Review: Princeless Volume 2 #4

With this month’s issue of Princeless, the second volume concludes. The first five pages depict Angelica’s backstory, in which we see how she learns to suffer the adoration of others. The rest of the pages contain the battle with the spectral lion that appeared at the end of the third issue. Adrienne’s rescue of her sister gets turned around as Angelica leads the creature away, and the battle itself pivots on the actions of Angelica’s smitten minions.

Each issue of Princeless is a fresh take on fairy tale tropes, and Jeremy Whitley’s plotting is always original, sending Adrienne the wickedest curve balls to sort out. Nothing ever goes as she plans, although her good will and radical idea–to free princesses from their towers and guardians–is aided and abetted by others. While the premise is captivating, the true strengths of this comic are its characters, which are many layers deep, and the clean humor. Princeless is a funny comic, and it gets its laughs without resorting to innuendo. If you’re looking for good all-ages reading for your pull list, you need look no further than Princeless.

Emily Martin’s work is a good fit for this comic book fantasy. The pages are reminiscent of the work of Phil Foglio; each character is rounded out with a friendly anime fullness, and extremely expressive eyes that do almost as much to tell the story as the dialogue. The following page, from Angelica’s origin story, is a good example of the wit and artistic energy you can expect to find on the pages of Princeless:

Princeless Volume 2 #4 will be in comic book stores this Wednesday, June the 26th. You can find all previous issues on comiXology, and all issues up to volume 4 #2 as PDFs on the Action Lab website. Both sites have the Free Comic Book Day edition if you would like a sample of this series, and there are pages and panels appearing on the comic’s tumblr page.