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Spider-Man: Fairy Tales #1-4
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales
Modern twists on traditional favorites add characters from "Spider-Man" to fairy tales and folktales, including "Little Red Riding Hood," "Cinderella," "Anansi the Spider-God," and "Tsuchigumo the Japanese Spider Spirit."
96 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 22, 2008
Apparently, Marvel previously did an "X-Men: Fairy Tales" collection, which played with translating the modern mythology of the X-Men into fairy tale settings. This collection does the same with Spider-Man.
The strongest story here relates Spider-Man with Anansi, the African Trickster figure, although this may be the story that contains the fewest references to the modern-day character of Spider-Man. The artwork and writing in this installment was particularly good, though, and I loved the idea of relating the two figures, since Spider-Man himself has always been a clever joker who relies just as much on his wits as on his strength and super powers.
The weakest story is probably the final one in the colletion, which is set in fantastical medieval Europe and sets up Peter Parker as a sort of Cinderella figure. The artwork in this arc is cool, because it deliberately hearkens back to the original Spider-Man style, but I found the story weak and unsatisfying.
The strongest story here relates Spider-Man with Anansi, the African Trickster figure, although this may be the story that contains the fewest references to the modern-day character of Spider-Man. The artwork and writing in this installment was particularly good, though, and I loved the idea of relating the two figures, since Spider-Man himself has always been a clever joker who relies just as much on his wits as on his strength and super powers.
The weakest story is probably the final one in the colletion, which is set in fantastical medieval Europe and sets up Peter Parker as a sort of Cinderella figure. The artwork in this arc is cool, because it deliberately hearkens back to the original Spider-Man style, but I found the story weak and unsatisfying.
August 11, 2023
"Off the Beaten Path" - MJ as Red Riding Hood was cute, Gwen as one of the symbiote-wolf's former victims hurt my feelings but made sense, the weird comparisons between the two just bothered me. The art style was very reminiscent of Invader Zim. 2 stars
"Spirits of Friendship" - Anansi the Spider God! Fun little self contained fairy tale, I loved the art style and the writing! 5 stars
"Eclipse" - "What if Spider-man's origin was a japanese ghost story", the art was stunning, the story was dark if a little flimsy, but overall I ended up really enjoying it! 4 stars
"What You Wish For" - "What if Peter Parker was Cinderella" okay cool keep talking "but in the He-Man universe". Again with the weird "she wears short skirts I wear t-shirts" thing going on between Gwen and MJ. 1 star
"Spirits of Friendship" - Anansi the Spider God! Fun little self contained fairy tale, I loved the art style and the writing! 5 stars
"Eclipse" - "What if Spider-man's origin was a japanese ghost story", the art was stunning, the story was dark if a little flimsy, but overall I ended up really enjoying it! 4 stars
"What You Wish For" - "What if Peter Parker was Cinderella" okay cool keep talking "but in the He-Man universe". Again with the weird "she wears short skirts I wear t-shirts" thing going on between Gwen and MJ. 1 star
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2019
Cute, but not amazing. I enjoyed the 1st issue the most. A MJ Red riding hood engaged to a nice woodcutter named Peter worked for me
March 16, 2021
An entertaining, but uneven collection of stories that throws the Spiderverse into the world of fairy tales. The second and third stories are the clear standouts, with compelling stories accompanied by gorgeous artwork. The second tells a story of Anansi, the trickster spider god, with a well realized myth structure and tributes to traditional West African art. The third deals with yokai in feudal Japan and features classic themes of family, overcoming grief and the thirst for revenge, along with artwork that pays tribute to traditional brush painting. The first story has beautiful paper cutout art with a weaker adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood, and the last one casts Peter as a male Cinderella, but the artwork is flat and uninspired, and the story sort of ends in a darker note than expected. This last part was one of my main issues with the book, while I liked it, my favorite stories were closer to myth and fable rather than fairytales, and the ones that were traditional fairytales were not that inspired. The book also had a problem with tone, the first story seemed like lighthearted middle grade fun, while the rest was more adult oriented.
