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Legends: The Enchanted
You think you know them. Think again.
Violently ripped from the pages of folklore come the Enchanted. Supernatural immortals living in a dark, steampunk, creature-infested world where nature, technology and foul magic are in constant conflict. When the twisted, burnt remains of the half-wooden, half-mechanical warrior, Pinocchio, are discovered, wolf-hunter Red Hood and giant-killer Jack realize the fragile rules of their existence have been shattered. With the help of other powerful Enchanted (the mercenary, Goldilocks and psychic exterminators, Hansel and Gretel), Jack and Red team up on an adventure to stop whatever, or whoever is destroying their powers and murdering their kind.
Violently ripped from the pages of folklore come the Enchanted. Supernatural immortals living in a dark, steampunk, creature-infested world where nature, technology and foul magic are in constant conflict. When the twisted, burnt remains of the half-wooden, half-mechanical warrior, Pinocchio, are discovered, wolf-hunter Red Hood and giant-killer Jack realize the fragile rules of their existence have been shattered. With the help of other powerful Enchanted (the mercenary, Goldilocks and psychic exterminators, Hansel and Gretel), Jack and Red team up on an adventure to stop whatever, or whoever is destroying their powers and murdering their kind.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published July 14, 2010
54 people want to read
About the author
Nick Percival
92 books2 followersNick Percival is an award-winning illustrator and CG animation director specializing in high-detail concept/production design for Film, Videogames and TV.
Nick also provides artwork for World of Warcraft, Magic the Gathering and comic book publishers including Marvel Comics, 2000AD (Judge Dredd, Slaine), BOOM! Studios, Devil's Due Publishing, Titan Books, Abaddon Books and Radical Publishing.
He is currently developing projects for Film & TV and is the creator, writer and illustrator of 'LEGENDS: The Enchanted' - an original hardcover graphic novel published by Radical Books.
Nick also provides artwork for World of Warcraft, Magic the Gathering and comic book publishers including Marvel Comics, 2000AD (Judge Dredd, Slaine), BOOM! Studios, Devil's Due Publishing, Titan Books, Abaddon Books and Radical Publishing.
He is currently developing projects for Film & TV and is the creator, writer and illustrator of 'LEGENDS: The Enchanted' - an original hardcover graphic novel published by Radical Books.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 19, 2011
All of your favorite FAIRY TALERS have been GRITTED UP, NOIRED OUT and STEAMPUNKIFIED into NAUGHTY KNIGHTS OF BADASSIA...the result...LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED...
This is a pretty easy one to review as this graphic novel is all about the ART and the CONCEPT (both of which are 5 star worthy), while the writing is just okay and the plot is a bit too muddled and poorly laid out to make this truly exceptional. Here's the breakdown:
Basically, fairy tale characters are real and known as the “Enchanted” because they are protected by a magic spell that makes them unable to be killed. They can feel pain and be injured but the charm allows them to heal from anything. THAT IS until an OLD HAG (yes, THE Old Hag) learns how to break the enchantment and make them very, very KILLABLE. There’s your basic plot and as I mentioned the execution was just okay.
That said, I LOVED, LOVED and LOVED the art and the amazing depictions of both the Enchanted and the world they inhabit. For me, that was worth the price of admission. Therefore, I am going to introduce you to some of the stars to this visual feast and simply say that if you like what you see and the concept is appealing, then you should definitely check it out. Alternatively, if the concept and the art don’t rev your motor, then the writing and the plot are not going to be enough to spark a love connection.
With that, let’s meet a few of our amazing cast of Enchanted....beginning with everybody’s favorite granddaughter and wolf killer….RED RIDING HOOD…
Next we have the famous procurer of magic beans, climber of beanstalks and slayer of all things of HUGENESS….JACK…aka…THE GIANT KILLER…
How about half of the most famous brother/sister duo to ever eat a gingerbread house and boil up witchypoo...here...is...the one...the only...HANSEL...
Up next are a trio of OG ass kickers, JACK (aka Mr. “Be Nimble and Quick”), RAPUNZEL (aka Ms. “I like it when you grab my hair and pull”), and MS MUFFET (aka Ms. “WTF are Curds and Whey”) …
Here comes the oddest of odd couples, GOLDILOCKS and her big, mean bag a lovin BABY BEAR***...
***...I guess more than his bed felt JUST RIGHT!!
Finally, we have the ultimate wall sitting, underworld, EGGcentric and CRACKpot, HUMPTY DUMPTY...
...and the not so human lie detector, PINNOCHIO...
I hope the above is helpful in deciding whether this is right for you. Again, I loved this because I was blown away by the art which for me made up for underwhelming writing and a less than coherent plot. ART = 5 stars, CONCEPT = 5 stars, WRITING = 3 stars, PLOT = 2.5 to 3.0 stars.
