Folklords, review: between D&D and the Grimm Brothers

Folklords, review

Ansel is out of his world. He is not literal, but almost metanarrative. He is a character who feels he is not in the right story and who, despite the village of villagers where he was born and raised, seems to come directly from our world, from which he extrapolated his suit in a suit and tie, judged weird and unsuitable. by anyone who looks at it. It is an anomaly, and it is the pre-premise of Folklords, one of the last volumes that Edizioni BD has brought to our country, drawing from the very rich (and increasingly interesting) sample of Boom! Studios, whose "boom" (forgive the sad pun) has flooded the shelves of comic book lovers with many excellent products, many of which are almost unexpected if you think of productions like the one related to the Power Rangers series, which so many acclaim also got outside the fan circle of the TV show Saban.

Scripted by Matt Kindt, with the wonderful designs of Matt Smith and the colors of Chris O'Halloran, Folklords, whose Italian volume contains, in reality the 5 numbers of a series that seems destined to continue, starts from the typical premises of any coming-of-age story and then has fun varying on the theme, sometimes proposing itself as a sort of travelogue of any Dungeons & Dragons campaign, other times as a real meta-tale, in which an external and omniscient narrator has fun both at the expense of the characters and of the reader, all shaking well some typical canons of the tale. to fairytale and, in particular, of the “Grimmian” one, where fantastic and monstrous are sometimes mixed with innocent naivety.

It is a mix that, at least on paper, would seem explosive and that, in fact, often manages to galvanize the reader, thanks to a good rhythm, but also tables with a colorful and enjoyable style, in which they mix those stylistic features that Smith has evidently inherited from his work with Mignola, starting with magical creatures, almost all rigorously without pupils, as Hellboy's tradition demands.

Ansel's journey

The story, as mentioned, is that of Ansel, a boy on the threshold of an initiation rite who, as per tradition for his village, will have to choose to deliberately embark on a quest, a real quest of "Gygaxiana memory ”, which the boy, like his peers, can freely choose. To watch over the village and the established order, the Guild of Librarians, a mysterious squadron armed with not very talkative knights who, for completely unknown reasons, have imposed a limit on the young people 's quests, and only one: not to be interested in Folklords, mystical figures and mysterious which, as far as one can understand (or remember), are at the basis of the creation of the world.



It is a pity that Ansel, thin and frail, has decided to embark on the 'forbidden undertaking, thus triggering a series of events that will lead the young man (and not only him) to leave for an adventure beyond the borders of his own county, intent on finding the Folklords and discovering if, thanks to them, he can come to heads of the visions that the boy has always had, and in which he perceives, feels and almost touches the reflections of a distant and incomprehensible world, to which Ansel feels mysteriously connected and from which, as mentioned, the boy has extrapolated objects and images as well as some little invention. And therefore, despite the ban on leaving in search of the Folklord, Ansel will still begin his journey into the unknown, in what is a coming-of-age story, sometimes masked by darker colors, other times by bright colors and intense, almost as if Kindt had remembered reading Michael Ende's Neverending Story (which was clearly inspired by Northern European fables) and had decided to turn it around like a sock.

From this premise, a little simple and perhaps banal, the story of Folklords starts which will involve not only Ansel, but also a small series of supporting actors, each animated by a personal reason to join forces with Ansel's, in what seems a search that is not only impossible, but also desperate and for which the young man, like his companions, seem completely unprepared. Will Ansel be able to complete his mission? What will the discovery of the Folklords entail and what does the Guild of Librarians have to do with it?

The sum is better than the parts

These are some of the questions the reader should ask himself of reading and, we admit, although some of these have a rather banal answer, moreover easily guessed already from before the middle of the volume, Folklords still allows itself to be read with pleasure, more than anything else thanks to the construction of its underlying plot, of his lore, which is much more interesting than, after all, his characters are. The point is that Folklords required, perhaps, a slightly more structured construction of its characters, a deepening of background and motivations that did not end (as it happens) in a few pages and a few balloons. It seems that all the reasons, even those in the conclusions, are all a little sketchy and vague, and the result is that of a general lack of interest in the story, as if it had been told little and badly.



On balance it is not only very difficult to identify with the characters, or even just a vague empathy, but it is complicated to take an interest in their motivations, always a bit bland and far-fetched. As pleasant as the plot twists may be, and Smith's trait, so pleasantly "fantasy" is a boon to the volume, the reality is that Folklords is more interesting in its sum than in its individual parts. The world created by Kindt and designed by Smith is in fact much more pleasant and tantalizing, although not particularly innovative, it still has that spark in itself that gives the reader the desire to look beyond, as if to want to break away from the pages to look elsewhere. It is that sensation typical of their role-playing a la Forgotten Realms, although not so broad and complex (for obvious reasons), and such as to tickle the reader's imagination, who may wonder what and other stories there are among the perfectly squared composed grids. from the duo of authors.



Beyond this, Folklords is not, at least for now, that dazzling meteor that one would expect when reading the names involved on the cover, but after all - it goes said - it is not the first time that one has chosen to rewrite, adapt or even re-chew what is the canon of Northern European fairy tales, and although Kindt's pen is certainly more expert and cutting edge than that of many other screenwriters, perhaps from a multi-candidate Eisner would have expected something more. Everything is then even more endorsed by the end of the volume when, after uncovering the cards, one realizes that what has not yet been read (and therefore the hypothetical and unpublished sequel) is potentially more interesting in itself than it has been. is read already. Who knows, maybe it will be better next time.