The post Underrated: Snow, Glass, Apples appeared first on Graphic Policy.
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way.
This week: Snow, Glass Apples.
We all know the story of Snow White at this point. Whether that’s from the Disney version, the original Grimm Brothers story, or one of the other iterations released over the years, I would be surprised if you didn’t have some level of familiarity with the story, so I won’t bother to recap or copy and paste a synopsis here because it’s ultimately a moot point.
Neil Gaiman clearly assumes the same, as Snow, Glass, Apples builds upon that innate knowledge of the fairytale by telling the story from the perspective of the Evil Queen. Originally conceived as a short story in 1994, the book I read this morning was adapted from that story, and fleshed out with illustrations by the fantastically talented Colleen Doran.
I’m not entirely sure if I’d classify this as a graphic novel or an illustrated novel, and ultimately it’s a moot point because I enjoyed the shit out of how the words and art interplay across the page.
There’s more of a classic art style to the book, and while it wouldn’t be my cup of tea in, say, a Wolverine story, it’s perfectly suited to the reinterpretation of a classic fairytale.
I featured Snow, Glass, Apple this week not because I think Neil Gaiman or Colleen Doran are an underrated pair of creators, but because this is the kind of book that can easily be missed or skipped over by those who don’t feel the strike of curiosity as they see the cover, and that’s a shame. This is a solid book, and I’m glad my LCS added it to the list of things that they recommended to me.
Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.