After The Snow is a local comic written by Dale Maccanti, art by Trevor Wood and colours by Anthonie 'Nemo' Wilson and published by White Cat Press. I love fairy tales and always enjoy reading different versions of the well known ones be they old or new, dark or whimsical, book or comic book form. Needless to say I was pretty excited when I found out some local creators had done their own take on classic the Snow White.
After The Snow takes place 15 years after the well known fairy tale with a now ageing Snow-White now ruling her kingdom with her husband, Leo. Snow-White's kingdom is far from the happily ever after she was promised as the crown is in serious debt to Snow-White's father and there are murmurs of an uprising. However Snow-White does not concern herself with the working of the kingdom preferring to spend her time on things such as her fading beauty, her husband's possible infidelity, that she has been unable to conceive a child and of course apples. While the fate of the kingdom teeters on a knife's edge a group, possibly of dwarfs, spies some humans cutting into their enchanted forest and decide its time to do something about it.
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| And then the humans ruined everything again |
Many comics that take on classic fairy tales with a darker retelling often fall into the same trap of removing every colour that isn't dark blue or grey. After The Snow manages to side step this common trope by allowing colour to shine through and I love that this comic uses the art and expressions of the characters to set the tone rather than a simple lack of colour.
After The Snow is just enough of a separation from the Disney movie that it feels like a very different story but close enough that everybody knows how Snow-White ended up the queen. This gives the reader all the needed back story but enough room that the they know that this is not the same sweet little Disney princess that can hit a high note. Snow-White is no longer a blank slate of a princess but a complicated character with complicated wants and desires, she struggles with concerns over ageing and in consequence concerns for her marriage and while capable of great kindness, she is also capable of great malice over a crime as simple as selling a red apple.
Disney has forever left its imprint on the story of Snow White and After The Snow cleverly weaves just enough into the story to make it familiar while still telling its own story which can be a struggle for comics based off such well known material. I'd recommend After The Snow to fairy tale fans, fans of high fantasy and anyone who has ever asked "and then what happened?".
I give After The Snow 4 out of 5 red apples.
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| You knew it was going to be an apple |
Pledge to After The Snow on Kickstarter and find out more about White Cat Press here.
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| We all eventually become our parents |
