Have you seen the Jim Henson’s Storyteller series?  It’s a TV series from the ’80s, and it is awesome.  Puppets, fairy tales (the dark ones), John Hurt, and the dog from Fraggle Rock.  Basically, the premise is that back in the day, the Storyteller was always given a free meal close to the fire to tell his tales – often with lessons hidden inside.  Then, John Hurt would go on and tell a tale with puppets and people that often led to tragedy.  The tales were sometimes reminiscent of modern fairy tales (although I can’t think of an example).  In short, the TV show was like The Muppets meets Dark Crystal with Dark Ages morality.  Cool stuff.  Freaked me out as a kid.

Anyway, Archaia is doing their Storyteller series and is on comic book number 4 of 4.  It’s a good one and is based on an unpublished episode from the TV series.  It follows the setup of the TV show seamlessly, with the Storyeller and his dog in a dark room.  Introducing the story with identical nuance and language . . . it’s a bit like stepping back to 1988 and watching a new episode.

The story is about Vasilissa, a girl who lives deep in the woods, in a village forgotten by God.  She has the life of Cinderella (which I suspect was lifted from this old tale) and encounters Baba Yaga, a witch that lives in the woods.  Stuff and things, yada yada yada, the end.  I don’t do spoilers. 

Anyway, you want my opinion?  This stuff is great.  Issue #4 is incredible, but so were #1-#3.  If you are 35-45 years old (or a hipster) and watch/watched the show, then buying this comic is a no-brainer.  If you don’t know the show, I recommend watching it – it’s on the interwebs.  Then, you’ll read this comic and likely send me fanmail for telling you about it.

Oh, so the comic is adapted and illustrated by Jeff Stokely.  He’s a talented fellow. You might know his work, Six-Gun Gorilla. If you don’t, you should.  Anyway, he does his thing – which is to say he makes great art which takes you away.  I was immersed in the world, and it was a combination of the art and dialogue which did it.

So, buy the comic.  It’s good.