Far Out Fairy Tales

I always enjoy a good fairy tale. There are some fantastic adaptations out there and it never ceases to amaze me how many new twists people are able to come up with. Far Out Fairy Tales is a great example of that. The series is due to be published in April 2016 in paperback format, five books at £4.99 each.

Let's take a quick look at each story...

Ninja-rella has honed her skills, kept her mind sharp with chess and her body sharp with swordsmanship. As with the traditional tale of Cinderella she is cast into service for her step-mother and step-sisters, but when the ball comes around Ninja-rella wishes  to go so she can show off her skills and become the prince's bodyguard.

Red Riding Hood - Superhero. Granny works hard as the President of the United States, and takes  Ruby on a trip to Area 54. There she meets an alien who accidentally leaves his cloak behind when he flees. The cloak comes in handy when she has to face Professor Grimm, the mad scientist who was bitten by a radioactive wolf.

Super Billy Goats Gruff. The goats embark on a video game quest to get to the green grass on the other side. The boss level is hard, but after eating some pixelated mushrooms and gaining super skills anything is possible.

Snow White & the Seven Robots. On a planet far far away scientists have created the perfect ruler... she's smart, she's brave, she's kind... she's everything the current ruler isn't. Exiled to a planet nearby she makes friends with 7 mining robots.

Hansel & Gretel & Zombies. No visitors ever come to visit the cemetery, and the zombie family are hungry for brains. They dress up their son and daughter and send them out into the woods to bring back some human brains.

These are a great quirky little set of tales, and an enjoyable read. I do think though that it was a missed opportunity to not bring them out as a graphic novel, while it seems to be coming out in a collection outside the UK we're getting five individual titles here. Having worked in the book world for 15 years I've seen these great titles get overlooked and not live up to their potential. As graphic novels you open the collection up to a whole other audience.

The stories themselves are brilliant. As I said, the twist on the tales are really good, but the illustrations were perfect alongside them. The whole project has brought together some amazingly talented people and it's well worth a read.