September 24, 2015
Little Red Riding Hood - 2 stars
The art style looks childish, like paper cuts put together behind a paper background. I think this story was more focused on a younger audience, so that's why it was pretty... silly.
M.J is the Little Red Riding Hood and I think the wolf is Venom. I didn't really "get" who the wolf was...
I didn't fully enjoy it because, again, it seemed so silly. But I think if a kid read this issue, they'd like it a lot more.
Anansi The Spider God - 4 stars
I'm not familiar with this myth/fairytale, but from the looks of it, it's african. The artists drew it with a more serious art style (to suit the story, I'm sure), and it's a nice change from the previous story.
Peter Parker (here called Anansi) is black!!!!! He's literally a(n African) god who's the most powerful of them all and yet he still seeks more power simply because he's "bored".
Sounds like a douchebag, am I right? Well, that's what you think at first. But when Anansi goes on a quest after a flower (which is promised to be like "the ultimate powerful thing"), he's tested by the gods of Wind, Water, Ground and Fire. One by one, he defeats them, not by force but by kindness and wit. And well... long story short, he finds out that in the end, what truly matters is friendship :)
It mind sound cheesy, but the way that the tale is told is actually pretty good and entertaining. If I had to choose between this and the one before it, I'd choose to recommend this one to little kids!! :P
Tsuchigumo the spider spirit - 5 stars
Okay, so I'm a little biased. The Anansi one is pretty much set in South Africa, while this one is set in Feudal Japan. Feudal Japan and I have a love story together that's been going on since my childhood (thanks to lots of anime, but mostly InuYasha: Turning Back Time), so really. I knew I'd like this one.
BUT HEY, THAT'S NOT THE ONLY REASON I LIKE IT!!!!! THE ART IS HONESTLY THE BEST OUT OF ALL OF THEM. It's so smooth and it looks like a painting.
All the names were adapted to Japanese and all the monsters are in fact Yokai, which again: reminds me of my childhood watching Inuyasha and learning all about the japanese folklore.
Peter (now called "Izumi") is filled with grief because his parents were killed by Youkai, and his village lives in fear of said monsters to the point of building a gate and keeping it closed at all times. No one goes out but neither does anyone (or anything) come in. They're "safe". But Izumi, who was only a child when his parents were murdered, longs for revenge. Now that he's old enough, he wants to pick his father's katana and just go out slashing every Youkai he can find.
Uncle Ben ("Uncle Masaru") advises him against it, but does he listen? Fuck no!!! THE TEENAGE ANGST IS CONSUMING HIM!!!!!!!!
A word of warning for those of you who are not familiar to anime/manga: their angst is way more intense than your ol' regular angst. This tale is no different.
So Izumi foolishly opens the gates and runs after the Youkai who killed his parents but WHOOPS, LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE WAAAYYY MORE POWERFUL THAN HIM!!! ALSO, VENOM IS THEIR LEADER AND HE BIT PETER SO NOW PETER IS BECOMING ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!! AND THEN THEY ALSO KILLED UNCLE BEN AND KIDNAPPED AUNT MAY!!!!!!!
This shit is fucking intense as hell. And yet it doesn't feel overwhelming at all. Peter (or Izumi) is consumed with rage and angst and fear of losing his aunt just like he lost his parents and uncle and yet if he kills Venom, he BECOMES Venom and the last bit of humanity that's still left in him is lost.
After each strike to the Youkai, Peter looks more and more arachney (is that a word? fuck it, you understand what I meant), and the transformation looks so fuckinG COOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!
I must stop now, or else I'll spoil the ending. But let me just say that THIS IS HOW YOU DO A RETELLING!!!!! It has so many new and different twists to what we're used to, and yet it still feels like a true spiderman story. Fucking 10 out of 10.
Cinderella - 1 star
The art style is really old school, like from the 60's spiderman comics. I suppose that's charming to some people, but to me it was kind of like... MEH.
The way of storytelling is better than the others, though. It really does read like a fairytale, so that makes it a little bit better than the Little Red Riding Hood one.
Both Peter's dad and Uncle Ben died at war, so who shall take care of little Petey? NORMAN OSBORN, OF COURSE!!
