New Book: Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman (Author), Lorenzo Mattotti (Illustrator)

(US / UK covers with links)

Hansel and Gretel Standard Edition (A Toon Graphic) by Neil Gaiman (Author), Lorenzo Mattotti (Illustrator) is released this week. There is another edition, too, the Hansel and Gretel Oversized Deluxe Edition (A Toon Graphic) for those who are interested.

Hansel and Gretel: UK Edition won't be released until December 11th. But at least it's not another year away.

I've provided images of a few illustrations and one page of text--because Gaiman's prose is most definitely a selling point!--as well as the final notes at the end of the book. Imagine my delight when I saw SurLaLune included as a resource. Thank you! It happens more and more every year but I am still always a little shocked by it.

Book description from the publisher:

“If this isn’t the definitive edition of 'Hansel and Gretel,' it’s absolutely necessary." – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Best-selling author Neil Gaiman and fine artist Lorenzo Mattotti join forces to create Hansel & Gretel, a stunning book that’s at once as familiar as a dream and as evocative as a nightmare. Mattotti’s sweeping ink illustrations capture the terror and longing found in the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Neil Gaiman crafts an original text filled with his signature wit and pathos that is sure to become a favorite of readers everywhere, young and old.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

New Book: The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (Author) and Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

(UK Cover with link)

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (Author) and Chris Riddell (Illustrator) is released this week in the UK. Not the US. But a small consolation for Gaiman fans is that next week his Hansel and Gretel will be released stateside while it won't be released until December there. But I don't have a US release date for The Sleeper and the Spindle at all yet. There will be one, never fear. But it may be several more months. Bummer. As my dad likes to say, "Life isn't fair." I'll add "especially when it comes to book publishing."

(US Cover with link)

You can find the text of the story in Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales quite easily.

But an edition illustrated by Chris Riddell is a treat. I'll show images to tempt and taunt.

Book description from the publisher:

A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell – weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.

Lavishly produced, packed with glorious Chris Riddell illustrations enhanced with metallic ink, this is a spectacular and magical gift.

New Book: Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (Author, Illustrator) is released today. I have posted previously about The Hare's Bride by Emily Carroll, a webcomic. Now some of Carroll's webcomics are available in print for the first time. They are billed as horror tales, so be aware. As you can see below, one is inspired by Little Red Riding Hood.

Book description:

Discover a terrifying world in the woods in this collection of five hauntingly beautiful graphic stories that includes the online webcomic sensation “His Face All Red,” in print for the first time.

Journey through the woods in this sinister, compellingly spooky collection that features four brand-new stories and one phenomenally popular tale in print for the first time. These are fairy tales gone seriously wrong, where you can travel to “Our Neighbor’s House”—though coming back might be a problem. Or find yourself a young bride in a house that holds a terrible secret in “A Lady’s Hands Are Cold.” You might try to figure out what is haunting “My Friend Janna,” or discover that your brother’s fiancée may not be what she seems in “The Nesting Place.” And of course you must revisit the horror of “His Face All Red,” the breakout webcomic hit that has been gorgeously translated to the printed page.

Already revered for her work online, award-winning comic creator Emily Carroll’s stunning visual style and impeccable pacing is on grand display in this entrancing anthology, her print debut.

New Print Release: Beauty and The Beast: Act One (Volume 1) by Megan Kearney

Beauty and The Beast: Act One (Megan Kearney's Beauty and The Beast) (Volume 1) by Megan Kearney has been released in print.

If you are not familiar with Kearney's work, she has a web comic series of Beauty and the Beast. I wrote about it originally on the blog at Meagan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast. She has also shared a guest post with us in the past at A BEAUTIFUL BEAST: A Discussion of Panna A Netvor by Megan Kearney which shows her passion for Beauty and the Beast tales. A passion, I share, of course since this is my favorite tale, too.

Well, Act 1 of her Beauty and the Beast has wrapped up and is now available in print for those of us who prefer to read their graphic novels on paper. Or just want to keep a version of this tale for their personal libraries. You can keep up with Act II on her site or visit Kearney's main site at The Quietly to learn more about her. You can see her drawing style by looking inside the book at Amazon or at the comic's home site.

