Legends: The Enchanted #0
Written and illustrated by Nick Percival
Letters by Richard Starking & Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
Radical Publishing
28 pages; full-color
Price $1; Release date: February 3, 2010

When giants lay siege on the town of Krakenfield, the townsfolk need a hero and the drifter Jack is just their man. Jack knows a thing or two about killing giants, even though the gigs are getting tiresome for him. On the edge of the Bionic Woods, a bound and imprisoned Pinocchio suffers at the hands of a hag threatening to kill the puppet at the behest of a squire. Days later in those same woods, a mysterious young women caped and hooded all in red carrying a basket, collecting something important is attacked by a pack of wolves.

Something about this tale sounds familiar, yes? That’s because the characters are made up of classic fairy tale legends. But before you dismiss this as a child’s bedtime story, let me stress that Legends: The Enchanted is graphically violent with art that looks like Todd McFarlane’s Twisted Fairy Tales figures meets H.R. Giger in a Clive Barker horror story.

In the introductory issue, Legends: The Enchanted #0, which is priced at an economical $1 for 28 full-color pages, introduces us to the aforementioned characters, known here as The Enchanted. Instead of being innocent children faced with big bad monsters, they’re magically enhanced powerful adults faced with — you guessed it — big bad monsters. But these monsters don’t just want to eat them, oh no, they have more in store for the Enchanted, who are beginning to realize that they’re no longer invincible like they thought they were.

What exactly do these monsters and other villainous characters really want from The Enchanted? That is yet to be revealed, but Issue #0 is really just a teaser to set up the world of Legends and introduce us to some of its main characters and hint at those to come. The full story comes this Spring when Radical publishes its continuation, a one-shot hardcover graphic novel from creator, writer, and artist Nick Percival.

Let me stress, Legends: The Enchanted is not Fables. You might think it is, because of the whole fairy tale aspect, but trust me, it goes beyond even the edginess of Fables. This is a reimagining of the characters that you could only imagine, but never thought you’d see in full-color like this.

It’s worth the $1 to pick up Issue #0 and give it a try and honestly, I’d have tried it out even if it was the typical $2-$4 cover price — did you see that cover? That’s Red Hood and she’s pretty badass. Think Xena Warrior Princess dances with wolves. I devoured this issue in minutes and then read it again right afterward, finding myself fully willing to check out the subsequent graphic novel. Legends: The Enchanted is a hit for sure.

If you’re worried about parting with that buck, check out Radical’s MySpace page for a FREE 7-page preview of Legends. It shows Jack’s introduction and his entire battle at the beginning in Krakenfield. If that’s not enough, go look at Pinocchio!!!