It's the old cinderella tale, except instead of a mean stepmother, Norman is more of a mean godparent. And instead of Cinderella being the only servant, Peter is one of the many servants including MARY JANE. Yep, M.J is here. And she's in love with Peter, just like we knew she would. Except Peter Parker is fucking OBLIVIOUS AS SHIT and only sees M.J as a friend.
I find it pretty annoying how some authors write girls like this. Like, they're pining over somebody else who's totally "popular" and all, but if they're really looking for love they should only look by their sides and see their dedicated male best friend who's totally in love with them. It's been done WAY TOO MANY TIMES. And when it's reversed, meaning that it's a BOY who's clueless about their bff being in love with them? Ugh. It somehow makes it worse.
It's even worse knowing that that boy is PETER FUCKING PARKER. I feel like he's SO OUT OF CHARACTER in this retelling.
Where's the funny (slightly angsty) teenager that we've all come to love? This Gary Stu isn't him >(
So, in the original story, there's a Ball for a Prince to find his perfect wife and all that, right? Instead of a Prince (because GOD FORBID WE WRITE A HOMOSEXUAL TWIST ON A KID'S COMIC), it's Princess Gwendolyn.
One more thing that I hate: love triangles. As soon as we were introduced to Servant!Mary Jane, I had a baaaad feeling that we were going to have to deal with love triangles. And I was right.
All that Peter wants is to go to the Ball to meet Princess Gwen, whom he loves OH SO MUCH (and yet has never even fucking met jfc I guess this is REALLY a fucking fairytale). All that MJ wants is for Peter to be happy, even if that costs her own happiness.
So Peter makes his own armor and goes to the Ball and dances all night with Gwen and oooohhh it's "tru wuv" but hey, he must come back to the Osborn's!!!
And then that bullshit ending happens.
This managed to be worse than the Little Red Riding Hood one. At least that one made fucking sense.
Overall rating: 3 stars
Two horrible retellings and two pretty good ones. If I had liked more of them, I'd consider changing it to 4 stars but nope. The Cinderella one alone completely fucked up all the chances this had of receiving a 4 from me, no matter how perfect the Youkai one was.
The art style looks childish, like paper cuts put together behind a paper background. I think this story was more focused on a younger audience, so that's why it was pretty... silly.
M.J is the Little Red Riding Hood and I think the wolf is Venom. I didn't really "get" who the wolf was...
I didn't fully enjoy it because, again, it seemed so silly. But I think if a kid read this issue, they'd like it a lot more.
Anansi The Spider God - 4 stars
I'm not familiar with this myth/fairytale, but from the looks of it, it's african. The artists drew it with a more serious art style (to suit the story, I'm sure), and it's a nice change from the previous story.
Peter Parker (here called Anansi) is black!!!!! He's literally a(n African) god who's the most powerful of them all and yet he still seeks more power simply because he's "bored".
Sounds like a douchebag, am I right? Well, that's what you think at first. But when Anansi goes on a quest after a flower (which is promised to be like "the ultimate powerful thing"), he's tested by the gods of Wind, Water, Ground and Fire. One by one, he defeats them, not by force but by kindness and wit. And well... long story short, he finds out that in the end, what truly matters is friendship :)
It mind sound cheesy, but the way that the tale is told is actually pretty good and entertaining. If I had to choose between this and the one before it, I'd choose to recommend this one to little kids!! :P
Tsuchigumo the spider spirit - 5 stars
Okay, so I'm a little biased. The Anansi one is pretty much set in South Africa, while this one is set in Feudal Japan. Feudal Japan and I have a love story together that's been going on since my childhood (thanks to lots of anime, but mostly InuYasha: Turning Back Time), so really. I knew I'd like this one.
BUT HEY, THAT'S NOT THE ONLY REASON I LIKE IT!!!!! THE ART IS HONESTLY THE BEST OUT OF ALL OF THEM. It's so smooth and it looks like a painting.
All the names were adapted to Japanese and all the monsters are in fact Yokai, which again: reminds me of my childhood watching Inuyasha and learning all about the japanese folklore.
