Tag Archives: fairy tale

Kodansha Comics Announces Fairy Tail Final Volume Celebration

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The iconic manga series Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima, one of North America’s—and the world’s— all-time best-selling comics, will be releasing its final volume—Volume 63—on January 23. To mark the event, Fairy Tail publisher Kodansha Comics has announced #FairyTailDay celebrations at participating bookstores across the country on January 27.

On January 23, fans will have a chance to party with their fellow Fairy Tail friends “IRL” on #FairyTailDay January 27 at over 50 participating bookstores.

The first 50 fans to show up at participating stores on #FairyTailDay will receive an exclusive, full-color, 48-page, comic-book version of the final chapter of Fairy Tail. This will be the only way to get this Fairy Tail Day-exclusive chapter.

Those who show up in cosplay are eligible to win a free enamel pin. Creative types will have a shot at a pin in the “Design Your Own Guild Mark” contest. All attendees will be able to take photos in front of an exclusive Fairy Tail Day photo backdrop. Fans who hashtag #FairyTailDay on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter will also qualify for a surprise.

A list of participating locations is viewable here. Fans should check with their local stores to confirm start times.

Review: Little Mermaid #4

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gftlm004The direction in which Zenescope has pushed some of its fairy tale characters has been hard to comprehend.  Some of its characters have had a fairly faithful adaptation to the modern day, while others have struggled to find justification for their association to their namesakes.  Although there are worse cases in Grimm Fairy Tales (such as Cindy), the Little Mermaid has mostly been depicted as neither good nor evil.  She was originally introduced early on in Grimm Fairy Tales but then was ignored until the company went with its bigger picture approach into universe building.  She reappeared in the Myths and Legends story line, but once again she was neither good nor evil, instead acting as an agent of the Sea Witch against her will.

The new series has seemingly tried to redeem that.  Although the direction to be taken with her character is not yet clear, it is evident that it will be somewhat different from what has come before.  Instead of a blank slate for a background, she has been established as somewhat closer to the fairy tale, with royal lineage from those that live below the seas.  It is this background which gives her past a more heroic outlook, even if she is been used for evil in the present time.  As this issue progresses her past and her present come together as she is still held in the research facility designed to create an army.

This is not an entirely fresh take on the Little Mermaid fairy tale, but it does give some new to go with the old.  While some parts of this come off looking as though they were taken straight out of an Aquaman issue, there are other parts which attempt to frame the idea of a mermaid as something a little different.  Evidently Zenescope wants another main hero to include in its ensemble, and for that it cannot really be faulted, as its treatment of female heroes is generally pretty good compared to the industry standard, and as there are not really enough female characters out there.  This ends up being somewhere in between of some of the better stuff that Zenescope puts out as compared to its confusing main series.  It is not necessarily memorable, but still worth a look.

Story: Meredith Finch  Art: Miguel Medonca
Story:  7.7 Art: 7.7  Overall: 7.7  Recommendation: Read