Well, this book proved to be a semi-pleasant surprise. Why semi-pleasant? I’ll explain later.
I nearly missed this book.
Luckily, an ad for it popped up on my Facebook wall. I even had to have my local comic book shop
order it because they hadn’t heard of it.
The book is Walt Kelly’s
Fairy Tales published by Yoe Books, which is a division of IDW Comics.
The book is a collection of comics drawn and written by
cartoonist Walt Kelly and published as part of the series Fairy Tale Parade and Famous
Fairy Tales by Dell Publishing back in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Kelly was a former Disney animator who moved
on from animation some time in the late 1940s and went into producing comic
books and comic strips. He was the
creator of the comic strip Pogo and some would argue the greatest cartoonist in
the world.
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| Walt Kelly's Pogo Possum speaking up for environmentalism |
Dell Publishing was a comic
book publisher during the ‘40s and ‘50s that almost entirely specialized in
making more comedic comics including those based on famous cartoon
characters. Dell’s comics created some
truly classic interpretations of classic cartoon characters. For example, it was in Dell Comics as well as
newspaper comic strips that Donald Duck became a put-upon family man whose
stingy uncle dragged him along on adventures designed to make him richer. Dell’s comics also had their share of
not-classic reinterpretations. For
example, the comic book version of the Road Runner was a character who spoke in
rhyme and had three sons who followed him around. Truly a mixed bag. Dell still exists, but they no longer publish
comic books.
Now, first of all, this is a truly beautiful book from the
outside. It looks like a big, red
hardbound storybook with gold embellishments.
Some of the gold parts even look worn to simulate the book being older
and well-used. It’s even got a ribbon
attached to the spine that can be used as a bookmark. The book itself starts out with both a
foreword by Dean Yeagle and an introduction by Craig Yoe. Both of them provide interesting history and
insight into Walt Kelly and his work.
Now, as we get into the main material of this book, let’s get one thing
straight. If you’re looking for a more
modern “dark fairy tale” approach, you’re in the wrong place. These comics stem from a time when both fairy
tales and comic books were viewed as exclusively for children. That said, it’s some good work. The stories are amusing and the cartooning is
top-notch, which you should expect from Walt Kelly. There are even some lovely covers presented
in the book, with ornate work by Kelly. Sometimes
I have a little trouble with how the panels and captions are formatted, but
that may be more a result of the era these were printed in than anything
else. Many of the stories are adapted
from writers and collectors like the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, Hans
Christian Andersen and Joseph Jacobs.
There’s even a Washington Irving story in there (which, I should note,
is based on a New York State legend. But
that’s a post for another day). However,
there are also some original stories in the book, and that’s where my main
issue lies. While the original stories
are okay, I’m just not as interested in reading those as I am the
adaptations. The second half of the
stories in the book are mostly originals, notably focusing on a race of
Kelly-created characters called the Tiny Folk that look like fairies crossed
with toddlers but which act kind of like Smurfs. I know the reasoning behind it. These were the stories that were drawn by
Walt Kelly while other cartoonists drew the other fairy tale adaptations (they’re
listed on some of the back covers printed in the book). I guess I just wish there were a general Fairy Tale Parade collection that
showcased the other artists and their stories as well. Still, it’s not terrible. This is probably the one chance these stories
ever had of being reprinted. If this
sounds interesting to you, give it a try.
Just beware that you may be left wanting something more that’s not
included in this volume.
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