Peter (now called "Izumi") is filled with grief because his parents were killed by Youkai, and his village lives in fear of said monsters to the point of building a gate and keeping it closed at all times. No one goes out but neither does anyone (or anything) come in. They're "safe". But Izumi, who was only a child when his parents were murdered, longs for revenge. Now that he's old enough, he wants to pick his father's katana and just go out slashing every Youkai he can find.
Uncle Ben ("Uncle Masaru") advises him against it, but does he listen? Fuck no!!! THE TEENAGE ANGST IS CONSUMING HIM!!!!!!!!
A word of warning for those of you who are not familiar to anime/manga: their angst is way more intense than your ol' regular angst. This tale is no different.
So Izumi foolishly opens the gates and runs after the Youkai who killed his parents but WHOOPS, LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE WAAAYYY MORE POWERFUL THAN HIM!!! ALSO, VENOM IS THEIR LEADER AND HE BIT PETER SO NOW PETER IS BECOMING ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!! AND THEN THEY ALSO KILLED UNCLE BEN AND KIDNAPPED AUNT MAY!!!!!!!
This shit is fucking intense as hell. And yet it doesn't feel overwhelming at all. Peter (or Izumi) is consumed with rage and angst and fear of losing his aunt just like he lost his parents and uncle and yet if he kills Venom, he BECOMES Venom and the last bit of humanity that's still left in him is lost.
After each strike to the Youkai, Peter looks more and more arachney (is that a word? fuck it, you understand what I meant), and the transformation looks so fuckinG COOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!
I must stop now, or else I'll spoil the ending. But let me just say that THIS IS HOW YOU DO A RETELLING!!!!! It has so many new and different twists to what we're used to, and yet it still feels like a true spiderman story. Fucking 10 out of 10.
Cinderella - 1 star
The art style is really old school, like from the 60's spiderman comics. I suppose that's charming to some people, but to me it was kind of like... MEH.
The way of storytelling is better than the others, though. It really does read like a fairytale, so that makes it a little bit better than the Little Red Riding Hood one.
Both Peter's dad and Uncle Ben died at war, so who shall take care of little Petey? NORMAN OSBORN, OF COURSE!!
It's the old cinderella tale, except instead of a mean stepmother, Norman is more of a mean godparent. And instead of Cinderella being the only servant, Peter is one of the many servants including MARY JANE. Yep, M.J is here. And she's in love with Peter, just like we knew she would. Except Peter Parker is fucking OBLIVIOUS AS SHIT and only sees M.J as a friend.
I find it pretty annoying how some authors write girls like this. Like, they're pining over somebody else who's totally "popular" and all, but if they're really looking for love they should only look by their sides and see their dedicated male best friend who's totally in love with them. It's been done WAY TOO MANY TIMES. And when it's reversed, meaning that it's a BOY who's clueless about their bff being in love with them? Ugh. It somehow makes it worse.
It's even worse knowing that that boy is PETER FUCKING PARKER. I feel like he's SO OUT OF CHARACTER in this retelling.
Where's the funny (slightly angsty) teenager that we've all come to love? This Gary Stu isn't him >(
So, in the original story, there's a Ball for a Prince to find his perfect wife and all that, right? Instead of a Prince (because GOD FORBID WE WRITE A HOMOSEXUAL TWIST ON A KID'S COMIC), it's Princess Gwendolyn.
One more thing that I hate: love triangles. As soon as we were introduced to Servant!Mary Jane, I had a baaaad feeling that we were going to have to deal with love triangles. And I was right.
All that Peter wants is to go to the Ball to meet Princess Gwen, whom he loves OH SO MUCH (and yet has never even fucking met jfc I guess this is REALLY a fucking fairytale). All that MJ wants is for Peter to be happy, even if that costs her own happiness.
So Peter makes his own armor and goes to the Ball and dances all night with Gwen and oooohhh it's "tru wuv" but hey, he must come back to the Osborn's!!!
And then that bullshit ending happens.
This managed to be worse than the Little Red Riding Hood one. At least that one made fucking sense.
