Customer Reviews

Courtney Crumrin, Vol. 2: Courtney Crumrin & The Coven of Mystics (Courtney Crumrin Tales)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Starring the most lovable young curmudgeon in comic book history, Courtney Crumrin, "Coven Of Mystics" is one of the most enderaing, laugh-out loud hilarious, tragic, bittersweet, imaginative and triumphant books I've ever read, comic book or prose, fiction or non-fiction. It's also one of the scariest, with the Rawhead 'N Bloody Bones bog monster more frightening than most of the nasties conceived of by Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft. As far as comedic value goes, I rank it with "Fawlty Towers", "Fierce Creatures", and "A Fish Called Wanda", and the "Gon" comics. On mix of triumph and tragedy, fear and delight and whimsey, think "E.T.", "Bambi", and even "Simon Birch".

With a superb cast of characters - on par with the cast of the "Batman" or "X-Men" lines of comics, and unique, quirky art so expressive, especially in certain panels, that it sums up the expression 'A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words' perhaps better than anything I've ever encountered. As a bonus, the back of the book reprints, free of words, blurbs or logos, the original covers to the individual comics of the mini-series this volume reprints.

If you like this (or love it like I do), I'd also recommend the following (or if you're into the following I'd recommend "Coven Of Mystics") - {comics} - the other Courtney titles, "Gon" and "Bone" (for starters); {novels}- "The Gnole" by Alan Aldridge, Steve Boyett and Maxine Miller; "Balook" by Piers Anthony; "Duncton Wood" by William Horwood (definately not for younger readers despite a huge abundance of beauty and charm); {movies} - "Spirited Away", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Fairy Tale: A True Story" "Castle In The Sky", "Fluke" (young kids should watch with a grown-up), "Princess Mononoke" (same deal as "Fluke")

I bought the first comic of Courtney Crumrin on a whim, and I eagerly bought the newest installment, the Coven of Mystics. The plot of this one is even better than the first one. It adds depth to all the existing characters and also introduces us to some promising new ones, such as Ms. Crisp, Courtney's new no-nonsense teacher, and Tobermory, the leader of the cats. The Coven of Mystics also alludes to the politics of the magical community that Courtney is only beginning to venture into.

Basically this story is about love, whether romantic or familial. The story takes many turns, some of them can be terrifying and bad things sometimes happen to good people. It's a very rewarding graphic novel and one well worth your money.

Courtney is a school girl whose family has moved in with their great-uncle. The clueless parents have no idea what is really going on and they make are pretty much left out of this volume.

Instead, we get more interaction between Courtney and her uncle, a powerful sorcerer. This volume has more of a continuous plot than the first and gives us a better idea of the magic community.

Courtney may be tough and headstrong, but even she knows to be careful when something very nasty has been summoned in the woods. Will her uncle be able to stand against it?

Then Courtney is privileged to visit the night world of the cats and meets a new friend. A friend that others believe has harmed a popular sorceress. Courtney and her uncle work to save him.

As Courtney works to save her friend, she learns more of the Council and the politics that seem to drive it. Courtney is not pleased.

These four tales are a little darker than those of the first volume, but Courtney shows good character development (see what happens when she reads a poem in school) and the additional information about the world of magic is very well done.

An excellent continuation of the series. I look forward to more.

Ted Naifeh has done it again, proving he is one of the most amazing voices working in comics today. The tales here are a bit darker than his previous Courtney Crumrin series, but character has grown a bit since first discovering the world of magick, so it works well. Beautiful art, a compelling storyline, and a heroine who anyone who's ever felt alone can relate to. Wonderful work, Ted!

This is the second book in the Courney Crumrin series. I absolutely love this series. In this book Courtney has to face a darker foe than ever before and it was a fun and exciting read.

Courtney Crumrin is settling in to both her new house and new school. She is learning how to deal with the Night Things better, but when a new and more horrible Night Thing threatens their community the local Coven of Mystics blame it on a Night Thing named Skarrow. Both Courtney and her uncles suspect that Skarrow is innocent, but they need to both protect the village from the horrible new Night Thing and prove Skarrow's innocence before the Mystics find and take him into custody.

The story for this installment in the series was a lot more complicated than the last series. There were also a lot of fun things that happened. Courtney is a great character. She is tough and smart and sarcastic and funny. She grows a lot in this book too and finally starts to realize that it might be better to try and make some friends at school than always be by herself.

