Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Fairy Godbrothers GN Volume One – Tooken

It seems that in recent years, there have been a number of different takes on the old Grimm Fairy Tale stories.  On television, there is Once Upon a Time, where the fairy tale characters were brought into the real world under a vicious curse by the evil queen.  In books, there was the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley, in which two young girls are sent to live with their aunt in a town filled with fairy tale characters – only to discover they are the descendants of the original Brothers Grimm.  In the comic realm, DC Comics introduced readers to Fables, in which the characters of the fairy tale realms were forced to migrate to the real world when threatened by an evil Ghepetto.  Now, yet another spin on this concept has hit the bookshelves in the form of an original graphic novel series – Fairy Godbrothers.

Writer Ken Kristensen and artist M.K. Parker introduce readers to Sean and Marcus Redstone – brothers who have grown into polar opposites over the years and must find a way to be civil long enough to sell the family business their father started years ago before he died. But fate has other plans, and in this first volume, “Tooken,” Sean and Marcus discover that when their father told them about the magic that awaits them, he wasn’t kidding. The two find themselves whisked through their family’s hundreds-year-old grandfather clock into another realm where all of the fairy tale characters are real, just not in the way they remember. These versions are darker, meaner, and filled with much more sex and violence than imaginable. And when Sean and Marcus inadvertently kill the king’s tax collector upon their arrival, it sets off a chain of events that lead them down a path of adventure and reconciliation.

<<<SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!!!!>>>
 
But the old adage is true – be careful what you wish for!  In Kristensen’s fairy tale world, the magic in the fairy realm and that in the real world are connected, and when Sean and Marcus not only meet the mother they never knew, but witness the demise of a fairy godmother, they unwittingly create a butterfly effect that changes things in the real world – for when they return to stop the sale of their family ice cream business, they are shocked to learn their family business no longer serves ice cream – but porn instead!?!  Thus, the Redstone brothers prepare to head back to the fairy realm to set things right…

Kristensen does provide a unique take on the fairy tale/real world story; but, sadly, he seems to feel that vulgarity and perversion are a necessary means to not only make the story more adult, but to keep it “dark” and “gritty.”  Unfortunately, I would have to disagree.  The underlying story itself was really good, and the characterization (both of the brothers and of the fairy tale characters) was defined enough that there was no need for the massive amount of cursing and sexual remarks – they added nothing to the story. Instead, they come across as a poor man’s way of making a story more “adult” themed.  Aside from that, I do like the fact that neither of the Redstone brothers are truly likable in the beginning, but they are both redeemable, and along the way, the reader slowly grows to appreciate and understand why the brothers became what they did, making their reconciliation all the more meaningful.

Perker’s art is somewhat rough, but it works well on the black and white pages – I’m thankful they chose the B&W route instead of color, as I think it keeps the hard-edged feel to the story, particularly when the brothers enter the fairy realm.

This is not a series I would recommend to anyone under the age of 16, and I hope that if a second volume is forthcoming, that the writer will consider toning down the profanity and let his story speak for itself.


RATING:  7 bandages of human hair out of 10 for spinning a new tale of the fairy tale / real world connection – and giving a nod to Narnia with the old grandfather clock acting as a wardrobe door.

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