OVERALL: 3.5 to 4.0 stars
This is a pretty easy one to review as this graphic novel is all about the ART and the CONCEPT (both of which are 5 star worthy), while the writing is just okay and the plot is a bit too muddled and poorly laid out to make this truly exceptional. Here's the breakdown:
Basically, fairy tale characters are real and known as the “Enchanted” because they are protected by a magic spell that makes them unable to be killed. They can feel pain and be injured but the charm allows them to heal from anything. THAT IS until an OLD HAG (yes, THE Old Hag) learns how to break the enchantment and make them very, very KILLABLE. There’s your basic plot and as I mentioned the execution was just okay.
That said, I LOVED, LOVED and LOVED the art and the amazing depictions of both the Enchanted and the world they inhabit. For me, that was worth the price of admission. Therefore, I am going to introduce you to some of the stars to this visual feast and simply say that if you like what you see and the concept is appealing, then you should definitely check it out. Alternatively, if the concept and the art don’t rev your motor, then the writing and the plot are not going to be enough to spark a love connection.
With that, let’s meet a few of our amazing cast of Enchanted....beginning with everybody’s favorite granddaughter and wolf killer….RED RIDING HOOD…
Next we have the famous procurer of magic beans, climber of beanstalks and slayer of all things of HUGENESS….JACK…aka…THE GIANT KILLER…
How about half of the most famous brother/sister duo to ever eat a gingerbread house and boil up witchypoo...here...is...the one...the only...HANSEL...
Up next are a trio of OG ass kickers, JACK (aka Mr. “Be Nimble and Quick”), RAPUNZEL (aka Ms. “I like it when you grab my hair and pull”), and MS MUFFET (aka Ms. “WTF are Curds and Whey”) …
Here comes the oddest of odd couples, GOLDILOCKS and her big, mean bag a lovin BABY BEAR***...
***...I guess more than his bed felt JUST RIGHT!!
Finally, we have the ultimate wall sitting, underworld, EGGcentric and CRACKpot, HUMPTY DUMPTY...
...and the not so human lie detector, PINNOCHIO...
I hope the above is helpful in deciding whether this is right for you. Again, I loved this because I was blown away by the art which for me made up for underwhelming writing and a less than coherent plot. ART = 5 stars, CONCEPT = 5 stars, WRITING = 3 stars, PLOT = 2.5 to 3.0 stars.
OVERALL: 3.5 to 4.0 stars
November 4, 2010
A dark fairy-tale (sort-of) story which places many of the old familiar characters (Jack the Giant Killer, Goldilocks, Fairy Godmother, etc.) into a violent, steampunkish world. In this world the fairly tale characters are called the Enchanted, because they possess magical abilities allowing them to fight the demons and monsters that would otherwise overrun the world. But the rulers of the world, an odd group called the Squires, make a deal with an old hag to take away the powers of the Enchanted inexchange for giving up part of the kingdom to the demons. It's an interesting storyline with plenty of action, but it moves a bit too quickly for my taste. I think Percival could have a lot more fun here by exploring different aspects and creating more clever challenges than just setting up scenes for big fights. Kind of fun, kind of creepy, but not amazing.
July 16, 2021
Meh. I can just say meh... and I think that’s enough.
Read
March 31, 2015I don't know what was worse: the flat, lifeless characters or the overly slick digital artwork.
November 18, 2023
I got this from my local library; going to check it our, but nothing about this book was in the system, so kindly they let me keep it for free. So, was this surprise graphic novel a hit?
Ehhh...
In a steampunk world, plagued by monsters, the characters from fairytales, like Jack the giant killer, Hansel and Gretel and Red Riding Hood, are the ‘Enchanted’ almost immortal superheroes that travel the land vanquishing cyborg ogres and werewolves. However, the authorities or ‘squires’ in the towns and cities are preparing a secret deal with the leader of these monsters, to sacrifice the enchanted for some sort of uneasy peace.
Firstly, the art is incredibly good. Very detailed, glossy, almost heavy metal album cover type of style. While good, I felt it hindered more than helped. The panels don’t really flow well next to each other. While, really good individually, they don’t work as well following on to each other.
The story is so so. The world is a hellish landscape that it would be hard to imagine getting worse, and the squires plan might sound heartless but has a point . The characters on both sides seem a bit threadbare. No real main character stands out and the villain and her plan seems also a weakly explained. I’d say the alternative fairy-tale story, was done better in Fables, (which I’m not a particularly big fan of), mainly because the characters in that have more to them than the ones here.
Good art in places, but a style that might not have matched the story or the other way round, and a story that lacked punch to make a strong enough impact. Worth a freebie from the library? Yes, but otherwise unless you really like the concept, getting it loan might be preferable.
Ehhh...