I also have this trailer to share:



Book description:

When her father returns from a journey bearing strange stories and stranger gifts, Beauty takes it upon herself to fulfill his debt to a mysterious creature called only “The Beast”. But neither the soft-spoken Beast or the uncanny Castle where he makes his home are what Beauty expects. Both harbour more secrets than she could have anticipated, and neither will give them up easily...

Fairy Tale Manga: Dictatorial Grimoire: Cinderella (Volume 1) by Ayumi Kanou

Dictatorial Grimoire: Cinderella (Volume 1) by Ayumi Kanou was released this past September. I have to admit, I am a manga ignoramous which is sad since there are several series that use fairy tales.

Book description:

Cinderella was never this dashing!

Otogi Grimm, a far-flung descendant of the renowned Grimm Brothers, has always regarded the fairy tales his ancestors concocted as pure fiction. Unfortunately for the introverted half-Japanese teen, he is about to discover that the Grimm legacy is anything but pure.

Upon receiving a posthumous letter from the dead father he never knew, Otogi transfers to a new school and moves into an abandoned mansion as part of his inheritance. There, he finds a manuscript that reveals the truth about his ancestors: the Brothers Grimm made a deal with mystical beings known as the Märchen Demons, who now have a claim on Otogi’s life. With a dashing male Cinderella as his guide, can Otogi Grimm unlock the power of the manuscript and stop the fairy tale demons before they destroy him first?

The Dictatorial Grimoire series will be at least three books with the next book, Dictatorial Grimoire: Snow White (Volume 2), slated for a January 7, 2014 release. The third volume, Dictatorial Grimoire: Red Riding Hood (Volume 3), will be released April 1, 2014, but I don't have cover art for it yet.

Meagan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast

Megan Kearney has launched her new web comic of Beauty and the Beast online.

Here is also the teaser trailer which has been languishing on my blog to do list. (Regular readers would probably want to cry over this list even more than me. And that's just the stuff I copied or wrote down the last several months. Aargh!) But better late than never and since this just launched, I'm not even that late, at least on this one, thank goodness. (Congrats Megan on launching your product. Feels great, right?)

From the site:

Raised with a healthy love of books and storytelling, and an unhealthy love of comics and cartoons, Megan's twin passions led her to earn her BA in visual arts, with an English minor, from the University of Windsor (during which time she also self-published her first comic) and then to Sheridan College, where she earned her BAA Honours in Animation, and produced her fairy-tale inspired short film, Once Upon a Winter Wood.

Megan has been fascinated with the story of Beauty and The Beast since she was a teenager, living in at the edge of the forest in a small town, surrounded by rosebushes. She currently resides in the equally enchanting Toronto, with her fiance and at least one rabbit.

and

The power of the tale [Beauty and the Beast] comes from its evolving meaning. what was born as a story discussing arranged marriage has mutated and grown with each retelling, finding relevance in many social climates. It continues ot change and rearrange itself today. Just as the women of Louis XIV's court spoke of their own lives through fairy tales, this comic is one woman's exploration of what Beauty and The Beast means to her.

Lena Headey Joins the 'Grimm Fairy Tales' Animated Series

 

From Lena Headey Joins the 'Grimm Fairy Tales' Animated Series by iamrogue:

Fairy tales aren't just for scaring the hell out of children. In this post-postmodern age, fairy tales are exactly the type of familiar, malleable properties that audiences expect to see turned on their heads to illuminate new elements of the old stories. While there are current and upcoming movies and television series based on the familiar stories, there's just one animated series, Grimm Fairy Tales, and the project has found its vocal leading lady in Lena Headey.

Grimm Fairy Tales is based on the comic book series that Zenescope Entertainment has published since 2005. Every issue contains a familiar fairy tale being retold by Dr. Sela Mathers, a literature professor whose twisted versions of these stories are pointed cautionary tales. Lena Headey will voice Sela, and will also be a major creative force on the series.

Frequent Metalocalypse and Venture Bros. director Jon Schnepp is directing the entire series, and he's promised that Grimm Fairy Tales will be appropriately violent and unhinged. The idea is to create a Heavy Metal-style anthology with an unapologetic R rated sensibility.

So, no, not one for the kids or family.

