology and give people an idea if they want to get a copy for themselves or not.
Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales (anthology featuring Kate Ashwin,
Kory Bing, Mary Cagle, KC Green, Kel McDonald, Joe Pimenta, Katie and Steve Shanahan, and Lin Visel)
An anthology featuring eight stories from nine different comic artists, all based off of classical fairy tales with some being better known than others, most never before published in print or online.
About half of the anthology
featured stories I was already familiar with (such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapnuzel),
and the other stories were completely new to me (Bisclarvet, The Nixie of the
Mill Pond)which made for a nice balance. The only story I really disliked
was K.C. Green’s The Singing Bone
and the story wasn’t bad, I simply don’t like the way they do storytelling and
their art style, it’s just a matter of personal preference. On the other end of
the spectrum, Bisclarvet (by Kel
McDonald) was my favorite of the group and felt like something I could have
seen on Jim Henson’s The Storyteller
since it was paced so well and told a very tidy story with no details left
unused. There was a nice variety of stories, some sort, some long, a completely
silent one, some comedy, and a whole range of art styles. I think all of that
makes it a rather successful anthology and, while I might re-read it on a
regular basis, I am happy that I supported the kickstarter for it.
