Straight Forward Reviews: Tales of The Family Ashe

Welcome to Straight Forward Reviews where we look at comic books and tell you as plainly as possible, if it's worth your time or not. This time we're looking at the other collection of one shots set in the Princeless universe. Tales of the family Ashe.

You can see a review on the other collection of one shot short stories: Girls Who Rock

Review by Jeremias de León

Story

Since these are a collection of shorts there's naturally more than one storyline here. The story of the first short is a comedic look at Adrienne's older sister Angelica and her adventures in trying to plan an event.

The other story gives a look at the past of king Ashe as a young man, perhaps even a teenager. It's not dark but I would have to say it's the most serious of the stories. This story seems to have the most to do with the plot too. Especially if you remember the beginning of one of the issues in volume 2 and a dream Adrienne had.

The final story has to do with Adrienne's other sister Angoisse and her encounters with a man who seems to swoon over her but you wonder if he actually cares or not. This one is a comedic story too but more serious than the first story.

The writing in each short is great, as always the dialog and character interactions are what stands out the most in Princeless. The stories add something to the understanding of the characters or the universe and in this case that's a really good thing since the characters these shorts focus on are integral to the plot.

Art

Like the previous set of shorts the art for each story is done by a different artist. I have to say it was a real treat seeing these art styles. The artist for the first story Adriana Blake did a great job of having things look like a funny cartoon. Cullen Gardepe on the second story has a fantastic take on serious art that has a nostalgic feel to it. Considering the story the art was for was a flashback in a way it definitely works. Finally Autumn Crossman in the last story has a great way with the line-art as the flowing hair and clothes of Angoisse and the few people she meet give a great stylized look for the story.

Verdict

Each story is captivating for the few pages they get to themselves. The art for each story is really well thought out having a different style that fit each story. Finally the star of the show the writing and dialog is top notch. This is definitely a must get I give it a 9.5 out 10.

StraightForward Reviews: Princeless Vol.2 issue 3

Welcome to another edition of StraightForward Reviews this time we look at the continuation of Jeremy Whitley's Princeless

Review by Jeremias de Leon

Story

Adrienne meets her sister Angelica and tries to rescue her though it seems she doesn't want to get rescued. During this we also get more backstory on Adrienne's father and his allies. Then not much later we see a fight scene between Adrienne and one of the king's men. A comically awesome fight scene at that. This issue does a little bit of world building too. At least in glimpses. We learn more of other races of people and how the people besides Adrienne view the world and at least one of her sisters.

Jeremy Whitley continues, like in the past issues, with great character dialog and interactions that make the comic really engrossing.

Art

The direction the art takes in this issue is reminiscent of animation more than a comic book. Which makes sense with a story about colorful characters in a fantasy world. It truly lends itself well to the action scenes especially. Since it shows great dynamic movement but doesn't come across as too gritty or dark which you wouldn't want in an all ages book that can be seen as being given to younger readers. It's extremely eye-catching and imaginative. Going back to the action scenes it's the kind of art you should go back and look at over and over so you can soak in how creative it really is.

Verdict

No doubt about it Princeless is a real winner. It's captivating, charming, and has real substance to it. The characters really shine and the art is enjoyable. I give Princeless a well deserved 9.5 out of 10.