Rapunzel’s Revenge.
Written by Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation).
Bloomsbury, $14.99 USD.
Rapunzel is the story of a young woman whose parents give her to a witch in return for lettuce. She is locked in a tower, eventually rescued by a prince attracted by her incredible beauty sometimes immediately, sometimes after a long period of suffering and is married to him.
Rapunzel’s Revenge is the story of a young woman stolen from her mother and raised by a witch. She is locked in a tower, rescues herself, partners up with a part-time thief and full-time wiseacre, organizes an uprising and through her bravery, intelligence, and compassion defeats the witch and restores freedom and growth to the land.
You can tell these stories apart because the first is a creepy tale about a woman lacking any agency and the second is an utter delight.
Rapunzel’s Revenge succeeds at everything: gorgeous, lush artwork; an imaginative and unashamedly but not polemic feminist take on the fairy tale; a beautifully-written script; a fictional setting that plays with all the best tropes of the Old West while acknowledging the actual ethnic composition of that West; endearing, flawed good guys; selfish, human bad guys; a controlling, horribly believable villain; and a heroine who takes care of business by using her hair to whip, lasso and acrobatically disable prison bars, evil-doers, and a huge freaking sea-serpent.
Oh, yes. The fantastic heroine has weaponised hair. Not since the days of Medusa of the Inhumans has anyone been so utterly badass with their lovely locks.
If you’re worried I’ve given the whole show away, trust me. I’ve only barely touched on the manifest marvels of Rapunzel’s Revenge.
You may dash off to your local bookstore, or, if you’re inclined to give Girl-Wonder.org monies, click through to the front page and order through our Amazon button. If you like this column, and the things it proposes as happy alterations to superhero comics, I damn-near guarantee that you will like this book.
