Title: Beauty and the Beast
Author: Megan Kearney
Rating: 9/10
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
The Twist: Though the story is Classic Beauty and the Beast, we see other underlying fairy tales that connect to the plot.
Megan Kearney’s Beauty and the Beast is an artfully told, fully drawn comic/graphic novel series in three acts, one which I’ve been following for a couple of years up until its recent conclusion. Kearney has done her research when it comes to “Beauty and the Beast” and other fairy tales, and it shows. Her comic is a perfect balance between classic tale retold, and a completely twisted or flipped fairy tale.
It’s a delightful read, easy for those new to reading comics or graphic novels, and brings in just enough of both the classic French tale and some Disney feel to please just about anyone who comes in contact. Not only that, but Kearney is an amazing storyteller with a head for complex plot work and a talented artistic hand inviting us into her world with each panel. All three acts are available for sale in her online shop, which is good news for you guys. I had to wait days for each page!
The General Overview
Kearney’s Beauty and the Beast starts with an ominous prologue. We see a young child, Beauty, dying of some unknown illness, and are given tantalizing hints at magical contracts and prices for wishes. Fast forward a bit, and the story opens much like the usual “Beauty and the Beast” stories. We see Beauty with her two sisters, Temperance and Virtue, anxiously waiting for the return of their father, who has gone away to inquire about his former business affairs.
And much like the usual tales, the father returns with a rose and other riches and a story of a beast in a mansion. He admits he must return to the Beast, which greatly upsets his family. Beauty makes up her mind to go in his place, and sneaks away to the mansion before her family can stop her and before he father has recovered enough to return himself.
The rest of the comic follows the events of her time at the Beast’s mansion, their slowly-developing romance, and the eventual breaking of the Beast’s curse. Along the way, we also see glimpses of the past, how the Beast came under his curse, as well as clues to the mystery of who Beauty’s mother is, and why she disappeared.
Each chapter of each act has a page with accurately drawn herbs and flowers, as if carefully catalogued in a journal. Each grouping of plants is important, and if you read the series online, you’ll find many faithful followers helpfully decoding the meaning of these herbs and flowers for you. These are meant to be a hint at the contents of the chapter to come, and Kearney does an excellent job of only adding to the mystery, rather than giving everything away.
Also did I mention that the artwork is gorgeous? There’s a certain…Disney style to it, though I feel like that discredits Kearney, who has developed her own style over years of work and practice. It’s a softer sort of artwork, but that perfectly fits the style of the storytelling. Beauty is young, and we’re constantly reminded of that in the art. The Beast is a little more cuddly than the ferocious beasts we might be used to seeing, but that only makes him more expressive. It makes those moments where he really is a terrifying beast actually stand out.
Kearney’s particular talent, I would say, is in her background work. Every glimpse at the mansion, the gardens, the roses, the rooms, everything was so finely detailed I felt like I was walking among the pages with Beauty and her Beast. I could feel the cold of winter and the drafts in the mansion, or the thorns threatening to scratch my skin in the dangerous rose garden.
The pacing was easy to follow, as well. Which I appreciated because I’m not a big reader of comics or graphic novels, and I sometimes feel like things are either rushed or I lose track of the action. I think I’m just bad at reading graphic novels. Fortunately, Kearney’s art style makes this easy for novices like me.
One final, and more specific thought, I was glad for Kearney’s approach to the potentially bestial nature of a Beauty and the Beast romance. It’s something that just goes with the territory, unless the author’s beast isn’t actually a monster or animal-like creature, and I don’t often see it dealt with well. The bestiality topic is either ignored or…approached in sort of a gross way.
In Kearney’s version, Beauty struggled with Beast’s appearance almost every step of the way, while still seeing his heart and soul. And when they started to realize their affection for each other extended beyond that of friendship, they both had trouble knowing what to do with it. For more reasons than the fact that it would be a romance between a human girl and a lion-dog-creature, but that was definitely one of the reasons.
However there are continuous hints that Beast wasn’t always a Beast, and that’s ultimately what spurs the romance onward from a mere friendship. But it isn’t as easy as saying, “Don’t worry, I know you’re human deep down somewhere.”
The Original Story Factor
Kearney follows the classic tale fairy closely, while also adding her own spin to things. Events closely resemble the original French variations of the Villeneuve and Beaumont versions, yet we also get more substance than those tales. The Beast isn’t a dumb creature constantly asking Beauty if she’ll marry him each night, but an incredibly intellectual man cursed into a beast-like form for deeds in his past. He and Beauty bond over books, gardening, and the mysteries of the castle in which they’re both trapped, but there is always something holding him back from going all in and confessing his feelings toward Beauty.
One reason for this is the contractual systems in place at the mansion. All magic has a price, and these are set and executed through contracts, something new to the original story. It’s a beautiful addition, if sometimes hard to follow at times.
On top of that is the mystery of Beauty’s mother, which I won’t spoil here. Just know that she ties in another famous fairy tale. This has the chance of coming off really clunky, but Kearney executes it with smooth clarity. I was never left wanting for details in that area of the story, and Kearney kept true to several details of that woven-in fairy tale, as well as adding in other little motifs to freshen up that story, too.
The Criticism
One thing I was constantly hoping for was a more defined understanding of what happened in the past, specifically in Beast’s past. We get some flashback scenes, with faces blacked out to add to the mystery, and these go a long way in explaining how the Beast got in the predicament and the curse that he’s in. However I felt like I still had unanswered questions.
Another small criticism is the big transformation/curse-ending chapter. Not the curse-ending itself, I thought that was masterfully done, though I won’t get into why as it’s a big spoiler. However there was a lot of explanation, and I admit I sort of lost track of what meant what after a while.
Granted, I was reading a single page roughly every three days. Going back now and reading makes the understanding a little easier, but sometimes the seemingly legal jargon of the magical contract system confused me. Most likely because it pointed back to events that happened in earlier acts that I hadn’t read in…a long while.
Such is the nature of following a bi-weekly updated comic
Final Thoughts
For it’s minor faults, which are really just my faults since I just had trouble understanding events at times and read the whole thing over the course of two years or so, Megan Kearney’s Beauty and the Beast is a masterfully done retelling of Beauty and the Beast, inviting us to a new and exciting magical realm where one should always think twice about making a wish, and know that dealing with magic is more dangerous than it’s worth. The love that blossoms between Beauty and the Beast is sweet and develops naturally, so it’s so rewarding when we finally see them reach their happily ever after.
Which, by the way, is a twist in the story itself.
I’m sad to see a project I’ve been following for such a long time finally ended, but happy too. Because now I can buy her books and read them whenever I please, though the online version is of course still up as well, and rejoin Beauty, her family, and the Beast in their tale of romance and mystery. It’s been a wonderful journey, and I look forward to future projects from Ms. Kearney, whatever she decides to work on next.