In a steampunk world, plagued by monsters, the characters from fairytales, like Jack the giant killer, Hansel and Gretel and Red Riding Hood, are the ‘Enchanted’ almost immortal superheroes that travel the land vanquishing cyborg ogres and werewolves. However, the authorities or ‘squires’ in the towns and cities are preparing a secret deal with the leader of these monsters, to sacrifice the enchanted for some sort of uneasy peace.
Firstly, the art is incredibly good. Very detailed, glossy, almost heavy metal album cover type of style. While good, I felt it hindered more than helped. The panels don’t really flow well next to each other. While, really good individually, they don’t work as well following on to each other.
The story is so so. The world is a hellish landscape that it would be hard to imagine getting worse, and the squires plan might sound heartless but has a point . The characters on both sides seem a bit threadbare. No real main character stands out and the villain and her plan seems also a weakly explained. I’d say the alternative fairy-tale story, was done better in Fables, (which I’m not a particularly big fan of), mainly because the characters in that have more to them than the ones here.
Good art in places, but a style that might not have matched the story or the other way round, and a story that lacked punch to make a strong enough impact. Worth a freebie from the library? Yes, but otherwise unless you really like the concept, getting it loan might be preferable.
February 9, 2019
The thing I enjoyed about this book above all else, is the new spin on the characters, however, by taking the characters and changing them COMPLETELY other than names and outfits, it creates distance between the fairy tale character's that I would be sad to see harmed, it did feel like there was an issue before this one that I might have missed.
HOWEVER, I did thoroughly enjoy it nonetheless, although it may not be what I thought the characters were, that's the point I suppose, I love the concept, art and the world it is set in.
HOWEVER, I did thoroughly enjoy it nonetheless, although it may not be what I thought the characters were, that's the point I suppose, I love the concept, art and the world it is set in.
January 23, 2018
The somewhat disjointed story about classic fairy tale characters takes second place to the amazing art work. The pages are painted in a post apocalyptic style that has similarities to the art work of H.R Giger.
The pages after the main story shows how the character designs changed and developed was a nice added bonus.
Enjoy the story, but marvel at the art work.
The pages after the main story shows how the character designs changed and developed was a nice added bonus.
Enjoy the story, but marvel at the art work.
April 4, 2020
Too much focus on gritty, stylized art rather than an interesting and engaging storyline. This apocalyptic take on the classic fairy tale creatures has promise, but becomes bogged down in attempts to make it "edgier."
March 4, 2011
I picked this up on a whim in the used book portion of the Barnes and Noble near us. The artwork in here took my breath away and I decided I had to buy it. I am so happy I did, I really really enjoyed this graphic novel. The artwork is wonderful, the story is dark and clever.
This book details the story of the Enchanted. The Enchanted are fairy tale characters we know and love that have been pitted into a dark and dangerous battle with an evil Hag and her abomination of a son, a gigantic troll from under the Bridge. The Enchanted include: Jack the Giant Killer, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks and the Bear...among others.
I cannot gush enough about the artwork in this book. It is just absolutely fantastic, when I first saw it it stunned me with its darkness and its beauty. The artwork is dark, more in the vein of horror than fantasy. The monsters are built from a montage of flesh and clockwork and gears. The heroes are darkly beautiful and definitely deadly. It was just wonderful.
Then imagine my surprise when the story was just as fantastic. The characters are from fairy tales, but they are from an alternate version where things are much more brutal and much darker. Red riding hood kicks butt with two deadly sickles and a blood red cloak enfolding her armor; Gretel uses her mental powers to walk the nightmarish landscapes of monsters' minds, Jack has a bean for every power and purpose. The way the fairy tale characters are thrown together is clever and wonderful. I loved how Percival worked so many fairy tale references into this story.
It is a complete story in this one graphic novel; although it would be fabulous to see more stories set in this world in the future. This is definitely an adult book; the imagery is just too disturbing and scary for kids. It is gory, there is torture, killing, and sexual inneundo...so definitely for adults only.
I did have one problem with this book; it was just too short. Realistically Percival could have made a graphic novel featuring each of these fantastic characters and drawn the story out to many more novels. It would have been wonderful to have room for more details and more character development. That being said he did a great job with filling out the characters with the space he had; I just wanted more and saw a lot bigger potential for story here.
Overall a fantastically dark graphic novel that plunges the reader into a steampunk inspired world of horror where familiar fairy tale heroes feature. I loved this book, it is a keeper and will remain a cherished part of my graphic novel collection. I am really looking forward to any other future works that Percival does and would absolutely love to see more stories set in the Legends world.
September 6, 2015
3.5
Bueno, entretenido, original y bastante interesante. Los dibujos me impactaron. Prefiero un trazo limpio, bastante detallado, y aunque Percival tiene un estilo totalmente distinto, cuida los detalles, haciendo que cada personaje sea único.
