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.
We admit we have a soft spot for Labyrinth, for many reasons, and there are some upcoming products that fans might like to keep an eye on as they're releasing very soon... (September 12th! Though, if you're very lucky you may find a pre-release in hidden portals around the web.)
I will just use the ad copy, as it says it all:
Be careful what you wish for!
Jareth, the Goblin King, is no slouch when it comes to granting wishes!
Sarah must rely on Worm and the dwarvish Hoggle for help to solve the Labyrinth and save her brother!
The playful beast, Ludo, is coming as a super-sized 6" Pop!
Collect the whole line of Labyrinth Pop! figures this September!
Giant Ludo! And there's a Hot Topic exclusive, featuring the Jareth Sarah saw at the ball (but where's Sarah in her ballgown?!)
I wouldn't mind a version of the Junk Lady either. She represents so much in terms of people's struggle to come to terms with childhood stories and loves...
And then there's also a wonderful-looking book that Corey Godbey (another favorite contemporary fairy tale illustrator) has been working on a while: Jim Henson's Labyrinth Tales. Here are some screen shots.
Jim Henson's Labyrinth Tales will be released on September 27th 2016. Pre-orders are available through Amazon.
In the tradition of The Arabian Nights, a beautifully illustrated tapestry of folk tales and myths about the secret legacy of female storytellers in an imagined medieval world.
What are the Thing trees, indeed. Are you intrigued? I am!
This new graphic novel by Isabel Greenberg, was released in the UK on September 1st (you can find it HERE) and will be released in the US on December 6th (pre-orders available through Amazon).
Here's the rest of the blurb:
In the Empire of Migdal Bavel, Cherry is married to Jerome, a wicked man who makes a diabolical wager with his friend Manfred: if Manfred can seduce Cherry in one hundred nights, he can have his castle--and Cherry.
But what Jerome doesn't know is that Cherry is in love with her maid Hero. The two women hatch a plan: Hero, a member of the League of Secret Story Tellers, will distract Manfred by regaling him with a mesmerizing tale each night for 100 nights, keeping him at bay. Those tales are beautifully depicted here, touching on themes of love and betrayal and loyalty and madness.
As intricate and richly imagined as the works of Chris Ware, and leavened with a dry wit that rivals Kate Beaton's in Hark! A Vagrant, Isabel Greenberg's One Hundred Nights of Hero will capture readers' hearts and minds, taking them through a magical medieval world.
I don't know a lot about it, except to say that I'm definitely curious, and this writer and illustrator has a habit of wowing critics so this one's on my "to watch for" list. It helps that The Guardian has a brief but lovely write up too. Here's an excerpt from the review:
Hero tells stories to distract (Manfred, her husband's friend), taking in dark swamps, floating greenhouses, cursed daughters and a harp that sings of murder. Danger lurks within these tales and after each dangling cliffhanger, but Hero weaves a web that has soon snared the suitor, the sentries and most of the townsfolk. Greenberg’s artwork is whimsical, and her plots reference countless fables.
Greenberg has generously previewed quite a few pages and scenes, on both her Twitter feed, Tumblr and Instagram (often using them as commentary on her excitement and nervousness about the upcoming release, which work so very well) so I've assembled, what appears to be the beginning (or very near the beginning) of the story. Take a look.
Page45 (yes, that's the name of the comic book news site) has a more extensive review, which I'm including an excerpt of, since it mentions all those things that we love: plot twists, folk and fairy tales and the power of story:
Will handmaiden Hero similarly succeed in saving the virtue of her beloved mistress Cherry from the predatory advances of her husband’s lascivious and quite ridiculous best mate? Whom her husband’s encouraged for the sake of a bet and proving a point! Hero’s certainly won over the guards with her carefully chosen and craftily spun yarns, but where has the one hundred and first night gone? The answers will prove elevating. I even anticipate an air punch or two. This is a book about stories and storytelling; of sisterhood and story spreading... ...What Greenberg has done here with the Scheherazade scenario – which elements she has incorporated and how she’s repositioned them – is ever so clever and makes for much mockery of man-pride.
