Growing up, I never really read comics. Every so often, I'd glance through the occasional funny pages or flip through a book of Garfield strips. I was much more likely to pick up some kind of traditional novel or, in later years, to watch a television program or movie.
It wasn't until I got to college that I was introduced to the concept of webcomics.
During a conversation about national stereotypes, one of my housemates insisted that I check out Scandinavia and the World, a comic featuring personified versions of the various nations of the world enacting either national quirks or international relations. The first one I ever read was basically a re-telling of the Boston Tea Party and just about died laughing. While it can be rather pointed in its hilarious criticisms, it is interesting being exposed to some of the nations of the world that I know little to nothing about. And it felt rather familiar since they are more like strips from the funny pages.
It wasn't till I did a couple of different image searches for fairy tale and Disney related things that I found that comics could tell a continuous story.
The first of these latter comics was No Rest for the Wicked. What really drew me into this comic was how the author, Andrea L. Peterson, was able to cleverly weave together several different fairy tales. Her art style, while it can be rather angular, adds to the edgy (ha ... ha) feel of the comic. If you're thinking at all that it's a happy, pretty fairy tale, it is not; this comic adopts the darker tone that many early fairy tales have. But that's not to say that it isn't funny and enjoyable as well. The relationships and interactions amongst the three main characters (Princess November: "Princess and the Pea," Perrault: "Puss in Boots," Red: "Little Red Riding Hood") are lots of fun to watch.
The second continuous comic I discovered, only recently, was Disney School by Morloth88. In this comic, the author has chosen to re-tell five Disney stories (Tangled, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid) in a modern high school setting. Like No Rest for the Wicked, the cleverness of combination, and particularly reinterpretation for these stories, really drew me into the story. Unlike the others, I know where the story is heading, but the enjoyment comes from seeing how it gets played out. Also, because these are based on the Disney versions of these stories, quotes from the movies also work their way into conversation between characters.
All this to say, my story world has been expanded from its early days of novels and film, and I could not be happier.