Overall rating: 3 stars
Two horrible retellings and two pretty good ones. If I had liked more of them, I'd consider changing it to 4 stars but nope. The Cinderella one alone completely fucked up all the chances this had of receiving a 4 from me, no matter how perfect the Youkai one was.
January 28, 2020
Cuatro interesantes historias que llevan los detalles clásicos de Spider-Man al mundo de los cuentos.
Mary Jane es una Caperucita Roja guerrera con el estilo único de Ricardo Tercio.
Tenemos a Peter como un Ceniciento, una vuelta de tuerca bienvenido a un cuento acusado de machismo, con un estilo de cómic más clásico, obra de Mike Allred y Nick Dragotta. Además nos da una historia de amor interesante al mostrarnos a un Peter "ciego" en el amor (además de mostrarnos que Gwen Stacy no tiene suerte en ninguna realidad, ni si quiera la tuvo en la de Caperucita Roja).
Pero las verdaderas sorpresas han sido la adaptación de Anasi ilustrada por Niko Henrichon y la historia de yokais dibujada por Kei Kobayashi. Todos conocemos a Caperucita Roja y a Cenicienta, pero estos cuentos de inspiración africana y asiática son menos conocidos, y siempre es genial saber de otras culturas. Sin embargo, mientras que las referencias a la "mitología" de Spider-Man es visible en la historia de yokais, en la historia de Anansi no aprecio tantas detalles del personaje de Marvel, salvo ser el dios araña, los colores de sus pinturas y que la misión es una enseñanza de su tío. Buscando información he leído que los elementales se supone que son una referencia a los 4 Fantásticos, pero la verdad es que no he visto esa similitud fuera de sus poderes.
Me sorprende que no hayan habido más cómics como este, que mezclen a los superhéroes con los cuentos clásicos de toda la vida, pues muchos cómics han acabado cumpliendo la labor de los cuentos, de dar enseñanzas morales de un modo entretenido. Hubo una versión con los X Men y los Vengadores, pero Marvel tiene muchos más héroes. No sé si estas historias fracasaron, pero me sorprendió que no tuvieramos un tomo dedicado a los 4 Fantásticos, por ejemplo.
Mary Jane es una Caperucita Roja guerrera con el estilo único de Ricardo Tercio.
Tenemos a Peter como un Ceniciento, una vuelta de tuerca bienvenido a un cuento acusado de machismo, con un estilo de cómic más clásico, obra de Mike Allred y Nick Dragotta. Además nos da una historia de amor interesante al mostrarnos a un Peter "ciego" en el amor (además de mostrarnos que Gwen Stacy no tiene suerte en ninguna realidad, ni si quiera la tuvo en la de Caperucita Roja).
Pero las verdaderas sorpresas han sido la adaptación de Anasi ilustrada por Niko Henrichon y la historia de yokais dibujada por Kei Kobayashi. Todos conocemos a Caperucita Roja y a Cenicienta, pero estos cuentos de inspiración africana y asiática son menos conocidos, y siempre es genial saber de otras culturas. Sin embargo, mientras que las referencias a la "mitología" de Spider-Man es visible en la historia de yokais, en la historia de Anansi no aprecio tantas detalles del personaje de Marvel, salvo ser el dios araña, los colores de sus pinturas y que la misión es una enseñanza de su tío. Buscando información he leído que los elementales se supone que son una referencia a los 4 Fantásticos, pero la verdad es que no he visto esa similitud fuera de sus poderes.
Me sorprende que no hayan habido más cómics como este, que mezclen a los superhéroes con los cuentos clásicos de toda la vida, pues muchos cómics han acabado cumpliendo la labor de los cuentos, de dar enseñanzas morales de un modo entretenido. Hubo una versión con los X Men y los Vengadores, pero Marvel tiene muchos más héroes. No sé si estas historias fracasaron, pero me sorprendió que no tuvieramos un tomo dedicado a los 4 Fantásticos, por ejemplo.