Yes. We definitely want to read this.
To give you more of an idea of Greenberg's style in comics and storytelling you can read her graphic short story The River of Lost Souls, for free, online HERE. It will especially appeal if you also enjoy myth and begins with a forgotten coin on the banks of the river Styx...
Fairy tale bonus of the day:
I admit I was torn as to whether to make this one it's own post as I'm just as thrilled about this illustrated story as a new Scheherazade-based graphic novel!
Isabel Greenberg and award winning author Zoe Gilbert, (whose short stories are often inspired by folk tales and folklore), were asked by Microsoft (stay with me) to "project test" the new suite of tools in Office 2016, designed to make online collaboration easier. They had just two weeks to create, from scratch, a completely new illustrated story and the result is The Mud-witch. (Yes those are webbed hands you see there!) I initially forgot to embed the video, (sorry!) showing the collaboration and creation of words and images. It's fascinating, just from a story-creation point of view, plus, you know, folklore! (Did your ears perk up? Mine did and it was worth the dive into the PDF available online HERE - if you can't see it embedded below - to read and view it.)
Conceived and Directed by Djahari Clark, “Cloud Cuckooland” is a new theatrical spectacle inspired by ancient Greek tragedies. Follow a girl who, upon her death, is offered a chance to become Queen of the Birds! But her Queendom is contingent on leaving her heart behind...a doomed existence the watchful birds enjoy to the very end.
Having opened this past Thursday night, September 8th, theatrical "spectacle" Cloud Cuckoo Land proves to be a different sort of fairy tale, mixed wonderfully with myth. As an added bonus, it includes corvids (crows, ravens) and a phoenix, among other interesting birds (jackdaws, storks, peacocks, flamingos, magpies, vultures...).
The show — which includes dance, puppetry, aerial acrobatics, spoken word, and song — follows a girl who dies and enters a fantasy world where she becomes Queen of the Birds. But she can only wear the crown if she leaves her heart behind. Clark said that show will take viewers on a roller coaster of emotions.“It’s a beautiful dark fairy tale that will break your heart a little bit, but it’s going to make you fall in love again,” she said.... “I was very drawn to Greek theater already and I realized that this would be the basis,” she said. “The structure of my play was going to be coming out of ancient Greek tragedies and birds were going to be telling my story.”The show features nine performers dressed in ornate avian costumes and puppets, which Clark said are the perfect blend of child-like and mature.
You can see a lot of theatrical photos, including behind-the-scenes HERE on the official Facebook page.
I admit I'm very curious about the narrative. The photos on the Facebook page give a lot of clues and do give very much a fairy tale vibe across the span of the show - somewhere between The Magic Flute, the Firebird balletand Cirque du Soleil with some Julie Taymor influence (think Disney's Broadway version of The Lion King) thrown in.
Showing at the House Of Yes in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, the show runs for two long weekends: Sept. 8–10 and 15–17 at 7 pm. Unlike the dance parties held there, all ages are welcome.
I'm always astonished at how much fairy tale news there is to report so, forgive us if we miss the exact release date of things as they happen. We are just back-logged with fairy tale awesome in our newsroom!
This last Tuesday, a movie we have been very much looking forward to seeing, Tale of Tales, was released on DVD and Blu-ray. We still await our copy, so won't be able to review for some time yet, but we have unearthed some additional video footage which will give you a good idea of the tone of the movie, especially if you've been following the promotion we covered as the movie was originally released in Italy.
A quick refresher: this movie was an independent film, though it stars many luminary actors (includingSalma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, and John C. Reilly along with many other familiar faces)and has a well known director, Matteo Garrone. It was a passion project, filmed in remote locations around the director's home country of Italy in English. (No subtitle reading required.) The film is based on the oldest known written collection of fairy tales by Giambattista Basile, Il Pentamerone or The Tale of Tales, Or Entertainment for Little Ones (aka Lo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattenemiento de peccerille or Il racconto dei racconti), focusing on 3 of the tales. And yes, this film, is not for children, though are definitely sections a child would very much enjoy (giant flea anyone?).
Description:
Discover a grim, gorgeous, grown-up fairy tale full of princes and princesses, sorcerers and fairies, and monsters and ogres in the epic fantasy horror film Tale of Tales. Based on three spellbinding stories of magic and the macabre by 17th-century folklorist Giambattista Basile, Tale of Tales unleashes a barrage of mind-bogglingly exquisite and fantastical imagery as it brings to life the misadventures of three kings.
Starring Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, John C. Reilly, Toby Jones, and Shirley Henderson, this captivating film makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut on September 6, 2016, from Shout! Factory and Sundance Selects. This critically acclaimed film from celebrated director Matteo Garrone also includes the featurette “The Making of Tale of Tales” and the theatrical trailer as bonus features.
A rich sensory experience featuring exquisite cinematography and a score by Academy Award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, Tale of Tales interweaves three enchanting sagas about universal themes of life, death, and love. Overflowing with surreal, dazzling surprises, this intoxicating cinematic spectacle is a delirious excursion into the dark heart of fairy tales.
The three new clips available touch on three of the stories in the film:
the barren queen (and king) find out an unusual way they could finally have a child
a king obsessed with a giant flea offers the hand of his daughter in an ill-advised way
a woman is not quite what she seems (which the sex-obsessed, love struck ruler of Strongcliff will rue)
Be intrigued:
#1: "A Life for a Life"
#2" "The Flea"
#3: "The Flayed Old Lady"
While there is nothing which isn't rated 'G' in the clips, you may be surprised at what is implied, so perhaps view away from any children for a first look.
I can see how this movie is polarizing viewers - some are a little freaked while others hail it a masterpiece. We guess that we will lean toward the latter, though without a proper viewing we can't say that definitively. However, we are very familiar with the source material so are unlikely to be bothered by any of the aspects that those giving negative reviews focus on.
We are only disappointed that we can't view it on the big screen as it was intended to be seen.
In the meantime, please enjoy these alternate posters, including a couple of foreign language variations. I'm surprised I hadn't seen some of these before - they're quite striking.
We hope to bring you a review in the coming weeks.
This call for participation, posted 2 days ago by inter-disciplinary.net, sounds very interesting with all the possible subjects, and there are so many options for approach available I have only included the content information and basics (emphasis in bold, mine). Although the conference is a full three days (both Tuesday and Thursday are full days, as well as the Tuesday), and would be able to include many papers and presentations, the organizing chairs are going to have real work on their table narrowing down the choices of abstracts!
The first conference program, held in Budapest, Hungary in March this year (2016), can be found HERE, while the Abstracts from that conference (which are also fascinating) are HEREand HERE. They indicate a great second conference!
(Anyone feel like shouting me a ticket to Portugal next year?)
From hastac.org. Note: it was really hard to choose excerpts from so I have included all but the "fine print" which you can read at the link:
Fairy Tales, Folk Lore and Legends2nd Global Conference
Call for Participation 2017
Tuesday 4th April – Thursday 6th April 2017
Lisbon, Portugal
In contemporary retellings of historic fairy tales certain characters recur without failure: wicked witches, evil stepmothers, Rumplestiltskin, jinn, gnomes, trolls, wolves and thieves, as well as fairy godmothers, departed beloved mothers, firebirds, dwarves, princesses, dragons, woodcutters and princes charming. Disney has established a near monopoly on how these characters are viewed in contemporary society and how their stories are retold but the Disney lens is not the only one available. Fairy tales, folk lore and legends are the common patrimony of us all and the canvas on which the vast mural of good versus evil plays out; our darkest dreams or nightmares struggle against our better selves and highest hopes in these tales. At the same time, the relationship between these tales and modern society is a complex one that invites closer consideration of the changing nature of the stories and how modern sensibilities have both challenged and been challenged by the values and viewpoints that underpin the narratives.
Childhood itself, the presumed audience for most of these stories, has itself undergone radical redefinition since the tales first began to be collected or written. How have those changes influenced or been reflected in the retelling of the tales over time? Fairy tales can be interpreted in a variety of ways and from a variety of viewpoints: they can be psychological exposes, blueprints for dealing with the traumas of childhood and early adulthood, guides to navigating life, windows onto social realities long forgotten, remnants of ancient mythology or hints at how to access the Transcendent. How have adult sensibilities of what is appropriate for children appeared in the retellings or new collections? How many tales are actually retold for the benefit of adults, despite their supposed audience of children?
