Kingdom of the Wicked - Don't Judge This Book By Its Cover
Look at that cover...
That is not a good cover.
I mean, it is a fine drawing of what it IS, but what it does NOT do is give you a good idea as to what the comic is ABOUT.
Kingdom of the Wicked (today's You Decide) is a story about a super-successful children's author who gets transported to the fantasy world he created when he was a child.
The only thing is that a lot has changed since he last visited this world of his imagination when he was seven, and the fairy tale world he created is now besieged by a long, bloody war.
That's what the cover depicts - the teddy bear-like creatures in the trenches. So the cover scene DOES occur in the book, but the story is more about a man coming to grips with guilt over what he let happen to his childhood fantasies, or rather, what another man decided to do to his fantasies.
Ian Edgington was lucky to work with D'Israeli on this project, as everything Edgington can think of, D'Israeli is more than capable of depicting. Specifically, D'Israeli has to make teddy bears fighting World War I look believable, and he DOES.
This is a fine story, even if the villain of the piece is more than a little too creepy.
In addition, the story really reads like the beginning of an ongoing series that just ended abruptly, rather than a cohesive piece.
The whole thing ends on the protagonist's THIRD trip to the fantasy world. That struck me as quite short. Especially because the villain supposedly could have ended it at any time, and we are told he is dragging this out because it is more fun. Okay...if that's so, then why end it so quickly?
On top of that, the protagonist doesn't really DO much to save the day.
However, those are minor quibbles with what was an enjoyable look at what would happen if make-believe creatures had to go to war. Quite similar, in fact, to Fables' similar storyline (the war part, not the other stuff). The characterizations of the creatures was great, as well. Also, the stories of how the villain corrupted the town was pretty sick stuff, so that was good. Always nice to have a good villain.
So I would definitely recommend picking this book up, just look past the cover!!!
That is not a good cover.
I mean, it is a fine drawing of what it IS, but what it does NOT do is give you a good idea as to what the comic is ABOUT.
Kingdom of the Wicked (today's You Decide) is a story about a super-successful children's author who gets transported to the fantasy world he created when he was a child.
The only thing is that a lot has changed since he last visited this world of his imagination when he was seven, and the fairy tale world he created is now besieged by a long, bloody war.
That's what the cover depicts - the teddy bear-like creatures in the trenches. So the cover scene DOES occur in the book, but the story is more about a man coming to grips with guilt over what he let happen to his childhood fantasies, or rather, what another man decided to do to his fantasies.
Ian Edgington was lucky to work with D'Israeli on this project, as everything Edgington can think of, D'Israeli is more than capable of depicting. Specifically, D'Israeli has to make teddy bears fighting World War I look believable, and he DOES.
This is a fine story, even if the villain of the piece is more than a little too creepy.
In addition, the story really reads like the beginning of an ongoing series that just ended abruptly, rather than a cohesive piece.
The whole thing ends on the protagonist's THIRD trip to the fantasy world. That struck me as quite short. Especially because the villain supposedly could have ended it at any time, and we are told he is dragging this out because it is more fun. Okay...if that's so, then why end it so quickly?
On top of that, the protagonist doesn't really DO much to save the day.
However, those are minor quibbles with what was an enjoyable look at what would happen if make-believe creatures had to go to war. Quite similar, in fact, to Fables' similar storyline (the war part, not the other stuff). The characterizations of the creatures was great, as well. Also, the stories of how the villain corrupted the town was pretty sick stuff, so that was good. Always nice to have a good villain.
So I would definitely recommend picking this book up, just look past the cover!!!
posted by Brian Cronin at 5/13/2005 01:41:00 PM
7 Comments:
I haven't read the story, so a few questions: How did the author's childhood work become so dark? Did Dan Didio take over the property? Did Didio turn out to be the villain of the piece?
Wow. That does sound interesting. I'll have to pick it up.
T, what happened was that when the protagonist forgot about the characters, he left the fantasy world unprotected, and the villain came in and corrupted the world.
It is very much like the first murder.
Before it happened, there was not even a CONCEPT of murder.
The villain introduced such concepts into the fantasy world.
Dark, dark stuff.
Did this come out in a trade? I can only seem to locate the hardcover.
Only hardcover, I am afraid.
Expensive?
Only $15.95, but with my limited budget, it thought it'd be good to check.
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