"Erstwhile" Volume 3 Is Coming! (& You Can Help)

If you've been following this blog for a few years you'll be familiar with Erstwhile comics - the amazing team that rewrite and illustrate little known Grimm tales in an effort to bring them back into circulation. You may not know, however, that Erstwhile are preparing to print they're final volume... with a little help.

If you read any other fairy tales blogs (which we dearly hope you do! They are all unique treasures!) you will know how much all of us committed fairy tale folk love this project and heartily lend support whenever we can. For a cliff notes version (ie. short but highly informative) of the team behind Erstwhile and just what these comics are  - and why they're worth your time - Fairy Tale Fandom has a nice write-up and tribute HERE.

Erstwhile comics are one of the only retellings that actually add to the tales without really impairing the originals in any way. That's... amazing. As a bonus, these comics are set in different times and have a wonderful diversity of characters as well. Just take a look at some of the individual tale covers scattered through this post.

The comics and volumes are largely a labor of love so each collection (volume) has been helped into existence by way of a Kickstarter fund and Erstwhile 3 is doing the same. This time around they've gotten extra creative with their supporter rewards too.

There is just 28 days to go, (at this writing) with just under $4 000 of the goal (of $15 000) remaining, so you have just a few weeks to snag some exclusives and be part of history.


The stories in Erstwhile 3 will include:

• The Singing Springing Lark 

• King Thrushbeard 

• The Wolf & the Man 

• The Twelve Huntsmen 

• Sweetheart Roland 

• The Ungrateful Son 

• The Leftovers 

• The Wolf & Seven Kids 

• Mother Holle 

• The Golden Key (exclusive to the book)

And here are the Erstwhile comic collections so far:

One thing we don't see mentioned much, with regard to Erstwhile, is the fascinating discussions they inspire  as each page, or set of pages, was released. Their pattern was that they would upload pages twice a week from a story in progress, with a whole lot of interested comic fans watching and commenting as they (often) read this story, for the first time, in installements. The comments archives for each tale and page are really interesting to read! (Make sure to have a big cup of coffee with you, if you dive in. There's s LOT to read!)

You can check out the comics on the web for yourself HERE, to find out even more about this wonderful long term project. We're sad to hear this is the end of the series but the world of fairy tale appreciation is wider and more informed due to theses women's amazing work.

Hats off  to you Ladies!