During the 2016 project, the unexpected preponderance of Disney-related discussions surprised all the participants. The Disney footprint seems to be inescapable when discussing this literature, whether a particular story has served as inspiration for a Disney film or not. That in itself is perhaps a subject worth discussing. The the 2017 project meeting will focus on non-Disney retellings of the classic tales as well as those tales which Disney has chosen thus far to ignore.
The Fairy Tales interdisciplinary research and publishing stream investigates how fairy tales/folk tales/legends represent both good and evil, how these are personified or interact, what these reveal about the lives of those who have told them over the years, what they mean for us who read or listen to them today. Possible subjects for presentations include but are not limited to:
Exploring the Tales Themselves
- Functions of tales over time and across cultures - Socio-political context of tales and their capacity to serve as allegories for real life issues - Justice and morality in the tales - Fairy tale utopias and dystopias and the blurred lines between fiction, fact, reality, science fiction and mythology - How fairy tales shape ideas about happiness - Considerations of why tales are an enduring aspect of culture - Factors that make some tales more popular than others (and why popularity can shift over time) - (Re)interpretations and re-imaginings of the same tales differ over time or across cultures - Relationship between fairy tale characters and real life humans: do human ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ behave so differently from fictional goodies and baddies, where there times when characters that seem fantastic to modern folks were actually considered to be more realistic by historical readers/listeners, what factors shape the changes that cause people to perceive characters as more or less real - Relationship between fantastic and magical elements of tales and lived reality - Tales and monsters: monstrous animals, monstrous humans, children’s interaction with monsters - Intended lessons and values of stories and counter-interpretations, particularly in relation to gender, sex, materialistic values, notions of virtue and authority - Processes around the domestication of fairy tales - Tales as a source of/mechanism for oppression of individuals or groups - New/modern tales - Critical approaches to tales - Tales and their authors - Fairy tale artwork and imagery - Fairy tale geographies: spaces and places of both the worlds within fairy tales as well as the spaces and places where the narratives are told or written
Encountering Fairy Tales/Legends/Folk Tales
- Studies of readers/audiences across time and cultures - Listening versus reading: impact of oral traditions on the narratives, impact of illustrations in reception of the tales, etc. - Relationship between traditional and modern forms of interactive storytelling involving fairy tales - How adaptation to other mediums, such as film, television, visual art, music, theatre, graphic novels, dance and video games, affect the content of the tales themselves, appreciation of the narrative or our interpretations of narrative meaning
Uses of Fairy Tales/Legends/Folk Tales
- In advertising (re-imagining tales in advertising imagery, marketing the princess lifestyle, etc.) - Tales and pedagogy: using tales as teaching and learning tools - In tourism through destination marketing of spaces associated with fairy tales, Disneyfication of tales, etc. - In the formation of national/cultural/ethnic identity - In the publishing business - Communities, biography and fairy tales: How social communal identity is forged around telling and re-telling tales
Tales, Health and Happiness
- Tales and magical thinking in the human development - Tales and psychological/clinical practices involving tales - Tales and unhealthy behaviour/beliefs - Effect of tales on shaping notions of (un)happiness, (in)appropriate ways to pursue it and how to respond to respond to others’ (un)happiness - Tales and aging (“growing old” as a theme in tales, how tales shape perceptions of old age, etc.)
Live Performances of Tales
- Theatrical, dance and other types of staged presentations - Pantomime - Vocal performances - Art installations - Readings - Curated film screenings
What to Send 300 word abstracts, proposals and other forms of contribution should be submitted by Friday28th October 2016.All submissions be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.
You will be notified of the panel’s decision by Friday 11th November 2016. If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 3rd March 2017.
Abstracts may be in Word, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords. E-mails should be entitled: Fairy Tales Abstract Submission
Where to SendAbstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs:
