Wizards Tale (edition 1997)

The cover art is beautiful. In fact, being a graphic novel, all the pages contain simply gorgeous full-color detailed watercolor images. (visit here for examples: http://www.davidwenzel.com/wizardstale.html#) When selecting a graphic novel for this class, I just looked at artwork, rather than story, and this was one of the few on the shelves that had vivid colorful, artistic images, which is the sole reason I selected it.
It’s a simple “hero’s quest” redemption tale where the last in a long line of evil wizard must find a book that will consume the world in darkness, but his heart just isn’t in it. Our wizard is joined on his quest by a young boy seeking adventure, but is greatly disappointed when their quest goes perfectly and there are no dragons or other oddities to fight. The story was charming, but seemed age appropriate for younger teenagers, or “tweens”. In fact, the story could even be read to younger kid’s as a bedtime tale, that’s how adorably charming it is. And as an added bonus, there is a recipe at the end for Sunshine Cake, an item referenced in the tale. I’m a sucker for any book that contains recipes. ( )

I originally bought this simply for the art work without reading anything about the story. The art is beautiful, detailed and wonderfully colored and the story was a wonderful bonus.

The story is a redemption story about how an "evil" wizard (whose heart just isn't in it) changes his mind and finds redemption while saving the world from the powers of darkness as he tries to find a hidden magical book that will allow evil to rule forever. ( )