September 17, 2020
It was curious to see Spider-man inhabit these old fairy tales. I'm not sure that they really worked. But that's the nice thing about fairy tales. You can dress them up in different clothes time and time again and find that no matter what they wear the outfit (even a Spider-man costume) suits them. This says more about the power of fairy tales then the power of Spider-man though. Does a fairy tale retelling suit Peter Parker? The morals and charms of the character are strong in one version and weak in another. In one tale he'll be driven by revenge wherein another he is compassionate. In another love and respect will save the day and be cast irreverently aside in the next. Overall, it was a good decision to explore the fairy tale version of Spider-man across multiple stories. It allowed the reader to see a broader range of Peter's character and experience more than a single possibility.
May 29, 2021
3.8 Stars rounded up to 4.
This was simultaneously one of the strangest and coolest concepts I've seen in awhile and I ended up enjoying it.
The first fairy tale in this collection could have used some work in its story telling, but the other ones were rather good. Though I didn't like how the last one ended. >:(
It was interesting and definitely worth picking up if you're a Spider-Man/Fairy Tales fan. If you decide to give it a try I hope that you enjoy it!
Happy reading!
This was simultaneously one of the strangest and coolest concepts I've seen in awhile and I ended up enjoying it.
The first fairy tale in this collection could have used some work in its story telling, but the other ones were rather good. Though I didn't like how the last one ended. >:(
It was interesting and definitely worth picking up if you're a Spider-Man/Fairy Tales fan. If you decide to give it a try I hope that you enjoy it!
Happy reading!
October 9, 2017
Loved the Anasazi interpretation of Spider-Man the most. Also the art in the yokai style retelling of Spider-Man origins was really very good. However I wasn't too impressed with the other two stories. Both reduced Mary Jane's character to a pointless sidekick
November 11, 2018
First three stories were great and really good examinations of the important motivations of Peter Parker (particularly the Japanese one). It would’ve been higher rated but I found the last issue clumsy and flat by comparison.
February 26, 2020
I really loved issues #1 & #3 in this collection - but hated #4 and didn't really care for the second one (but also didn't have strong negative feelings towards it). Overall, it was a cute little read and I would definitely re-read #1 & #3 again sometime.
May 15, 2021
Antología de cuentos clásicos y no tanto reinterpretados como historietas con personajes de Spiderman. Ni idea de dónde quedó este tomo.
August 11, 2023
This was absolutely the best combination of stories from the 'fairy tales' releases because of the story choices they made for the reimaginings. Not only did they choose 2 stories everyone knows and loves (Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella), but they also chose 2 tales of international folklore that entices you to read more about the real stories.
October 2, 2015
I love fairy tales, they have such vibrant and colorful stories, sometimes tragic, full of romance, adventure, horror and magic. As I grow up by the Disney films and fairy tales books it was what helped me discovered the magic of reading. That and Harry Potter, hehe. So, I when I came across a Marvel anthology called Spider-Man Fairy-Tales, I had to read it. There's also an Avengers and X-men Fairy tales stories but I will not read them at the moment due to having way TOO much books and comics to read right now. But for now, this will be it.
Basically it's a anthology featuring four stories:
Little Red Riding Hood, Anansi The Spider God, Tsuchigumo the spider spirit,Cinderella
Marvel does a decent job to introduce us to the known and unknown fairy tales and used it to their own stories. I did like Tsuchigumo and Anansi stories a lot, both artistically and story wise while Little Red Riding Hood was kinda... Weak and full of plot holes and Cinderlla was such a waste. I mean, it was quite good! Hack, for a minute I thought this could have been the untold origins of Spider-Knight, the counterpart Peter Parker in Medieval time. (There's tons of spideys in the marvel multiverse if you don't know XDD) Some Manage to keep me interested while others bore me to sleep. The art was good, some were so detailed and used well for the fairy tales theme! :D
I will might check out the other fairy tales series when I get the chance, but hey, it was an interesting take on the fairy tales formula. You should try it out :3
December 20, 2022
(Original Read 12/21/2020 - 3 Stars)
A very interesting collection of stories that reimagine the Spider-Man mythos under the guise of multiple fables.
