Review
I was recently made aware of the importance of getting enough of me-time. For me, reading has always been one of the best ways for that. Book blogging, however, has been shifting more and more towards free time and often even feels like work time (in a good way, though, don't get me wrong). Reading this book with a cup of tea and a nice piece of Portland's infamous Almond&Salt chocolate truly felt like solid me-time again; huzzah!
We pick up where Volume one left off: on the quest of rescuing Princess Adrienne's sisters who are all locked up in separate towers spread across their father's kingdom. The graphics are nice and colourful, the text witty and clean again (a.k.a. no swearing whatsoever).
To describe this story in three words: fairytale, fantasy and feminism. I'm a big sucker for all three of those, but, like in the first volume, the feminism part is being way too obvious again. I'm all for girls who can kick a grown man's butt if they have to (which you will encounter in this book a few times, POWPOW!), but the underlying meaning of feminism isn't so underlying...
I generally don't like the portrayal of women in most comics either, but geez. If the message was just a bit more subtle, it wouldn't be annoying at all.
What I do like, is that the main characters in this book, Adrienne and Bedelia, are just regular looking girls instead of some busty unnatural looking 16-year-olds you come across sometimes.
A new character that's being introduced here is the mysterious Black Knight.
"The Black Knight is fierce, he's strong, he's the best swordfighter there is…and no one has ever heard his voice or seen his face."
I don't know if it's just me, but again, there's lack of subtlety when it comes to hinting at the secret identity of the Knight. It's not revealed in this book yet, but I can already see it coming from a mile away. If I turn out to be wrong, though, I will shamefully admit it when I find out, but until then, I'm sticking with "way too predictable!".
All in all, this is still a great graphic novel for Disney fans and especially for kids ages 9 and up. If you have a young daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin etc., I can promise you that they are going to LOVE this series. With colourful art and an entertaining story, I'm rating it 3.5 brownies. I'll be happy to read the next volume as part of my highly needed, relaxing me-time.
We pick up where Volume one left off: on the quest of rescuing Princess Adrienne's sisters who are all locked up in separate towers spread across their father's kingdom. The graphics are nice and colourful, the text witty and clean again (a.k.a. no swearing whatsoever).
To describe this story in three words: fairytale, fantasy and feminism. I'm a big sucker for all three of those, but, like in the first volume, the feminism part is being way too obvious again. I'm all for girls who can kick a grown man's butt if they have to (which you will encounter in this book a few times, POWPOW!), but the underlying meaning of feminism isn't so underlying...
I generally don't like the portrayal of women in most comics either, but geez. If the message was just a bit more subtle, it wouldn't be annoying at all.
What I do like, is that the main characters in this book, Adrienne and Bedelia, are just regular looking girls instead of some busty unnatural looking 16-year-olds you come across sometimes.
A new character that's being introduced here is the mysterious Black Knight.
"The Black Knight is fierce, he's strong, he's the best swordfighter there is…and no one has ever heard his voice or seen his face."
I don't know if it's just me, but again, there's lack of subtlety when it comes to hinting at the secret identity of the Knight. It's not revealed in this book yet, but I can already see it coming from a mile away. If I turn out to be wrong, though, I will shamefully admit it when I find out, but until then, I'm sticking with "way too predictable!".
All in all, this is still a great graphic novel for Disney fans and especially for kids ages 9 and up. If you have a young daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin etc., I can promise you that they are going to LOVE this series. With colourful art and an entertaining story, I'm rating it 3.5 brownies. I'll be happy to read the next volume as part of my highly needed, relaxing me-time.
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, Jeremy Whitley)
