Last month I reviewed Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom. This month, I return to Crumrin's world with this review. A quick intro for those of you who aren't familiar with this series: Courtney is a young, unhappy girl who (along with her parents) lives with her mysterious old uncle Aloysius. Aloysius and Courtney both have magical powers. Though they're the protagonists of the story, they aren't necessarily "good." Naifeh's books are all-ages appropriate, but they have a certain grimness and a lot of moral grey areas, the sort of thing you don't always see in kids' comics. That's why I love them. As far as I can tell, Naifeh and Oni Press have moved away from publishing Crumrin stories as individual comics, and instead have moved to doing this little TPBs which are about the length of 2-3 comics and retail for $5.95. I think this is a nice setup as it gives you an entire short story in a single, affordable volume, and the packaging is more sturdy than your usual comic book - that means it will hold up better if you do give it to your kids! The Fire Thief's Tale is the first chapter in the story of Courtney and Uncle Aloysius's European vacation. While most people might go to Paris or Rome on such a trip, Aloysius goes to Romania to visit one of his old professor friends, this one of a more religious bent. Though these books tend to be rather sympathetic towards witchcraft, Naifeh wisely doesn't get heavy-handed in his portrayal of Christianity, and allows some of the religious men in the story to be decent people. It's a refreshingly open-minded representation that a lot of people on both sides of the fence could learn from. Like all good trips to Romania, this one involves werewolves and gypsies. Actually, werewolf gypsies. Like all good stories, it involves love. And like all good Goth stories, it involves a painfully accurate look at that emotion. Courtney continues to learn hard lessons about life and people. As long as she doesn't start writing emo poetry, I think we're all good. One thing that I enjoy about these comics, especially The Fire Thief's Tale, is that despite the fact that Courtney is a cynical little Goth girl, she still finds herself caring and she tries - in her own naive and sometimes misguided ways - to make things better. Sometimes things work out for her, sometimes they don't. I like not knowing if our heroine is going to succeed in the end. It makes the stories more believable and keeps me guessing as I read. This volume continues the same art and slightly overwrought narration found in previous Crumrin stories. If you liked those, you'll like this. If not, you won't. It's really that simple. As always, I recommend these comics for Goths of all ages. Next month, I'll do one more Crumrin review, and then we'll all just have to wait for more stories to come out!

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Copyright © 2008 By AJ Reardon E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com