Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Classics Illustrated’s Grimm Fairy Tales
Papercutz offers the first North American edition of comics adaptations

You’ve never seen fairy tales quite like this.

In May, Papercutz will ship TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM to
bookstores and comic-book shops. The 144-page, full-color book
presents the first official North American appearance of four stories
adapted by some of Europe’s finest comics artists.

• Philip Petit combines a painter’s mastery of color, a campfire
storyteller’s command of suspense, and a cartoonist’s touch of humor to

retell the famous “Hansel and Gretel.”

• In “Learning How to Shudder” by Mazan (the pen name of Pierre
Lavaud, artist of Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar’s popular series
Dungeon), a boy tries to be afraid, but nothing scares him — not even a

scarlet-skinned man with horns and a tail — until he gets a lesson from

a very unexpected source.

• “The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs” is fine artist Cecile
Chicault’s first comic-book work. It’s about a peasant boy who wants
to marry a king’s daughter — but the king won’t let him unless the boy
brings him hair from the devil’s head.

• And when the hero of Mazan’s “The Valiant Little Tailor” announces
too proudly that he’s killed seven with one blow — and doesn’t mention
that the seven are flies — he’s called on to fight some very grumpy
giants.

You can find preview art at
http://www.papercutz.com/classics/grimmpre1.html. The paperback edition

(ISBN-13 978-159707-100-0) retails for $13.95, and the hardcover
(ISBN-13 978-159707-101-7) for $17.95. Review copies are available.
Send web links of any coverage to David Seidman at
davidseidman@earthlink.net.

Classics Illustrated has introduced generations of students to great
literature. These comic-book editions of novels, plays, and poems sold
about 200 million copies from 1941 through 1998. TALES FROM THE
BROTHERS GRIMM is the third volume in Papercutz’s revival of the line,
after THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (adapted by Michel Plessix) and Charles
Dickens’ GREAT EXPECTATIONS (by Rick Geary).

The current issue of NEWSWEEK calls the new Classics Illustrated
“dazzling” and adds, “Papercutz, the company now licensing the brand,
has set very high standards. . . . [Children] love stories that
deliver, and Classics Illustrated always had the goods. Looks like it
still does.” “The volumes are perfectly designed for library shelves,
with sturdy bindings and a large enough size for kids to get a good
look at the contents,” SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL has said. “The artwork
is beautifully reproduced—crisp and clear—and each book contains
background about the series’ history and a brief bio of the
artist/adaptor.”

Papercutz publishes comic books and graphic novels for kids. The
company’s titles range from new adventures of the Hardy Boys and Nancy
Drew to TALES FROM THE CRYPT. For more information, please visit
http://www.papercutz.com or http://myspace.com/papercutzcomics

No comments: