Customer Reviews

Courtney Crumrin, Vol. 3: Courtney Crumrin In The Twilight Kingdom (v. 3)

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

 

 

In this volume we get to know a little more about the girl herself. Other volumes were great in showing us exactly why Courtney is such an outcast (attitude, clothes, family, ect), but this volume gives us a little more about her past. More importantly, though, it gives us the chance to see how she'll react to being in a class amongst her peers, REAL magic using peers.

The artwork, as always, is fun, beautiful, and a bit frightening at the same time. Naifeh does a great job of showing us Crumrin's world, and I am eagerly awaiting the next volume. Maybe this volume doesn't capture us as immediately as the first 2 did, but when it grips you, this volume won't let you go until you've finished it!

Would I recommend this? Heck yeah! It's got something for everyone. It has great plot, drama, action... just about everything!

Courtney Crumrin is back in this third story. This time Courtney really needs to watch her back as someone is out to get her and put an end to her ways. At the end of the last story, Courtney doled out some justice to the summoner of Rawhead Rex. Now she has a lot of new challenges.

Chapter 1: Courtney visits her old neighborhood while her parents try vainly to sell their old condo. Courtney's old associations are strained but her new talents come in handy to help an old friend.

Chapters 2-4: Courtney is enrolled in Saturday school where she learns more about the community in which she lives. But one of the other kids is a show off and turns his brother into a night thing despite Courtney's warnings. When the spell cannot be reversed, Courtney is enlisted to help. She discovers that there is a way to lift the curse but it involves a dangerous visit to the Twilight King. To make matters worse, the deputy seems to have uncovered COURTNEY's involvement of the last story and is trying to stop her.

A wonderful story. We see some hints of how the community has come to be and the Crumrin involvement. Uncle Aloysius is seen a little less but he is there where needed. The teaser at the end leaves plenty of possibilities for the next story.

Reprinting the third four-issue miniseries starring adorable young curmudgeon Courtney Crumrin and her excellent cast of co-stars, "In The Twilight Kingdom" manages to come very, very close to its predecessor "Courtney Crumrin And The Coven Of Mystics", which I consider to be one of the greatest comic arcs ever published.

The first issue reprinted here is a bit atypical for the Crumrin series; it's a brief visit back to the hometown Courtney lived in before moving to Hillsborough. Different isn't bad though; this story is riveting as Courtney reconnects with her old friend and is disgruntled, and later more deeply concerned, about the turns her friend's life has taken in the past year.

It's with #s 2-4 that the story of young witches and warlocks eager to prove their prowess at the start of a new school year, the calamitous results of one spell, and the journey into the Twilight World begins. Courtney finds herself compelled to help a group of her peers she's not especially fond of (our dear little grumpy champion does make human friends so easily!). The journey to the Twilight Kingdom takes the group deep, deep into the heart of the world of the Night Things, farther than Courtney's ever been. And when the Twilight King himself appears....

Now, this collection introduces a number of characters who could well go on to be longstanding parts of the Courtney Crumrin/Hillsborough/Night Things mythos, but it's the King who stands out. Within the first couple of pages of his entrance he establishes himself as, believe it or not, not only one of the most fascinating and unforgettable characters in the aforementioned mythos but in comicdom as a whole. When was the last time Any comic book character did that so quickly? Maybe Imperiex's first true appearance in DC's "Our Worlds At War" crossover, but he'd been built up, both directly and indirectly, for a long time beforehand. The Twilght King, like Uncle Aloysius, like the numerous unforgettable and distinctive goblins (some of whom I don't think have even had their names revealed yet), like the Dreadful Duchess and like Courtney herself, is one of the reasons I think this ongoing cycle has what it takes to last, to be part of comic history like Superman or the X-Men. Cripes, if not for the small fact that 99.9% of the world has no idea a series of books called "Courtney Crumrin" exist, this could be as big as Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings.

There's a lot of similarities here to Potter actually, which brings me to another point. The Crumrin series seems to get classed as a children's series, and while there's a lot in the books that appeals to me in the same way as movies like "Fairy Tale: A True Story", "Kiki's Delivery Service" or "Dumbo", there are other aspects that appeal in the same way as horror movies. There is some dark stuff in here, harkening back to the fairy tales of old (you know, wolves wolfing down Grandma, wicked crones trying to trick little children into the oven...) and after reading quite a lot that's classedas horror and seeing - I don't know how many horror movies, hundreds At Least - I can confidently say that a character like Rawhead'N'Bloody Bones is Pretty Freaking Scary! The stories are also full of compassion and wonder and fantasy, and I'm certainly not one to recommend blocking books, but the bottom line is if your five year-old wants to get into the world of Courtney Crumrin, perhaps you should read the first couple of isues to him or her as a bedtime story or someting? Just in case the little ones get frightened...