There's also a Kickstarter page and here's a video, too.

Online Graphic Novel of The Farmer's Clever Daughter by Gina Biggs

 

 

 

I already shared the tale of The Farmer's Clever Daughter for Valentine's Day. Illustrations for the tale are rare, so I had to devote a post to a recent online graphic novel of the tale by Gina Biggs at Erstwhile Tales. There are 34 pages of illustrations, so I will just share a few to entice to you to click through and read!

 

 

Book: Fractured Fables from Image Comics

 

I never wrote about this Fractured Fables (Hardcover), first because I came to it late, second because I am not at all well-versed in current comic books,* and lastly because I didn't look past the cover when I saw it, which to me, hate me if you want, looked very generic, like cheap fairy tale books at the dollar store. Nothing wrong with that, but not my usual interest or what I assume to be yours.

Then recently I stumbled across some sample pages from the book and I can fully admit I was wrong. I should know well enough by now to not judge a comic book by its cover, but at least I didn't suffer for my prejudgment forever. In other words, there is some great stuff within this innocuous looking cover. In fact, I learned that two of the pieces inside were nominated for Will Eisner Awards: Best Short Story Nominations--"Cinderella," by Nick Spencer and Rodin Esquejo & "Little Red Riding Hood," by Bryan Talbot and Camilla d'Errico.

So like a diligent SurLaLune keeper, I have ordered my own hardcover copy to investigate further. It hadn't arrived when I wrote this, but I am not worried. I know I will like it. It's has enough pretty and I respond well to pretty. A paperback edition is due out in late January, so you can wait for that if you are interested. I wanted a hardcover myself.

From the publisher:

Some of the comic book industries best and brightest use their talents to welcome the next generation of comic book readers with the kid-friendly anthology, Fractured Fables! Featuring an introduction by Bill Willingham (FABLES), this all-new, humorous take on our most beloved fairy tales boasts a cover by Madman Atomic Comics creators Mike & Laura Allred and all-new stories by award-winning creators including Jill Thompson, Bryan Talbot, Peter David, Ben Templesmith, Scott Morse, Doug TenNapel, Laini Taylor, Ted McKeever, Terry Moore, Bill Morrison, Larry Marder, Jim Valentino, Phil Hester, and New Yorker artist Shannon Wheeler, among others.

From an article, Comic book review: 'Fractured Fables' by Joseph Szadkowski:

Here are just a few of my favorites:

■ "Little Red Riding Hood" is updated by writer Bryan Talbot and finds the brightly dressed child on a direct path to the Big Bad Wolf's stomach until she displays some surprising skills. Painter Camilla d'Errico brings a bit of an anime influence to the action and makes me exclaim when viewing Red, "My, what gigantic blue eyes you have."

■ Doug TenNapel's "Rumpelstiltskin" turns the classic into a "Ren and Stimpy" episode. He dementedly uses a grotesque art style that chaotically blends with the sophomoric hijinks of a magic little man who can turn hay into gold, a grumpy king and a dumber-than-a-post future queen.

■ The adventure of "The Little Mermaid" turns much more ominous in the hands of comics scribe extraordinaire Peter David as her quest to live happily ever after with a human prince becomes a puzzling problem in podiatry. Artist Ron Ferrara offers ample arch support for the mermaid's issues.

■ Writer Nick Spencer's "Cinderella" satisfies through a fable more about the frustrations of an unhip fairy godmother than the abused princess while artist Rodin Esquejo's beautiful and Disneyesque art style puts the story near the top of my favorites.

■ "Rip Van Winkle" meets Len Strazewski's imagination and we enjoy a story about a conceited girl named Pipi Van Wrinkles who gets loaded on cherry cordials and learns her fate as an adult. The slapstick shenanigans throughout come to life thanks to the pop-art and retro-Archie-Comics-like stylings of Paul Fricke.

*Except for my few years of avid Superman collecting and reading in the mid 90s, so I am not completely ignorant of how the industry works. I had a large collection that was stolen when we moved to California although I had quit collecting at that point. But I gave up for good then. It was just too depressing. I was also raised around a brother who was a Marvel fan, so I've spent some time in comic book shops and it is my favorite set on Big Bang Theory.