A loving tribute to one of Jim Henson’s more obscure works. What They Say
The much-loved, live-action/puppet combination TV show is now a graphic novel series! Archaia and The Jim Henson Company are proud to present ALL-NEW tales of fantastic wonder and extraordinary myth, as told from the tongue of The Storyteller and his loyal canine companion! Witness worded wonderment from a cavalcade of craft creators, including Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show comic, Thor the Mighty Avenger), Marjorie Liu (Black Widow), Ron Marz (Green Lantern, Artifacts), Jeff Parker (Thor, Thunderbolts), Francesco Francavilla (Detective Comics), Chris Eliopoulos (Franklin Richards) and Janet Lee (Return of the Dapper Men). Plus: a never-before-seen story adapted from a screenplay by The Storyteller’s original author, Academy Award® winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient).
The review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Fantasy has always been a hard sell for television, and it hasn’t been until recently with show’s like One Upon a Time that they’ve been successful on primetime. Back in the late 1980’s, Jim Henson Productions produced a half hour series dedicated to telling old fairy tales, myths, and legends. These weren’t the Disneyfied happily every after versions of the stories, although many did end happily ever after. These were slightly rawer, sometimes frightening, often magical live action renditions of the stories. Each episode had a cinematic flair and made use of then new, but now commonplace, compositing effects. The show aired irregularly as specials or attached to episodes of The Jim Henson Hour, won several Emmy and BAFTA awards, and was promptly forgotten by all but the most ardent fans.
It’s been twenty-five years since the first airing of The Storyteller. All things Henson have had a resurgence in interest lately, and the Henson Company has teamed up with Archaia to publish several books based on their properties. Unexpectedly, and much to my delight, the Storyteller ended up being one of the projects they picked up. Editor Nate Cosby was given the task to assemble a team to create a book in the spirit of the show, and for the most part he succeeded.
The nostalgia hits hard as soon as you open the cover and are confronted with the narration from the opening of the show. Throughout the book there are quotes from the Storyteller between stories, along with lots of illustrations of the Storyteller and his dog. The hardcover is embossed and gold foiled with the logo exactly he same as the show, and the brown background mimicking old leather. It’s clear that fans made this book, and the book itself is lovely to look at and very high quality.
Inside, the book is split into nine short stories, with the longest being the last in the volume, which was based on the unproduced television episode script. Each story features a separate artist team doing their own take on a fable. Each story is framed by the Storyteller telling his dog the tale (or the reverse in one story), just as it was in the show. Here we get stories that were not featured in the mostly Eurocentric original series, there are several asian myths and even an Appalachian folk tale included.
My favorite tales in the book were the more visually interesting or ones that captured the flavor of the show the closest. “Puss in Boots” is an ethereal beauty, standing out from the rest of the volume in the tone of the artwork. “Momotaro” and “Old Fire Dragaman” capture the framing devices and clever visual shifts of the show, and are two of the more artistically interesting pieces. Dragaman has a lovely painted feel and Momotaro looks more like a children’s book, both good artistic choices for the themes of the material.
The real highlight of the book is “The Witch Baby,” originally penned by the late Anthony Minghella to be part of the TV series, but was never filmed. It features the storyteller himself in the tale, playing the role of fortune teller and advising a young prince at the terrible fate awaiting him at the hands of his baby sister. As the kingdom is destroyed by the monster child the prince has to find the courage and wisdom to stop his baby sister. The story is strange and violent, although not graphic. The dialog has the feel of the show more than any other story, which tells me that the adaptation doesn’t stray far from the original script. The art paired with the story isn’t spectacular, but it is solid and has a more realistic storyboard quality than some other tales.
Not everything about the book is great. Some of the stories felt weaker than others, and often the narrative voice didn’t have that same literary spark as the show. They probably should have mixed the asian stories between the rest because they feel bunched up in the middle. The experience as a whole felt short, and I wish that they had the space to tell longer tales and room to experiment a bit more.
In Summary
To those unfamiliar with The Storyteller series, this collection of myths is a competent anthology, but one lacking the heft of some other recent anthologies that are bound together by a common theme. Fans of the show will likely feel much as I did, that they’ve stepped back into a warm fuzzy place by the fire, even if it’s for a short time. The stories included are more familiar than far reaching, and I would’ve liked the authors delving deeper. Most people know Puss in Boots, however I don’t expect most people to be familiar as I am with the asian legends and folklore. I’m happy that this project came to pass, it’s a fun read and a nice introduction to the Storyteller for the many who never saw the show. There are supposedly two more unused scripts from the series that could be adapted into another graphic novel, but those will have to be stories for another time.
Grade: A -
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: Ages 8 and up
Released By: Archaia Entertainment
Release Date: December 13, 2011
MSRP: $19.95
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