Reviews

Once Upon a Time by Serena Valentino, FSc

kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review

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4.0

I'm not sure if I like the artwork. I don't hate it, but sometimes a few panels, in particular with the first two stories, would be slightly confusing.

This collection of 1-6 in the series presents two stories about vampires, a retelling of Snow White, a retelling of Cinderella, and the story of Gwen. The conceit that holds the stories together is a rag doll named Annabelle, who feels she must be cursed. The stories are very dark. It's like the Twilight Zone meets Dahl meets Tales from the Darkside with Muppets.

Yes, it shoulds like it shouldn't work, but it does. It works very well.

While none of the stories are bad, "Gwen's Story" and "Cinderella" are the best two. The Cinderella is one of the best versions I've read in a long time.


While the artwork is confusing, it does match the stories. Using color or a slighly more cuddly style would not work.

enchanten's review

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5.0

wonderfully dark comic

kellswitch's review

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2.0

There was no real introduction to what was going on or who the characters were and all of the stories felt rushed and shortened, I kept feeling as though I should be checking to make sure pages hadn't been ripped out and I WAS missing something.
The artwork was very inconsistent, sometimes quite beautiful and detailed and others so sketchy I couldn't tell what was going on, though considering the rather gruesome nature of what was going on that may have been for the best.

There were some really good and interesting ideas in this book, unfortunately the execution fell short.