Better than Valentines!
Wednesday, 14 February 2007 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
siguneWhile catching up with my flist (which is, on account of my location on the globe, always very active while I am asleep), I got the most wonderful surprise an ardent lover of black-and-white comics, witches and warlocks can get: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tednaifeh has posted an update! Better still, in it he announces the fourth adventure of Courtney Crumrin, to start in August of this year!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
*ahem*
Should Snape die in Deathly Hallows, Aloysius Crumrin will be there to console me ;).
I suppose that it may sound like sacrilege to many of my flisties, but actually - actually - I think that Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin series is superior to Harry Potter. Because it is a comic and published in black and white, it doesn't have quite the same universal appeal that Potter does - but it is more daring, more subtle, and it makes you think rather more. Plus, it has marvellous style. The graphics are brilliant and the dialogues sharp; the characters are wonderfully ambiguous and grey. And I mustn't forget to mention Naifeh's sense of humour :). They are among my few favourites.
For those of you who don't know the series:
Courtney is a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old. Her parents are two empty-headed snobs who wish their daughter was a bit more 'normal' - as in, more sociable, and interested in 'girl things' like shopping and make-up and such. Instead, Courtney is a loner, sarcastic, stubborn and cross, and she finds her parents dreadfully embarrassing and rather unhelpful in any matter with which she struggles. When, however, shortage of money urges the Crumrins to move in with papa Crumrin's old uncle (or great-uncle, or great-great-uncle, or great-great-great ... nobody seems very sure), Courtney's life changes. Uncle Aloysius is a warlock, and Courtney is his heir in magic.
Nothing very special so far? Granted. But what sets the series apart from others in its kind (besides the stunning graphics) is its little heroine's very imperfect character. She is very intelligent, but her gruffness is a barier that makes communication with other people, whether adults or children, difficult. Courtney bears grudges, follows her own sense of justice, and is not afraid of doling out merciless punishments - think a Harry Potter who is perfectly capable of casting Unforgivable Curses - Potter without the schmoopy lurve stuff. In fact, thinking of her perpetual scowl, I guess she is more a little girl Snape :). It's not hard to figure out why I like Courtney better than Harry, is it?
Courtney's Dumbledore is her 'Uncle A.'. The thing that, once again, attracts me is that though Aloysius Crumrin is obviously a decent person, he does not draw a line between white and dark magic, and he is a champion of the Night Things, a bunch of creepy (and sometimes very beautiful - mmm, Skarrow...) creatures who live underground and are considered vermin by the standards of the magical community. To top it all, when Uncle Aloysius goes out he wears a bowler hat, a gorgeous black overcoat with a fur collar, and he carries a swordstick... *swoon* To quote his creator, "he's pretty cool for an old guy" ;).
My favourite book so far is number two, Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics. It features the cats Quick and Boo, and there are Skarrow and Miss Crisp.
I'm so looking forward to the next story! :)
tednaifeh has posted an update! Better still, in it he announces the fourth adventure of Courtney Crumrin, to start in August of this year!SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
*ahem*
Should Snape die in Deathly Hallows, Aloysius Crumrin will be there to console me ;).
I suppose that it may sound like sacrilege to many of my flisties, but actually - actually - I think that Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin series is superior to Harry Potter. Because it is a comic and published in black and white, it doesn't have quite the same universal appeal that Potter does - but it is more daring, more subtle, and it makes you think rather more. Plus, it has marvellous style. The graphics are brilliant and the dialogues sharp; the characters are wonderfully ambiguous and grey. And I mustn't forget to mention Naifeh's sense of humour :). They are among my few favourites.
For those of you who don't know the series:
Courtney is a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old. Her parents are two empty-headed snobs who wish their daughter was a bit more 'normal' - as in, more sociable, and interested in 'girl things' like shopping and make-up and such. Instead, Courtney is a loner, sarcastic, stubborn and cross, and she finds her parents dreadfully embarrassing and rather unhelpful in any matter with which she struggles. When, however, shortage of money urges the Crumrins to move in with papa Crumrin's old uncle (or great-uncle, or great-great-uncle, or great-great-great ... nobody seems very sure), Courtney's life changes. Uncle Aloysius is a warlock, and Courtney is his heir in magic.
Nothing very special so far? Granted. But what sets the series apart from others in its kind (besides the stunning graphics) is its little heroine's very imperfect character. She is very intelligent, but her gruffness is a barier that makes communication with other people, whether adults or children, difficult. Courtney bears grudges, follows her own sense of justice, and is not afraid of doling out merciless punishments - think a Harry Potter who is perfectly capable of casting Unforgivable Curses - Potter without the schmoopy lurve stuff. In fact, thinking of her perpetual scowl, I guess she is more a little girl Snape :). It's not hard to figure out why I like Courtney better than Harry, is it?
Courtney's Dumbledore is her 'Uncle A.'. The thing that, once again, attracts me is that though Aloysius Crumrin is obviously a decent person, he does not draw a line between white and dark magic, and he is a champion of the Night Things, a bunch of creepy (and sometimes very beautiful - mmm, Skarrow...) creatures who live underground and are considered vermin by the standards of the magical community. To top it all, when Uncle Aloysius goes out he wears a bowler hat, a gorgeous black overcoat with a fur collar, and he carries a swordstick... *swoon* To quote his creator, "he's pretty cool for an old guy" ;).
My favourite book so far is number two, Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics. It features the cats Quick and Boo, and there are Skarrow and Miss Crisp.
I'm so looking forward to the next story! :)
