Deron Generally
Deron Generally
Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Fairies #2
Boom! Studios
Story and Art by Benjamin Schipper
I’m old enough to remember the original Jim Henson’s Storyteller series on television and it was always one of my favorite things to watch. I loved the mixture of live action and Henson puppets. I enjoyed the strange, and sometimes dark, places that the stories would go and I marveled at how the series told different stories from all over the world and across folklore and fantasy. John Hurt brought a whimsical spirit and gravitas to the role of The Storyteller and his performance was always one of the highlights for me and kept me coming back every week.
In the second part of this four part series, the eponymous Storyteller begins to tell the tale of the birth of a king. The strange and mystical circumstances of his birth paved the way for the baby to grow into a fierce warrior and powerful king. Unfortunately, his influence and power hd spread so far that there was nothing left for the warrior king to conquer and he found himself both bored and frustrated at his boredom. One of his Wise Men suggests a new challenge for the king. One that will take him beyond his borders and into a strange land wrapped in mystery: Fairie Hill.
Although he initially laughs at the idea, the fact that there is land in his kingdom that he does not possess outright weighs on him to the point where he ventures out on his own to find and concur Fairie Hill, but once he reaches the fabled land, he finds that the challenge he seeks is not the one he finds and the one that finds him will change his world forever.
I enjoyed this issue and the story in it very much. It was a simple straightforward story, but there were definite subtle moments in the narrative that made it more complex. While I loved the story, there was a contrast between the art of the narration and the story itself that didn’t particularly pop to me. I thought the art was a little too rudimentary in contrast to the details given to the storyteller and it took away a little of the gravity of the story. Other than that, the issue was great and I look forward to the next one.
Images courtesy of Comixology
