Graphic Novel Review: The Runaway Princess by Johan Troïanowski

The Runaway Princess by Johan Troïanowski. Translated by Anne and Owen Smith. RH Graphic, 2020. 9780593124161.

Princess Robin has run away to the woods, and she needs your help to escape the wolf that’s chasing her. (After shaking the book as directed, you can then turn the page and see how you helped her escape. It’s pretty fun, and there are more interactive moments throughout the book.) She finds three kids abandoned in the woods and takes them with her to the Aquatic Carnival in Noor (after helping them escape the ogre, who doesn’t really want to eat them). The carnival itself is fish-in-the-sky amazing with tons of colors and none of the scariness that some of the earlier pages have, even when Robin loses her new friends.

The first adventure ends with everyone home again. In the second, Robin runs away again, this time through a secret passage, down a well, and into a giant pumpkin. In the third she doesn’t run away, but she isn’t able to stay at home, either. (This book was originally published as three separate volumes in France.)

The first adventure is by far my favorite. Troïanowski evokes both fear and wonder, and some of the drawings reminded me of Clive Barker’s illustrations for Abarat. (I don’t think I ever read the last book in that series — need to go do that now.)

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