Colleen Doran | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Graphic Novel Review: Neil Gaiman’s Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Colleen Doran

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Colleen Doran

Dark Horse, 2019

ISBN-13: 9781506709796

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, comiXology

Adapted from Gaiman’s short story in the collection titled Smoke and Mirrors, Snow, Glass, Apples is a dark fairy tale version of Snow White. The Queen, terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter, has her heart set on saving her kingdom from a creature hell bent on devouring everyone in her path. This is not the Snow White tale we are familiar with. While the young girl appears innocent and sweet, she harbors a thirst for blood, and no one is safe from her appetite. Even her father, the King, is not safe from his own flesh and blood.

The most interesting part of Gaiman’s story is his take on who and what the Queen is and how she can scry. She is an enigma herself, but she is certainly not the evil queen we are familiar with in various media. She’s complicated, to put it mildly. As mentioned above, Snow is not the softhearted young lady depicted in stories and film. She is cold, calculating, devious. She’s also a seductress as see when the Queen asks her mirror about what is attacking the Forest Folk.

The artwork in this book is beautiful. It’s easy to get lost in the highly detailed panels. Doran’s work is reminiscent of Harry Clarke’s artwork. In fact, there is a nod to one of the artist’s famous pieces in the 1923 edition of Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. She writes about his influence in her artwork in the sketchbook included in this volume.

This is a fairy tale not meant for children. Adult themes are found throughout the story. It is heavy on sexual content, and there is implied incest between Snow and the King, her father. While it is an uncomfortable subject, it helps illustrate how hedonistic and animalistic this version of Snow White is. I would recommend this to readers who like alternative versions of fairy tales, with the understanding that, despite the bright colours Doran uses in her artwork, the content is far darker than expected. Recommended

Contains: blood, gore, implied incest, nudity, sexual content

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: Neil Gaiman’s Snow, Glass, Apples was nominated to the final ballot of the 2019 Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

Book Review: Troll Bridge

Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran

Dark Horse, 2016

ISBN-13: 9781506700083

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Troll Bridge, a graphic novel based on Gaiman’s short story from Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, follows Jack from child to adulthood, and his reluctant relationship with a lone bridge troll. As a child, he is frightened by ghosts, ghouls, and witches, but this does not stop him from his curiosity about the world around him. He meets a lurking, hungry troll during one of his wanderings across the uninhabited lands of his hometown. He is able to fend off the beast by promising to bring him a heartier meal when he’s older. When he tries to deliver as a teenager, the troll refuses his offering off a teenage girl, indicating he would not eat an innocent. Jack, again, is able to convince the troll that he would come back with a something better for him to dine on later in his life, and again, the troll acquiesces. Jack’s adult life is a cycle of trouble, and culminates in his wife taking their child and leaving him after she tires of his poor decision making and harmful actions. Wandering in unfamiliar territory, he finds himself in front of the old archway of the troll bridge, and finds the troll after much searching. What happens upon his return to the troll is unexpected.

Doran’s rich art style lends a haunting quality to Gaiman’s short story. Every page is haunting. Just as Jack’s life changes, so does the landscape of his hometown and the relationships he develops and just as easily destroy. Even the bridge troll himself is significantly different as the story takes shape. Gaiman and Dorman’s efforts with Troll Bridge not only prove the short story is a significant piece of art, but also that the graphic novel format isn’t simply a picture book. It can be the perfect medium for a solid piece of literature. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: Other works of Gaiman’s that have been made into graphic novels include his short story “Harlequin Valentine” and his novels Neverwhere, The Graveyard Book, and Coraline.