Review: Once Upon A Time Machine by Nordling, Rodriguez, Alexander, etc. (Graphic Novel)

Once Upon A Time Machine by Lee Nordling, Jason Rodriguez, Tara Alexander, etc.
Paperback, 432 pages
Expected publication: October 10th 2012 by Dark Horse Comics
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Fairy tales have fueled our dreams and fired our imaginations for centuries. Step inside a time machine built by a collection of today’s finest storytellers, and enter a range of futures where familiar tales are reimagined in an astonishing variety of styles. Editors Andrew Carl and Chris Stevens bring you the next wave of leading writers and illustrators working alongside superstar creators like Farel Dalrymple (Pop Gun War), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Khoi Pham (Daredevil), and Brandon Graham (King City) to deliver a reading experience that will delight generations young and old.

The first complaint I had was that this book wasn’t made to be read on the computer so it was a bit blurry at times. Some of the stories I was able to read because of that.

This is a graphic novel of various fairy tales and overall I was a little disappointed. I thought this book was going to be great and that usually ends in disappointment. There were definitely some stories I liked but a lot of them confused me. I highly suggest that you have a basic knowledge of all the fairytales before you read this book. Some of the stories I had never heard of so I was really confused by the retellings. Even some of the retellings where I knew the original story were hard to follow. They were very "out there." 

My favorite story was the Goldilocks and the Three Bears or Silver-Hair and the Three Xairs. That one actually made me laugh out loud. I also liked Pinocchio or The Stars Are Not Wanted Now and Sweet Porridge or Sweet Science.

The graphics throughout the stories weren’t bad but I didn’t think they were anything amazing. I think that is more just my taste. I did really like the illustrations that were between the stories that depicted various characters. Peter Pan, Unicorns, Santa Clause, and Tinker Bell and friends were some of my favorites. I did like pretty much all of those though.

I think this book will have a limited audience who really likes it. Not only do you need to like the classic fairytales but you also need to like graphic novels and a certain type of artwork. In the end I would buy this book so it can have a spot on my shelf.

My Rating

* This book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.