Erika and the Princes in Distress 2

(Nimue, review)

This is Yatuu’s second comedy fantasy graphic novel. I reviewed the first one over here – https://druidlife.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/erika-and-the-princes-in-distress/

You could start here as the story isn’t excessively complicated, but why deprive yourself of the first one? These are great fun.

The set-up is a world where women are big, muscly and in charge and boys are little and delicate and a bit infantilised.  Erika is a princess who wants to rule without having to get married, so she’s on a quest to save enough princes in distress to prove to her mother that she’s got what it takes. Our second prince has terrible bad breath, which makes the whole kissing to break the curse thing a bit awkward.

By reversing conventional gender roles, Yatuu is able to poke fun at gender conventions and  explore sexism. Things that we’re used to seeing muscle-bound ‘heroes’ do are shown to be weird and uncomfortable through the role-reversals. It’s clever and funny. Women who are tired of stories where women are only ever victims or prizes will find this rather satisfying.

If you like comedy fantasy and/or girls with swords, this is a must. It’s a charming tale, told at a good pace, with dynamic and uncluttered art, plenty of humour and some original fantastical elements. Buy a copy for the girls in your life who need something other than Disney princesses. I’m not confident about what books would suit people of what ages, but I reckon the ‘tween’s upwards would be fine with this.

Erika is published by Sloth Comics – who also publish Hopeless, Maine (my graphic novel series). I came to these comics through sharing a publisher, and had an advanced pdf to review. It’s rare that I end up reviewing something where I don’t have a relationship with the creator, but I only put things on here that I’ve enjoyed and think will entertain blog readers. There’s nothing Pagan whatsoever about this title, but the values the story represents really speak to me. Fundamentally this is a tale about overcoming gender-norms and being true to yourself, which is all good stuff.

You can find Erika vols 1 and 2 on all the book selling sites. Here’s the Waterstones link – https://www.waterstones.com/book/erika-and-the-princes-in-distress-2/yatuu/9781908830234