Under the proud banner, “Comics—they’re not just for grown-ups anymore!” the editors of RAW Magazine call on 17 contributors for a dozen cartoon folktales or folktale spin-offs, five single-page or spread-sized visual puzzles and two role-playing board games. David Macaulay plays his version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” relatively straight, as does Spiegelman with a tale about a prince who decides he’s a rooster. But Daniel Clowes concocts a grim (or, more precisely, Grimm) sequel to “Sleeping Beauty,” and William Joyce a sprightly one for “Humpty Dumpty.” There is also a challenging matching game from J. Otto Siebold, from Bruce McCall a Rapunzel “What’s Wrong with This Picture?” and—rare treasure—a “Gingerbread Man” from the 1940s by Walt Kelly. Running the visual gamut of modern cartoon art, the panels are filled with figures now crudely drawn and grotesque, now charmingly sophisticated, but the collection hangs together brilliantly as a whole, despite all the individual drawing and storytelling styles, without rough joins or violent switches of mood. Libraries may have a problem keeping the board games’ dozens of punch-out pieces together, but this should be a big hit with both the picture book and the non-superhero comics crowd. (Folktales. 6+)