All that aside (after all, Potter and other kid-geared stuff can be frightening for the Really young fan) this is a fantastic entry in the Crumrin series. There's plenty here to appeal to fans of everything from anime to Harry Potter to epic fantasy (a la Tolkein and Robert Jordan) to Disney to the whole gamut of comic books out there and even to horror movies, with all aspects of the story blended perfectly. An outstanding volume of material, and Enter The Twilight King!

This is the third book in the Courtney Crumrin series; I believe there are four books in this series with the fourth book titled, Courtney Crumrin's Monstrous Holiday. It was a fun read but I didn't like it quite as much as the previous two books.

Courtney has switched schools again; she is in the Coven's special school for magical studies. Courtney takes a trip back to her old home to hang with an old friend. Then she helps her fellow classmates journey into the Twilight Kingdom to fix a problem they create when a magic spell goes wrong.

The first chapter was all about Courtney going back home so that her parents can sell their old house. She hangs out with an old friend who has changed for the worse. I didn't enjoy the first chapter as much because it didn't really have anything magical or mystical. It basically just gave a little back story on Courtney and solidified the fact that her parents are losers.

The remaining chapters were much more interesting. Courtney and her classmates journey through the Goblin market and the Twilight Kingdom. Her classmates get into trouble and she helps get them out of trouble. It was interesting, fun to read about, and action packed.

The illustration matches the mood of the story well. The pictures are easy to follow and add a lot to the story; it is easy to tell the characters moods by their expressions.

The story is wrapped up nicely and things are set up for Courtney's monstrous holiday with her uncle.

Overall I really enjoyed this installment in the Courtney Crumrin series. I was a bit confused about what relevance the first chapter had and didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the book. I highly recommend this series for fans of fantasy graphic novels. This graphic novel is appropriate for middle grade and older.

What I love about Ted's story telling where his Courtney Crumrin stories are concerned is the main character, as well as those around her. Courtney so very much walks a fine line between being a great character and becoming a Mary Sue that it's nail-biting at times. Luckily Ted doesn't succumb to the temptation and he takes a major story element from the end of the second graphic novel and weaves it into the third one so that Courtney is forced rather painfully to deal with her having avenged her Night Thing friend Skarrow.

For all Courtney's power and seeming ability to win friends among some of the Night Things, she still can't get along with humans in general, even those who also have magical powers. Her magic studies classmates poo-poo her warnings and disaster results for all. Soon Courtney and the children must make a dangerous quest to visit the Twilight King, who is one of the most intriguing and tragic of all the Fae peoples, and one of the best characters Ted has created thus far in this series. The Twilight King is also refreshing mostly in that Ted shows us that not all the Night Things are inherently hostile towards humans, and even loves and cares about them despite the fact that they destroyed his forest domains and drove him and his subjects beneath the earth.

Where the previous graphic novel went to dark places, this story goes to tragic ones, and shows us the real meaning of what consequences, family, love, revenge, tragedy, and justice is all about.

we love the Courtney Crumrin series...
dear lovers of magical graphic novels,
..., we love the art and the stories. In this one Courtney's friends in magic school try a spell without considering the consequences and Courtney has to take them into the Twilight Realm to unravel it and set things straight. Great stuff.
kyela,
the silver elves

This was given to me as a christmas gift. I wasnt sure about reading a YA (young adult) graphic novel (I'm in my late 30's), but my friend knew I was a fan of both graphic novels and in particular of the urban fantasy genre. Still, I gave it a try and was delightfully engaged by both the story and the artistic moody style of Naifeh. Needless to say I had to go and pick up volumes 1 and 2. I highly recommend this series not just to younger readers but for adults too. Delighfully dark and fun (althogh it has very dark themes, like all good fairy tales do). Now I am anxiously waiting for volume 4 which should be out end of March 2009.

I love this comic like 10 to the infinite power.
It's great for all ages and of course if your a nerdy/dorky and a little bit gothy/dark girl, you'll love it 'cuz you'll totally see yourself in Courtney. I love her sarcasm and i passed it on to my 10 year old cousin and she loves her too.