The real highlight here is the second story, "The Spirits of Friendship", based on the African myth of the Spider-God Anansi. Similarly well-done is "What You Wish For", the fourth and final story, based on a mixture of Arthurian knighthood with the Cinderella story. The first and third issues were not nearly so well-done, especially the first with its janky art style that--unfortunately--doesn't even really vibe with the Little Red Riding Hood-based narrative.
REREAD 12/20/2022
This didn’t work for me as much on a revisit two years later. The first and third issues were almost insufferable, with the first feeling like a kid’s cartoon special and the third so tonally and thematically off of Peter Parker’s character that I could hardly connect it to the Spider-Man mythos except in the most surface-level of ways.
The second story is the only one that feels like it has anything clever to say about Spider-Man as a character, and is altogether the only story really worth reading here. The fourth, while passable, doesn’t do anything particularly inspired.
A very interesting collection of stories that reimagine the Spider-Man mythos under the guise of multiple fables.
The real highlight here is the second story, "The Spirits of Friendship", based on the African myth of the Spider-God Anansi. Similarly well-done is "What You Wish For", the fourth and final story, based on a mixture of Arthurian knighthood with the Cinderella story. The first and third issues were not nearly so well-done, especially the first with its janky art style that--unfortunately--doesn't even really vibe with the Little Red Riding Hood-based narrative.
REREAD 12/20/2022
This didn’t work for me as much on a revisit two years later. The first and third issues were almost insufferable, with the first feeling like a kid’s cartoon special and the third so tonally and thematically off of Peter Parker’s character that I could hardly connect it to the Spider-Man mythos except in the most surface-level of ways.
The second story is the only one that feels like it has anything clever to say about Spider-Man as a character, and is altogether the only story really worth reading here. The fourth, while passable, doesn’t do anything particularly inspired.
August 8, 2013
C.B. Cebulski does a nifty job of combining the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man with classic fairy tales in this graphic novel. Redhead Mary Jane Watson faces off against a hungry forest beast, aided by woodcutter Peter Parker in the Red Riding Hood adaptation. Anansi the trickster features in the second story, encountering elemental beings and a familiar Swarm on his quest for power. Orphaned Izumi attempts to take revenge on the venomous spirit that plagues his village, only to learn a vital lesson on power and responsibility.The book concludes with a Cinderella tale, as adopted Peter Parker fashions a suit of armor in order to meet princess Gwendolyn as a royal ball. Forced to tangle with the corrupted Orborns, Peter gains his honor but loses both the loves of his life. An overall enjoyable take on the Spider mythos that has this reader hoping Cebulski has more tales to spin.
January 7, 2008
In the tradition of X-Men Fairy Tales, Marvel makes its move on melding more modern myths -- this time starring everybody's favorite wall-crawler! Featuring all-new interpretations of Little Red Riding Hood, Anansi the Spider-God, Tsuchigumo the Japanese Spider Spirit and Cinderella. Find out just how fun fairy tales can be... Marvel style! Collecting SPIDER-MAN FAIRY TALES #1-4.
I really liked X-Men Fairy Tales, and this book was nice as well, although the whole Spiderman thing doesn't really work for me.
But i did enjoy the artwork immensely, the stories were varied and the art really reflected that.
If you enjoyed X-Men Fairy Tales or if you're a spidey fan then i recommend it.
I really liked X-Men Fairy Tales, and this book was nice as well, although the whole Spiderman thing doesn't really work for me.
But i did enjoy the artwork immensely, the stories were varied and the art really reflected that.
If you enjoyed X-Men Fairy Tales or if you're a spidey fan then i recommend it.
February 13, 2008
This interesting collection of four fairy/folktales includes Little Red Riding Hood, an Anansi story, a Japanese folktale about Tsuchigumo the spider spirit, and Cinderella. The twist? They're all re-imagined to include the characters from Spider-Man. Although I haven't read any of the original Spider-Man comics, I enjoyed this collection. Each story is written/drawn by a different artist, so there's something to please everyone. I especially enjoyed the Anansi story and the gender-twisted Cinderella.