Her uncle tries to keep Courtney out of many of the conflicts, but Courtney is stubborn and always involves herself. In the end she usually does more good than bad so it is all good. I really enjoy the relationship she has with her uncle; they both help each other out and really seem to care about one another.

Uncle Aloysius is an awesome character. He has a good dry sense of humor, really cares about Courtney and can seriously kick butt with both his magic and his sword.

There is a lot of action in this series and I loved how each chapter had an independent story as well as building on a larger story arc. I enjoyed the new types of Night Things we meet, I enjoyed Courtney's stent as a cat, and I enjoyed when she wandered down into the realm of the Night Things.

The first book in the series I got as an ebook to review and that was in full color. This book was in black and white only and that made the illustration more lackluster than the full color version I had seen for the first book. Naifeh does an excellent job conveying facial expression and I never found the drawings or story confusing. The style of drawing is pretty cartoony for the characters' bodies, although the backgrounds are very detailed. In general the illustration did a good job of supporting the story; I just wish we could see this in full color like the first book.

Overall I really, really enjoyed this book. It has an interesting and fun story that is complex. Courtney grows a lot in this book and begins to come into her own as a witch. We get to see a lot more of Uncle Aloysius in action; he is an awesome character. I highly recommend this for fans of fantasy graphic novels; this book is appropriate for middle grade and older. If you liked this book I would also recommend checking out Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet series or Jeff Smith's Bone series.

Several other reviewers have gone into detail about the Courtney Crumrin & The Coven of Mystics, so I'll skip to other aspects of the story. This is definitely NOT for little children, at least not without some serious parental guidance, as many opening and the ending scenes are very gruesome, and are the stuff of pure nightmares.

This story introduces a very horrible man-eating, soul-enslaving giant Hobgoblin, Tommy Rawhead, whom even other Night things fear, and the Council of the local Coven have to call in their trump card, Courtney's Uncle Aloysius to find it and do battle with it after it murders a prominent warlock, his wife, and their children. He must find a way to stop it before it murders anyone else in the Coven. At the same time a mystery unfolds around another Night thing, Skarrow, whom Courtney discovers is involved in the Council's political power struggles, and is being blamed, perhaps unfairly for having put a spell on a local powerful witch he once served. Is it related to Tommy's murderous spree? Courtney works to find out, and in the process does some major growing up, changing her forever from an innocent, if grumpy kid, into a girl who now sees the real world for what it is.

This is the darkest of the three Courtney Crumrin stories by far and in some ways the most rewarding because of the growing up Courtney must do in order to solve the duel mysteries. As a result, this is not for everyone, and some may not like the direction it goes with, especially since Ted Naifeh pulls no punches in telling his story.

Courtney Crumrin...
dear lovers of magical graphic novels,
... is simply wonderful. She reminds us a bit in disposition of Emily the Strange. She is charming despite her near permanent scowl, and we love stories about magic. The art is great and we so wish we could live in the house she inhabits with her warlock Uncle A. In this story, Courtney takes on the local magicians in an effort to save an elfin night creature, and she learns a few lessons from her new teacher in spite of herself. We eagerly look forward to reading more of her adventures.
kyela,
the silver elves

Like Harry Potter, these are books which target children ages 7 and higher, however, the material and subject matter is sophisticated enough to entertain adults. Im one such fan of Ted Naifeh, who's writing and art are at his best in this series about a young girl with gifted powers. Think of Courtney Crumrin as Wednesday from the Addam's Family except with magical powers. Both are curmudgeon's and yet adorable; kids who grow up too fast or who have old souls. Her adventures are typical for a girl of her age except they involve very real monsters and very deadly situations. If you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter you'll love this graphic novel series (yes, they are graphic novels or comics). I am now a fan of Mr. Naifeh and young Ms. Crumrin.

Ted Naifeh, Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics (Oni, 2003)

Courtney Crumrin's back and better than ever. In her second miniseries, we find that in the small town of Hillsborough, Courtney and her uncle Aloysius are far from the only two magicians in residence. In fact, there's an entire coven of mystics. (You may have guessed that from the title.) One of them is intent on mischief, and it falls to Courtney to uncover the villain. Doing that involves all sorts of experiences she's never had before--such as doing her own homework. Absolutely wonderful, this. Courtney is a fine creation. If you're not familiar with her yet, you should be. ****

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes gothic horror and humor. It's nice that the hero in this book is a heroine and a cool one on top of that... ;)