GFT Retrospective #38: Puss In Boots (& More)
Article by Sean Wilkinson,
a.k.a. The Omnibuster (eventually)
Welcome to February, where the love doesn't stop and neither do I!
You may notice that the last issue I covered (Pinocchio) was Grimm Fairy Tales #32, and I'm skipping to issue #34. That's because I already reviewed #33 (Three Snake Leaves) in my Sinbad edition of Zenescope - Omnibusted. When I do an Omnibusted for Volume Six, I will re-include that issue review for completion's sake.
Also, this post will include two issue reviews that are part of what I'm calling the "Claire Collection" or the "Art & Souls" (puns!) Arc. But because there's a new Puss In Boots movie out, I thought I'd capitalize on Search Engine Optimization by going with the chosen title.
Stretching the issue count once again, we have Puss In Boots, another fairy tale not originally by the Brothers’ Grimm (the oldest version being from Giovanni Francesco Straparola, with later versions by other Italian and French authors before being included in a Grimm collection). Originally about a cat who can talk (because fairy tales) that tricks a king and his family into making a farmer into a wealthy nobleman, the version here is made much darker, with the adapted fairy tale serving as a provenance and historical record for a cursed object.
Lent an Egyptian cat-man statue (the titular cursed object) by her Aunt Claire, Stephanie is told of the item’s origins and potential financial worth by Belinda (a history that Belinda herself had a hand in perpetuating, because of course she did). Things end badly for Stephanie, and we find out that this is the beginning of another story arc.
I didn’t care much for this stretch of issues that followed Sela’s death, especially the issues that follow her resurrection (because I kept wondering why Sela wasn’t stepping in to save the day), but this was a rather twisty, entertaining issue that didn’t really do anything ludicrous for once. I mean, next to a boy who turns into a puppet and a woman who can swallow a ten-year-old, anaconda-style, a woman killing people to feed their souls to an Egyptian cat-man statue is downright normal by comparison.
So, a stretch.
a.k.a. The Omnibuster (eventually)
Welcome to February, where the love doesn't stop and neither do I!
You may notice that the last issue I covered (Pinocchio) was Grimm Fairy Tales #32, and I'm skipping to issue #34. That's because I already reviewed #33 (Three Snake Leaves) in my Sinbad edition of Zenescope - Omnibusted. When I do an Omnibusted for Volume Six, I will re-include that issue review for completion's sake.
Also, this post will include two issue reviews that are part of what I'm calling the "Claire Collection" or the "Art & Souls" (puns!) Arc. But because there's a new Puss In Boots movie out, I thought I'd capitalize on Search Engine Optimization by going with the chosen title.
GFT #34: Puss In Boots
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| GFT #34 Cover A |
Lent an Egyptian cat-man statue (the titular cursed object) by her Aunt Claire, Stephanie is told of the item’s origins and potential financial worth by Belinda (a history that Belinda herself had a hand in perpetuating, because of course she did). Things end badly for Stephanie, and we find out that this is the beginning of another story arc.
I didn’t care much for this stretch of issues that followed Sela’s death, especially the issues that follow her resurrection (because I kept wondering why Sela wasn’t stepping in to save the day), but this was a rather twisty, entertaining issue that didn’t really do anything ludicrous for once. I mean, next to a boy who turns into a puppet and a woman who can swallow a ten-year-old, anaconda-style, a woman killing people to feed their souls to an Egyptian cat-man statue is downright normal by comparison.
GFT #35: Dorian Gray
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| GFT #35 Cover A |
In addition to her being an evil college professor, librarian, book store owner, agricultural expert, fairy, swordswoman, social worker, witch, bitch, genie, Mediterranean island queen, Snow Queen, survivor of the Titanic, Egyptologist, and Pokemon trainer, along with whatever else I’ve forgotten, Belinda is also a painter now. I don’t suppose it’s any stranger than any of the plot contrivances Sela has been saddled with (the high school biology teacher premise from The Frog King and the Ruth Martin sequence from Snow White and~~ Rose Red come to mind), but still, it’s a stretch.
This issue picks up five years after Puss In Boots, with Claire now married to her niece’s guitar instructor, and still killing people to feed the statue.
