REVIEW: Castle Waiting #4: YMMV
Jess Nevins
YMMV: Castle Waiting #4
By Linda Medley (writer & artist) and Todd Klein (letters)
Published by Olio, P.O. Box 1012, Petaluna CA 94953
_Castle Waiting_ is a independent, black-and-white comic set in a
fantasy landscape. It's not a Conanesque hack-and-slash fantasy,
however, and there aren't elves, dwarves, vampires, dragons,
female warriors wearing chain-mail bikinis, or any of the other
trappings which have so infested and ruined modern fantasy. The
fantasy world of _Castle Waiting_ comes from a much older
source: fairytales and nursery rhymes. And, insofar as it's about
anything, it's not even about the usual subject matter of modern
fantasy. The destiny of the world will not be decided; magic swords
will not be found and drawn; giants will not fee-fi-fo-fum their way
through the halls of cloudy castles; evil sorcerers will not be
vanquished; and accursed wanderers will not stumble their way
across war-torn landscapes.
_Castle Waiting_ is (mostly) about a pregnant woman running from
her husband and becoming a part of the population of Castle
Waiting.
This is a Good Thing. One of the main flaws of genre writing is that
it skimps on characterization to concentrate on story and (less
often) style. This applies, alas, to superhero comics. Which is why
something like _Castle Waiting_ is so refreshing. Medley doesn't
skimp on story, and her style is just fine; but she seems to put a
premium on characterization, and this results in a well-written cast
of characters. Because the characters are identifiable and real to us,
we care about what happens to them; and because we care, the
events of the story assume a greater importance than the inevitable
slugfest does in a superhero comic.
It's got many another virtue, too: Medley has obvious skill at the
basics of comic book storytelling - pace, dialogue, layout, and plot.
Her art, which variously reminds me of Shawn Macmanus' and Paul
Smith's work, is both technically solid (detailed and realistic
backgrounds, anatomies, and facial expressions) and stylistically
appropriate to the story (standard POVs and layouts which
contribute to the overall effect of the story while not drawing
attention to themselves).
This issue furthers the overall story. The baby is born and shown
around the castle. We get a flashback to Jain's birth and parents.
We are told about Henry's story, and why he's silent all the time.
We're introduced to....well, I'm not quite sure what to call them -
fairies? Spriggans? Winged, flying somethings which turn out to be
well-inclined towards Jain and her baby. And someone with a
sword walks through the castle's gate - someone Jain's none-too-
pleased to see.
This issue caught me off-guard. The previous issues have had a
gentle good humor which have made this a very pleasant read. This
issue still has this sense of humor, but it also has a greater
seriousness about it. Jain's baby is...well...quite stunningly ugly.
Jain talks a little about her husband, who is different than her baby's
father - and lacking in all the virtues that the father had. Henry's
past turns out to be a sad one, and Henry himself is revealed to be
not so much grumpily taciturn as emotionally destroyed.
These serious and even sad moments initially diminished my
enjoyment of this issue (which, I should hasten to add, is not at all
without the sunnier, humorous bits of character interaction) but
after I reread it I realized that what Medley is doing, and gained a
greater appreciation for the issue. _Castle Waiting_ is, in a real
sense, a fairytale; but fairytales are not always pleasant. Fairytales
can serve to introduce some of the unhappier aspects of life to
children, which is why death and torture (threatened or real) and
terror are a part of so many of them. _Castle Waiting_ isn't a
fairytale for children, although it would be appropriate for them; it's
meant for adults. Which is why aspects of this issue are sad.
Children's fairytales deal with issues that are frightening to children;
adult's fairytales - like this one - address issues that are frightening
to adults. I still trust that we'll see a happy ending, but I'm now
prepared - as I wasn't before this issue - for more unpleasantness
before the (happy, I trust) denouement.
In a way it's a shame that _Castle Waiting_ is only a quarterly; the
delay between issues makes it very easy to forget about what came
before. Which really is too bad, since _Castle Waiting_, more than
most comics, gives the feeling of being a story, and not an ongoing
serial. There was a beginning to this tale, and there is a foreseeable
end to it. Which is one more reason to be glad that _Castle
Waiting_ is going bi-monthly; we'll have less time to forget about
what happened, and we won't have to wait as long for the next
issue.
Look, folks, this is exactly the sort of book that Marvel and DC will
never produce. It's not flashy, and it doesn't leap off the shelves
and demand you buy it. But it's also the type of independent book
that you (or me or anyone) could proudly show to the scoffers who
think that comics will never be more than a sad little literary ghetto.
You should buy _Castle Waiting_. It'll be some of the best $2.95
you'll spend on comics this year.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
jess
Adrift in the Dark Seas of Elmo
What Jess said.
I like Castle Waiting a lot. It's a nice, calm, entertaining, all-ages,
family fantasy story that's told with a great deal of love and craft.
--
all funding has gone physics graduate
scramble to the business world the job market awaits you
leaving science dead "you want fries with that?"
--Jeff Mackey --anonymous
elmo mor...@physics.rice.edu
http://www.bonner.rice.edu/morrow
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Adrift in the Dark Seas of Elmo (mor...@riph5.rice.edu) wrote:
: What Jess said.
: I like Castle Waiting a lot. It's a nice, calm, entertaining, all-ages,
: family fantasy story that's told with a great deal of love and craft.
GAH, #4 is out? Damn... :(
- Elayne
--
"The kiss originated when the first male reptile licked the first female
reptile, implying in a subtle, complimentary way that she was as succulent
as the small reptile he had for dinner the night before."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Derek Nichols
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput <fire...@panix.com> wrote in article
<68bqo1$l...@panix3.panix.com>...
> Adrift in the Dark Seas of Elmo (mor...@riph5.rice.edu) wrote:
> : What Jess said.
>
> : I like Castle Waiting a lot. It's a nice, calm, entertaining,
all-ages,
> : family fantasy story that's told with a great deal of love and craft.
>
> GAH, #4 is out? Damn... :(
Yes, last week. The only thing I have to add is a noticed <almost drastic>
improvement in the grammar department. Made this issue a much more
enjoayble read than the last.
--
Derek Nichols
Eric Tolle
"Derek Nichols" <bre...@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
>Yes, last week. The only thing I have to add is a noticed <almost drastic>
>improvement in the grammar department. Made this issue a much more
>enjoayble read than the last.
I've noticed that as well. One asp[ect that was more then a bit
jarring was the character's use of modern language. Odd to see a lady
in medieval garb talking like a person on TV....
Eric Tolle unde...@silcom.com
"An' then Chi...@little.com, he come scramblin outta the
terminal room screaming "The system's crashing! The system's
crashing!" -Uncle RAMus, 'Tales for Cyberpsychotic Children'
Bob Heer
unde...@silcom.com (Eric Tolle) wrote
> I've noticed that as well. One asp[ect that was more then a bit
> jarring was the character's use of modern language. Odd to see a lady
> in medieval garb talking like a person on TV....
But it's also odd to see a lady in medieval garb talking about books at
all, much less books which weren't even written until this century. The
modern bits of language fit in as part of the same anachronism.
Bob Heer bg...@torfree.net http://www.geocities.com/area51/dimension/1428
--
My friend Peter... the puffer fish -- is calling me and -- Great Neptune! What
an incredible tale it is thought-beaming at me!
--