December 15, 2009
While Spider-man has never been my favorite superhero I loved these fairy tales featuring the familiar characters of Spider-man. There is a little red riding hood tale, an anansi story, a japanese tale, and a cinderella tale featuring a role reversal where Peter Parker is Cinderella. Like real fairy tales these stories all have a dark cast to them. These stories also serve as a reminder of how closely superhero stories relate to the literary archetypes. I really hope that the author continues all of the story arcs found in this graphic novel, because I would love to see what happens next.
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May 16, 2017This one-shot Spider-Man graphic novel collects four short tales, from Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella with a spidery flair to a test of a young samurai and the adventures of the spider god Anansi. Each tale has a different art style but all are bound together by the classic Spider-Man theme of the responsibilities of power. An entertaining read, with enough mythology and variation to interest even those unused to Spider-Man stories.
-- Hillary D.
-- Hillary D.
September 19, 2014
I love fairytales and I love Spiderman, so really, this was perfect for me.
All of the stories had their own unique take and I liked some more than others. In order of preference, it probably goes something like this:
Tsuchigumo,
Anansi,
Little Red,
And Cinderella.
I thought they were all very well drawn and the last story was my favourite because it didn't take itself seriously and the spidey-armour was awesome!
All of the stories had their own unique take and I liked some more than others. In order of preference, it probably goes something like this:
Tsuchigumo,
Anansi,
Little Red,
And Cinderella.
I thought they were all very well drawn and the last story was my favourite because it didn't take itself seriously and the spidey-armour was awesome!
January 8, 2012
These were some clever takes on what the Spider-Man story would look like if it were bred with some fairy tales. There are a few problems with the writing, and as seems to be the norm with the web-slinging hero, there are also some bad, bad puns here. But the art is gorgeous, and the stories are still fun enough. What more do you need from a comic?
July 29, 2015
Four fairy tales retold using Spiderman characters. Each story has different artwork that relates to the way of the storytelling. Red Riding Hood, Anansi, Japanese tale, and Cinderella. I really liked the Red Riding Hood and Anansi story, the artwork was really pretty. This would be good for children. A very good read.
March 12, 2016
These stories are all sort of hit or miss!
I enjoyed the first and the last story the best because I felt they captured the spirit of Spider-Man from the comics, not to mention they were both witty and funny too.
C'mon...that last scene with Princess Gwen and the chandelier was morbidly funny! Not to mention the little throw away panel of Mary Jane naming her black cat Felicia. Clever, clever!
I enjoyed the first and the last story the best because I felt they captured the spirit of Spider-Man from the comics, not to mention they were both witty and funny too.
C'mon...that last scene with Princess Gwen and the chandelier was morbidly funny! Not to mention the little throw away panel of Mary Jane naming her black cat Felicia. Clever, clever!
August 15, 2016
I'm not a huge Spiderman fan, or I'd have liked this book better. Just kind of flipped through it at the library. It was cool how the authors merged traditional fairy tales with the story line of the Spiderman comics. Includes a version of Little Red Riding Hood, Anansi the Spider God, Tsuchigumo the Japanese Spider Spirit, and Cinderella.
October 27, 2020
I picked this up because I wanted a short, fluffy read, but I actually ended up enjoying this book more than I thought. These were fun, standalone stories that looked through at the Spider-Man story through the lenses of different cultures' folk and fairy tales. I loved how the art styles changed with each story to reflect the various cultures. All in all, a short, but still very creative read.
August 3, 2014
The stories are very simple just like the original ones, but they lack the grace and the rythm that characterize the real fairy tales. I found them funny, but I'm afraid that the humor was mostly unintentional.
Great artwork by Ricardo Tercino and Niko Henrichon. I would give five stars.
Great artwork by Ricardo Tercino and Niko Henrichon. I would give five stars.
August 14, 2009
It's like someone was inspired by Neil Gaiman and then didn't have the talent of Neil Gamain.
March 6, 2025
Más cuentos de hadas marvelitas entretenidos pero sobre todo hermosamente ilustrados.
April 26, 2010
I thought that all four of the stories were well drawn.
I didn't like the story of Izumi as much as I thought I would.
I story about Anansi was kind of awesome, though.
I didn't like the story of Izumi as much as I thought I would.
I story about Anansi was kind of awesome, though.
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