oyceter: man*ga [mahng' guh] n. Japanese comics. synonym: CRACK (manga is crack)
Oyceter ([personal profile] oyceter) wrote2008-09-21 12:10 pm

Lee Joung-A - Chronicles of the Grim Peddler, vol. 01 (Eng. trans.)

I actually bought this in Taiwan and read half of it, but I finished it here in English. (Taiwan flips manhwa! I feel cheated.)

I bought this purely on the basis of the cover and the face that it was about fairy tales. The cover doesn't lie: the art inside is just as gorgeous, if not moreso, with beautiful Art Nouveau lines and lots of stylization. Sadly, you can't seem to preview the art or see more of the interior at the official website.

I think the premise is that the Grim Peddler (nameless) sparks fairy tales into being or narrates them or somehow controls the flow of the story, and he does this by providing seeds that grow into people. Sleeping Beauty is one of these seeds, given to a desperate queen who wants a child. He lives with a young black-haired man who is occasionally a cat (also nameless), and said man/cat tends to get shoved into stories by the Peddler to make things go as they should. Unsurprisingly, each of the retold fairy tales is very different from the ones we're used to. The ones in this volume include Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, the Little Mermaid, and an original fairy tale, which is sadly the most incomprehensible.

I don't think the manhwaga is doing anything particularly revisionist with any of the retellings, but I was rather amused by the twist on Hansel and Gretel. Also, did I mention the art was gorgeous? I'm guessing the rest of the series will be just as incomprehensible, but I may end up getting it anyway just for the pretty.
octopedingenue: (mukashi mukashi)

[personal profile] octopedingenue 2008-09-21 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes it is! Also licensed is Evyione, which is gender-swapped Little Mermaid and which you should read NOW NOW NOW DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS.

[livejournal.com profile] oyceter, thanks for reviewing this one! I gave it a pass in browsing because it looked like a less charismatic, more baby-crazed version of Petshop of Horrors, but now I'll check it out just for the pretty.