While Spider-man has never been my favorite superhero I loved these fairy tales featuring the familiar characters of Spider-man. There is a little red riding hood tale, an anansi story, a japanese tale, and a cinderella tale featuring a role reversal where Peter Parker is Cinderella. Like real fairy tales these stories all have a dark cast to them. These stories also serve as a reminder of how closely superhero stories relate to the literary archetypes. I really hope that the author continues all of the story arcs found in this graphic novel, because I would love to see what happens next. ( )

While Spider-man has never been my favorite superhero I loved these fairy tales featuring the familiar characters of Spider-man. There is a little red riding hood tale, an anansi story, a japanese tale, and a cinderella tale featuring a role reversal where Peter Parker is Cinderella. Like real fairy tales these stories all have a dark cast to them. These stories also serve as a reminder of how closely superhero stories relate to the literary archetypes. I really hope that the author continues all of the story arcs found in this graphic novel, because I would love to see what happens next. ( )

While Spider-man has never been my favorite superhero I loved these fairy tales featuring the familiar characters of Spider-man. There is a little red riding hood tale, an anansi story, a japanese tale, and a cinderella tale featuring a role reversal where Peter Parker is Cinderella. Like real fairy tales these stories all have a dark cast to them. These stories also serve as a reminder of how closely superhero stories relate to the literary archetypes. I really hope that the author continues all of the story arcs found in this graphic novel, because I would love to see what happens next. ( )

While Spider-man has never been my favorite superhero I loved these fairy tales featuring the familiar characters of Spider-man. There is a little red riding hood tale, an anansi story, a japanese tale, and a cinderella tale featuring a role reversal where Peter Parker is Cinderella. Like real fairy tales these stories all have a dark cast to them. These stories also serve as a reminder of how closely superhero stories relate to the literary archetypes. I really hope that the author continues all of the story arcs found in this graphic novel, because I would love to see what happens next. ( )

Sider-Man retells fairy tales
6:24 pm 19 October 2015
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales - Ricardo Tercio Vinagre Guimaraes, Kei Kobayashi, Nick Dragotta, Niko Henrichon, C.B. Cebulski, Mike Allred
And while the ones I was more familiar with - Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood - had twists, there was a tale about Anansi and a Japanese horror story that I wasn't familiar with at all. I do assume that they were twisted to the purposes of a Spider-Man retelling, though, given the other two stories.

They were cute new takes that melded a fairy tale or horror story along with the Spider-Man mythos. Each one was a separate story, and although they tended to have elements in common, the story of Anansi didn't have an Aunt May character. Actually, neither did Cinderella. Red Riding Hood didn't have Uncle Ben.

But they were all connected in a way: they all used Peter Parker's life as a basis for these retellings. It kinda seemed like fan service, but well done - well written and well illustrated - fan service. And I read it that way: light, fluffy things that weren't really meant to be taken seriously. It was fun enough if you took things that way.

If not, I suppose it could get irritating, or seem pointless. Maybe it was a little pointless. But I liked it for all that. Not my absolute favorite thing ever, but a really fun time to spend an hour or two.

One tended to only need to know the basics of Parker's life, too. I suppose the Cinderella story would hold a little less meaning if you didn't know the specifics of Gwen Stacy's death, but other than that? You really just needed to know that he was orphaned at a young age, was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and swings around town in a spider costume in a superhero.

And even if you don't know about Stacy, the Cinderealla story works on its own as a self-contained fairy tale. I just suspect it wouldn't mean as much to me if I didn't know the backstory; there are little details that add up after a while. I suppose the more you know about Spider-Man, the more you catch them. ( )