Of course, the reason for Belinda to suddenly have mad painting skills is that Claire has hired her to paint a magic portrait of Don the guitar instructor that will age so he doesn’t have to.
And, at the funeral for Claire’s latest victim, Belinda tells Don the story of Dorian Gray (based on The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde), because conniving, scheming Belinda.
The tale is said to be set in 1890, with a man named Dorian having fallen for a talented young actress named Catherine. While having his portrait painted, Dorian remarks that if he’s lucky, it will be the portrait that ages for him (obvious foreshadowing!).
Dorian seems at first like another on-the-nose name connection to Don, except that the two men look nothing alike, hinting at the clear differences between Sela and Belinda as “Woman With Magic Book.”
Though she does occasionally take an active role in tales from her book (see Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, and Rip Van Winkle), Sela’s tales are more connected to the people she reads them to—or has them read for themselves. On the other hand, Belinda’s tales seem to be more connected to history (The Piper, Dorian Gray), or to Belinda herself (Pinocchio, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), than to her audience.
After a poor performance and being rejected by Dorian, Catherine kills herself off-page, leading Dorian down a self-destructive path of his own. But his wish comes true, and every year of guilt and pain is taken from him by the painting. Eventually, the burden becomes too much for Dorian, and he allows Catherine’s brother to kill him.
Meanwhile, Don realizes how Belinda’s story connects to his own life and why his friends are really dying. He smashes the Puss In Boots statue and uses a shard to slice up his portrait, killing both Claire and himself in the process. In true horror movie sequel bait fashion, Belinda passes the pieces of the statue on to someone else, claiming that when reassembled, it will still work, though--to my knowledge--a third part to this story is never seen.
This issue picks up five years after Puss In Boots, with Claire now married to her niece’s guitar instructor, and still killing people to feed the statue.
Of course, the reason for Belinda to suddenly have mad painting skills is that Claire has hired her to paint a magic portrait of Don the guitar instructor that will age so he doesn’t have to.
And, at the funeral for Claire’s latest victim, Belinda tells Don the story of Dorian Gray (based on The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde), because conniving, scheming Belinda.
The tale is said to be set in 1890, with a man named Dorian having fallen for a talented young actress named Catherine. While having his portrait painted, Dorian remarks that if he’s lucky, it will be the portrait that ages for him (obvious foreshadowing!).
Dorian seems at first like another on-the-nose name connection to Don, except that the two men look nothing alike, hinting at the clear differences between Sela and Belinda as “Woman With Magic Book.”
Though she does occasionally take an active role in tales from her book (see Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, and Rip Van Winkle), Sela’s tales are more connected to the people she reads them to—or has them read for themselves. On the other hand, Belinda’s tales seem to be more connected to history (The Piper, Dorian Gray), or to Belinda herself (Pinocchio, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), than to her audience.
After a poor performance and being rejected by Dorian, Catherine kills herself off-page, leading Dorian down a self-destructive path of his own. But his wish comes true, and every year of guilt and pain is taken from him by the painting. Eventually, the burden becomes too much for Dorian, and he allows Catherine’s brother to kill him.
Meanwhile, Don realizes how Belinda’s story connects to his own life and why his friends are really dying. He smashes the Puss In Boots statue and uses a shard to slice up his portrait, killing both Claire and himself in the process. In true horror movie sequel bait fashion, Belinda passes the pieces of the statue on to someone else, claiming that when reassembled, it will still work, though--to my knowledge--a third part to this story is never seen.
Next week in the GFT Retrospective, one of the worst early issues of the series gets a competent, belated sequel. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow, join, click ads, and do all that other good stuff because there isn't a magic painting to do it all for you.
It's the month of love, and what would a holiday be without an Adam Sandler movie? Ticket Stubs returns tomorrow with my old review of Spanglish, but I'll also be posting TBT 2023 links on Facebook, Tumblr, and Reddit for my old review of Fast Five. Then, on Friday, we continue the trend of movies and franchises that replace letters and words with numbers in my Just the Ticket review of M3GAN.
Stay Tuned, and
Omnibuster,
Out!
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