The Wizard's Tale

Rating:
Summary: Not at all like Busiek's more sophisticated works.
Review: I'm a fan of Kurt Busiek, but I found this book to fall way below the (high) standards he set with the "Astro City" series. Maybe he was just aiming for a pre-adolescent audience. In fact, it might be an OK kid's story, but, if you are a more "mature reader", I suggest that you pass it up.

Rating:
Summary: Not at all like Busiek's more sophisticated works.
Review: I'm a fan of Kurt Busiek, but I found this book to fall way below the (high) standards he set with the "Astro City" series. Maybe he was just aiming for a pre-adolescent audience. In fact, it might be an OK kid's story, but, if you are a more "mature reader", I suggest that you pass it up.

Rating:
Summary: The Worst Evil You'll Ever Meet
Review: It is almost criminal that Amazon does not provide a cover image for this book. It would give a barest hint of David Wenzel's art, which beautifly illustrates this full color volume.

Once upon a time, there was a land called Ever-Night. A place where evil ruled, because good had been defeated many years ago. But even so, the last forces of good had managed to steal and hide the Book of Worse, and prevented the casting of the spell that would ensure evil's supremacy forever. Bafflerog Rumplewhisker, the nicest evil old wizard imaginable, is commanded to find the Book of Worse and insure the ultimate supremacy of evil. To his dismay, Gumpwort, the guardian of its location, willingly tells him where the book is. Now he must leave his comfortable castle, journeying with Muddle, the third son of a woodcutter, avoid the efforts of the Darksome Council to pry the information out of him for themselves, all the while wondering just why Gumpwort decided to trust him with the hiding place of the Book of Worse in the first place.

The Wizard's Tale is a charming fantasy graphic novel for all ages. If you like fantasy at all, and don't feel a need for stories where doom and gloom drip off every word, get this book.

Rating:
Summary: A great work in an underused genre
Review: Okay, so we all know Superheroes dominate the world of comic books. We can't deny that. But they are by no means the only genre -- horror comics were huge at one point, as were romances, westerns, science fiction and crime comics, all of which survive in one form or another to day.

But one genre which has always been oddly neglected in the realm of comics is pure, epic fantasy. I mean the Tolkien-esque, swords and sorcery style of storytelling. It has existed, to be sure, but it's never been big.

Kurt Busiek tried to remedy that in this woefully underrated graphic novel. The tale of an evil wizard who, frankly, isn't very good at being evil, is a wonderful story with a lot of humor, a lot of magic and a lot of heart. The artwork is beautiful and, if given the proper push, this is the sort of story that could bring fantasy into mainstream comics in a big way.

Busiek is one of the best writers the artform knows. "Marvels" and "Astro City" are masterpieces of superhero fiction. "Shockrockets" was a great science fiction tale. Now check out Busiek's take on fantasy -- you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Great artwork.
Review: This comic caught my eye with its very nice-looking artwork, And, indeed, the one unalloyed positive aspect of the book is the art: it simply oozes with warmth and charm creating the old-tyme fantasy feel the artist was clearly going for. It seemed to me that what we had here was clearly an homage to the classic swords-and-sorcery type of thing, and, although (let's face it) the vast majority of fantasy is hideously bad, I can definitely in theory get behind the concept, so I was willing to check this out.

My assumption was correct, of course, more or less. Regrettably, it also features the ever-so-cutesy conceit of self-aware characters who know and frequently comment upon the fact that they're acting out fantasy cliches, but I suppose I can live with that in this one instance.

At any rate, I did enjoy the comic, in the hour or so it took me to read it, but once I was finished, I realized how remarkably flimsy and insubtantial it was. For all that it involves a potentially cataclysmic good vs. evil struggle, there's no particular sense of conflict or urgency conveyed. Sure, we know good is going to triumph, but does it have to triumph in such a lackadaisical manner? The biggest obstacle is the title wizard's self-doubt, but let's face it, this ain't going to win any prizes as a psychological drama; we really need something more than that.

And what's the deal with the kid, anyway? Okay, yes, I know that this particular template includes a humble village boy who goes on adventures and sees the world et cetera, but here he plays little meaningful role. Characters have to have a purpose other than just being there because we think they OUGHT to be there, and he does not. And then at the end they make him KING? Okay, once again, followin' the template, but seriously, what the HELL? He does nothing particularly noteworthy over the course of the story. What possible qualifications could he have? And just where do these people get the authority to be appointing absolute rulers, anyway?

So anyway, I can't really recommend this comic. Unless you just want it for the artwork, I find it difficult to justify paying the heftyish price for something this lightweight.

Rating:
Summary: Great artwork.
Review: This comic caught my eye with its very nice-looking artwork, And, indeed, the one unalloyed positive aspect of the book is the art: it simply oozes with warmth and charm creating the old-tyme fantasy feel the artist was clearly going for. It seemed to me that what we had here was clearly an homage to the classic swords-and-sorcery type of thing, and, although (let's face it) the vast majority of fantasy is hideously bad, I can definitely in theory get behind the concept, so I was willing to check this out.

My assumption was correct, of course, more or less. Regrettably, it also features the ever-so-cutesy conceit of self-aware characters who know and frequently comment upon the fact that they're acting out fantasy cliches, but I suppose I can live with that in this one instance.

At any rate, I did enjoy the comic, in the hour or so it took me to read it, but once I was finished, I realized how remarkably flimsy and insubtantial it was. For all that it involves a potentially cataclysmic good vs. evil struggle, there's no particular sense of conflict or urgency conveyed. Sure, we know good is going to triumph, but does it have to triumph in such a lackadaisical manner? The biggest obstacle is the title wizard's self-doubt, but let's face it, this ain't going to win any prizes as a psychological drama; we really need something more than that.

And what's the deal with the kid, anyway? Okay, yes, I know that this particular template includes a humble village boy who goes on adventures and sees the world et cetera, but here he plays little meaningful role. Characters have to have a purpose other than just being there because we think they OUGHT to be there, and he does not. And then at the end they make him KING? Okay, once again, followin' the template, but seriously, what the HELL? He does nothing particularly noteworthy over the course of the story. What possible qualifications could he have? And just where do these people get the authority to be appointing absolute rulers, anyway?

So anyway, I can't really recommend this comic. Unless you just want it for the artwork, I find it difficult to justify paying the heftyish price for something this lightweight.