I saw Castle Waiting at a local comics store and it stood out from the rest of the graphic novels because it's a smaller, thicker hardcover book. It just doesn't look like it belongs on the shelf with the trade paperbacks, spines so narrow that you have to squint to read the titles. Instead, it looks like something you'd find in the "young adult" section of a bookstore, maybe next to something by Lemony Snicket or Madeleine L'Engle.
Castle Waiting is made up of three interwoven stories set in a fairy-tale realm. The first is a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, sticking fairly close to the original with a little goofy humor here and there. When the prince arrives and marries the princess, they take off and the castle becomes Castle Waiting, a place for anyone who needs refuge. That leads to the second story, in which Lady Jain (pregnant and on the run) arrives at the castle and meets its current inhabitants. The third (and longest) section is about the Solicitines, an order of bearded nuns(!), one of whom resides at Castle Waiting. This section has stories within stories, following the stories of several of the women who had become Solicitine nuns.
It's clever and plays with fairy tales in a way that's both smarter and more respectful than the "Shrek" movies. The black-and-white illustrations are excellent with sharp, clean lines, and the stories are fun, character-driven tales with strong female characters. Overall, a good book to add to your graphic-novel list.
Fed to jonathan's brain | July 03, 2007
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