Hero Cats/Princeless #1 (HCF 2014)

I got this comic book at last year's Halloween ComicFest. But it's from 2014! I'm wondering if the store I went to found some leftover books in storage. Otherwise, the only other way I ended up with this book involves some sort of time warp.

There's two different stories in this book. It's not a crossover, despite the very cute cover. In the first story, a group of six cats with special powers, use their abilities to help a little girl who got lost during trick-or-treating. Then in the Princeless tale, the heroine and her friends run afoul of pirates... on land... in a steak house!

I thought the Hero Cats tale was just darling. All 6 characters are unique and funny. They interact how I imagine my furry babies. There's a mysterious and probably evil entity at the end of this story. It plays into the Hero Cats graphic novel and it will be on my radar for a forthcoming Family Comic Friday review.

Princeless was not quite what I was expecting. Creator and writer Jeremy Whitley lives in central NC, When he published his very first Princeless comic book, I meet him and got an autographed issue. I meant to read it and just never did. Then Princeless became the juggernaut and I've been afraid to read it since the book has skyrocketed in value. Regardless, for being a Halloween ComicFest freebie and the Halloween cover (and the Halloween theme of the Hero Cats adventure)- why wasn't the Princeless tale Halloween themed? 

Does the holiday not exist in the Princeless universe? Okay, I could buy that. But why wasn't this story at least spooky in some way involving a ghost or monster of the sort?

That first story was perfect. The second just wasn't scary in the least. Good art. Clever writing. Just not the right fit for a HCF free comic book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Princeless: Tales of Girls Who Rock! (Family Comic Friday)

Today's Family Comic Friday selection is a one-shot from a series that I know somewhat personally.

  The series is called Princeless and it's been hailed as the type of Princess story that Disney should have been telling all along. It's the story of an independent young woman named Adrienne. When she turns sixteen, her father locks her in a tower guarded by a dragon so that one day her Prince Charming will come and make her his bride. But Princess Adrienne craves adventure and along with the royal blacksmith’s half-dwarf daughter and the dragon, the three set out to free Adrienne's six other sisters held in towers their own of throughout the kingdom. Tales of Girls Who Rock! is a one-shot that focuses on some of the other fiercely independent young ladies that Princess Adrienne and here companions have crossed paths with in the past.

This one-shot is a fairly good starting point for new readers. You're not really expected to know much about the storyline beforehand and each short story is framed as independent from the various Princeless miniseries. However, some parts of these stories feels a little choppy to me, so I wonder if the book is like a primer full of condensed segments of the (so far) five or six miniseries under the Princeless banner.

    This is actually the first Princeless comic that I have ever read. But it's not my first experience with the series. Back in 2011 at a local comic book store, I actually meet not only series creator Jeremy Whitley, but the real life inspiration for Princess Adrienne, his then fiance-cum-wife, Alicia! I was just starting out the reading program charity at my wife's clinic and was so desperate for comics for girls that I bought six issues on the spot. Five went to the readers and one, which I got autographed, went into my collection.

 I had kinda forgot about Princeless for a while until about a year ago when I learned that the series had become a multiple award winner of the 2012 Glyph Awards for Story of the Year and Best Writer along with a couple of Eisner nods. A friend of mine also told me that my first issue, autographed and mint is probably worth a hundred bucks (ungraded), so I have left the book virtually untouched. So Princeless stayed shelved until I came across this book in a grab bag a few weeks ago.

   Don't make this mistake I did. Grab some issues or collected editions for the aspiring comic book collector in your family. A great series that girls and boys 7-14 will enjoy. But there is one thing parents should be aware of- the ads in the back of the book. There's at least 2 ads that tells of other comics published by Action Lab and not every title is appropriate for all ages like this one. The titles Molly Danger and NFL Rush Zone are kid friendly but you'll want to steer clear of the series Fracture and Jack Hammer until the middle or high school years.

  Worth Consuming.

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.