Monday, February 21, 2011

Courtney Crumrin's Monstrous Holiday by Ted Naifeh

I love the Courtney Crumrin graphic novels. These are very reader friendly. This is the fourth book of the series (in double checking I noticed that there are several versions of this book with different names and I don't know why but this one is the official vol 4 of the series).
Courtney Crumrin is a great character that should be loved by all. She's a young girl who is sent to live with her uncle who is a great "wizard" and she discovers she has magic as well. More importantly she has curiousity and a sense of justice that pulls her into the most amazing adventures.
In this volume, Courtney goes with her uncle to Romania and encounters werewolves and vampires. It's an interesting group of stories.
The werewolves are gypsies and are being hunted by the local men of the area. Courtney risks everything to save the werewolves in the name of love and what's right.
Her uncle takes her on the second part of their journey where Courtney meets a lonely young man. It doesn't take the reader long to understand what this young man is but Courtney is so lonely and sad that she doesn't care that the boy may kill her so long as she has just one person who understands how she feels.
It was a touching story about life and risk. What are we willing to risk for love and/or affection.
The book is not a fairy tale with a moral but I can see how one can easily turn it into a discussion of humanity. You get a real sense of Courtney's pain in this book that you didn't see in the others but you also see a slightly different side to her uncle.
The great thing is that this book can stand alone. But I highly recommend reading them all.

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