Not surprisingly, my first official finished read for the Once Upon a Time Challenge is a book from my alternates list, and one that I didn’t possess at the beginning of the challenge!
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is the re-release of the Howard Chaykin/Mike Mignola graphic adaptation of the classic characters created by Fritz Leiber and featured in stories that spanned a 50 year period beginning in 1939. The original comics have been out-of-print for years and Dark Horse has done a phenomenal job of collecting these for the first time in graphic novel format with a new cover image by Mike Mignola.
(Red Riding Hood, all images copyright Terri Windling)
“Fairy tales have much to say on the subjects of heroism and transformation; about how one finds the courage to fight and prevail against overwhelming odds. They are tales of children abandoned in the woods; of daughters handed poisoned apples; of sons forced to betray their siblings; of men and women struck down by wolves or imprisoned in windowless towers. Such tales were passed down through the generations by word of mouth, woman to woman, mother to childâ€using archetypes as a mirror held to daily life . . . particularly the lives of those without clear avenues of social power. Why do we continue to be enspelled by fairy tales, after all these centuries? Why do we continue to tell the same old tales, over and over again? Because we all have encountered wicked wolves, faced trial by fire, found fairy godmothers. We have all set off into unknown woods at one point in life or another.”
The weather is absolutely fantastic here today, spring is definitely in the air. Unfortunately it is one of those typical Mondays where the weather is beautiful and I have to work all day. So, to bring a little joy into my own day, and hopefully yours, here are a few bits of good news:
For those of you who took my advice and saw Night Watch when it came out in the theatres or on DVD, you have no doubt been anxiously awaiting film two in this Russian fantasy/horror/sci fi trilogy (and if you haven’t taken my advice, you really should. 🙂 )
Well my friends, the wait is over. Fox Searchlight has announced a June 1st theatrical release. The very cool trailer can be seen here (give it a bit to load).
The results may not always reflect it, but I have been planning various aspects of the Once Upon a Time challenge for many months. One of the things I have done in preparation was to hold off on posting about artists whose work I thought would be more appreciated during this challenge. What I didn’t plan on was the way that Stardust would dominate my mind this week. How perfect is it that my desire all along was to present the work of Charles Vess as the inaugural Friday Favorite artist for this challenge period?