La historia pudo alargarse más, tenía mucho potencial y los personajes se prestaban para conocer sus historias, además de saber de dónde venía cada uno, sus poderes, el por qué del estado de la bruja, de su hermana, entre tras cosas.
Son muchos cabos sueltos para un tomo único, pero para pasar el rato está bien.
3.5
Good, entertaining, original and quite interesting. The drawings struck me. I prefer a clean, fairly detailed outline, and although Percival has a totally different style, he pays attention to the details, making each character unique.
The story could be more extended, it had so much potential and characters lend themselves to know their stories, and know where each one came from, their powers, why the state of the hag, her sister, among many other things.
There are many loose ends for a single volume, but ok to kill time.
Bueno, entretenido, original y bastante interesante. Los dibujos me impactaron. Prefiero un trazo limpio, bastante detallado, y aunque Percival tiene un estilo totalmente distinto, cuida los detalles, haciendo que cada personaje sea único.
La historia pudo alargarse más, tenía mucho potencial y los personajes se prestaban para conocer sus historias, además de saber de dónde venía cada uno, sus poderes, el por qué del estado de la bruja, de su hermana, entre tras cosas.
Son muchos cabos sueltos para un tomo único, pero para pasar el rato está bien.
3.5
Good, entertaining, original and quite interesting. The drawings struck me. I prefer a clean, fairly detailed outline, and although Percival has a totally different style, he pays attention to the details, making each character unique.
The story could be more extended, it had so much potential and characters lend themselves to know their stories, and know where each one came from, their powers, why the state of the hag, her sister, among many other things.
There are many loose ends for a single volume, but ok to kill time.
April 30, 2012
So much potential and such great art, but totally opaque storytelling in both dialogue and visual sequencing. The world Percival creates is interesting, and I'd love to see more (Bionic Wooodlands? Give me more!). I kept feeling like I missed the previous volume--why should I care that all these fairy tale characters are dying? From a visual perspective, I loved the darkness and shadows, but again, I felt like I was missing something. The lack of visual transitions made me work to hard at following the story, and I had no sense of pacing or rhythm in the frame and page layouts.
Seems like Bill Willingham was making fun of this a bit in Fables: Super Team.
Seems like Bill Willingham was making fun of this a bit in Fables: Super Team.
July 10, 2016
I WISH I could give this five stars just for the graphics alone and just leave it at that. But alas I can not. The graphics are the only thing that saved this book. The story was pretty beat up and told to quickly and that's the hardest part about how I've rated this. Only two stars go to the story itsself. The consepts of the story and characters within would have been great as a series. Instead its all smashed into one book with beautiful graphics. If you're debating on reading it at all I say go for it. The art is magnificent!
(Read for the 2016 CramAThon hosted by WhittyNovels & sarawithoutanH on youtube.)
(Read for the 2016 CramAThon hosted by WhittyNovels & sarawithoutanH on youtube.)
July 28, 2011
I have to admit, I picked this one because of the cover. I love any twists on fairy tales and classics. The cover has Little Red Riding Hood with scythes on it, and the novel does not disappoint. It is a violent world where Pinocchio (who is half wooden and mechanical) is found burnt to death. Red, Jack (giant killer), Hansel, Gretel, and Goldilocks come together to find out who is destroying the world and killing the others (twisted fairy tale characters). This novel has wonderful graphics and an interesting plot.
August 16, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. The artwork is stunning! The story was like Fables meets Dexter-- a dark and gritty fairytale, with plenty of action and slaying of monsters.
While it did seem that a goodly majority of the book was spent introducing the protagonists, leaving less than I would have liked for the progression of the plot and the ultimate climax of the story, I still really liked it and hope there is more to come with these characters and this world.
While it did seem that a goodly majority of the book was spent introducing the protagonists, leaving less than I would have liked for the progression of the plot and the ultimate climax of the story, I still really liked it and hope there is more to come with these characters and this world.
January 22, 2011
This is an incredibly dark and gritty story with multiple references to torture and sexual violence that may cause some to be slightly squeamish. This is certainly not the "happily ever after" type of graphic novel. The artwork is gorgeous but slightly twisted in a surreal kind of way. Definitely a recommended read for the Fables fan who is looking for a more adult graphic novel series.
March 4, 2011
What a brilliant concept!! I just wish there was more. So much could be done with the world that has been created. Why not retell these stories in this universe? Don't forget the art work - absolutely incredible. In all honesty the story isn't much but if you like the dark and twisted this one's for you :)
August 18, 2011
Stunning artwork and an amazing concept. Tense, fast paced storyline backed up by atmospheric painted artwork. Highly recommended!
September 13, 2016
Loved this, can't believe I forgot to add this to goodreads.
June 7, 2013
2.5 stars
December 26, 2014
Great art style and neat plot. a little hard to tell things apart because its so gritty.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews