This graphic novel wasn't bad. Definitely weird.

Morigan gets dragged from city to city as her brother and mother write about myths. They've arrived in the new town, and Morigan doesn't have the best attitude, to say the least. Sidenote: she has really long blonde hair. She's not particularly friendly to anyone. A crow steals her hairpin almost immediately; she tells the crow she wants it back and chases him. Upon walking through town, she meets a girl who becomes her friend. Morigan even goes onto this woman's property that on one else will enter to retrieve her friend's bracelet. The old lady invites her in and tells her about the Crow King. Yep--the crow that stole her hairpin is evil.

When Morigan returns home, her mother and brother are unconscious and under the Crow's control. She has been given a button with a cape that gives her the ability to fight the Crow.

Overall, it was perfectly fine. ( )

I LOVED this! The storyline is interesting, and the illustrations are well done. Great for anyone who wants a strong female lead and loves folk lore! ( )

Scarecrow Princess: I have a suggestion to read instead of this.

I am utterly disappointed with this Lion Forge ROAR release.

An Italian import, I read the English translation of this Graphic Novel. I was initially drawn in by the plot description and atypical artwork. Unfortunately, The Scarecrow Princess has some inexcusable issues that block me from suggesting it to other readers.

The Scarecrow Princess (Federico Rossi Edrig)
160 pages
Lion Forge
ISBN-10: 1941302424
ISBN-13: 978-1941302422

——————
READ THIS, NOT THAT
So beyond this is a pretty negative review. I suggest you skip this book and read Nilah Magruder’s M.F.K. instead. While I have not yet read MFK, is on my short list of seemingly amazing work I need to prioritize.
——————

Fatal flaws, lets discuss the biggest of them. We wont even talk about the rest.

I was annoyed that the creators of this comic chose to so strongly sexualize the fourteen year old female protagonist. But it is more than just sexualization; It has a strong theme of methodical abuse:

**Fourteen year old female protagonist Morgan meets faceless male antagonist the King of Crows. The KoC dispatches Morgan’s mother and brother, removing her support base, leaving her vulnerable and alone in her home.

**The faceless King of Crows grabs Morgan, simply saying ‘gotcha’ before Morgan blacks out. She awakes in a strange bedroom/bed.

**Morgan starts wearing an additional layer of clothing, an oversized old coat, an unmistakable metaphor of protection to save her from the King.

**The King of Crows tells her all the trouble he has caused and the removal of her family is for her own good and because she ‘wanted it’

**Early teenage Morgan then, for NO REASON, goes home and masturbates for an 8 panel page.

**The King attempts to break Morgans will, causing her oversized protective coat to dissolve.

**Author inserts a random Lesbian joke/reference

**Morgan and the King of Crows have a battle in which they are both nude. We don’t know why, but they are. Mr Faceless shows his bare chest while Miss Fourteen shows all of her bathing suit areas several times. In the end, her protection backfires, the bad guy is released and promises to return.

**The stalker version of KoC has a conversation with Morgan.. shortly after, another Lesbian joke/reference

**After Morgan’s family is returned, she never tells them about the screwed up bullshit she has gone through, and goes to highschool the next week.

If the plotline had not been completely full of holes, perhaps there could be justification for some of these elements, but in its published state, there are no excuses. Nudity for example is warranted in a number of Graphic Novels, for example, in recently published works about eating disorders. Doubtful this work could be saved, it burnt my bridge already.

Disappointed.

—

Disclosure: This Graphic Novel was supplied by the author or publisher for review purposes. The source of the media did not impact my viewpoint.. ( )

The Scarecrow Princess is a fantastic (in terms of fantasy) story about a teenage girl named Morrigan, finding her place in a new town where she accidentally stumbles into the age-old reoccurring war between the thievish King of Crows and the Scarecrow Prince. While at the beginning the roles are clearly distributed with the King the bad guy and the Prince the good one to defend the town's people, at the end both figures take a large step towards the gray zone.

Several coincidences lead to the girl, Morrigan Moore, getting the Scarecrow Prince's mantle - or, maybe, be chosen by it as its new bearer. Discovering the power she has with this mantle, she is set on defeating the King of Crows, who steals his way through town and even kidnapped her mother and brother. But the power she gains comes with a price - a high price Morrigan must decide whether she is willing to pay. At the end, Morrigan must not only fight the King of Crows, but also the ghost of the Scarecrow Prince.

Some reviewers criticized that several scenes of the story did not match with Morrigan only being fourteen, like wanting to drink alcohol at a party or "doing what your body asks of you". While honestly I quickly forgot the mention of Morrigan's age at the beginning of the book, I was surprised to confirm that she indeed is only fourteen. The whole book through I estimated her to be about sixteen, so I didn't have any problem with above mentioned scenes. On the other hand, you can't deny the fact that fourteen today certainly is an age where teenagers start dipping their feet into the adult world - like it or not. However, I doubt that any teenager who reads this graphic novel will go raiding their parents stash of alcohol right after.

Another scene the reviewer deemed inappropriate was when Morrigan shreds the mantle in fight, leaving her as well as the King of Crows naked. Here, I have to strongly disagree. IMHO, on one hand, the situation lacked any sexual tension, on the other, the illustrations were in no way indecent or exploitative, and the scene did match with the plot. After relying on the powers of the mantle too much, being almost consumed by it, Morrigan shreds the choking fabric from her body, freeing and revealing her pure self underneath. This was a very important step towards adulthood for Morrigan - discovering who she really is and that she can achieve something on her own. It's like finding her own place, no longer being defined by her family or just reacting to outer influences, but acting out of herself, by her own will.

As for the King of Crows, he is the villain from start to end, but then he never denies it and actually confirms that this is his nature. You might argue that his figure represents evil, or maybe temptation. In the end he is not truly defeated, but at least slightly impressed with Morrigan's own strength, which leads to a kind of fragile truce.

Writing this review was kind of a double-edged sword, but I stick with my thoughts as perceived right after reading the book and before being reminded that Morrigan is fourteen, not sixteen as I would have assumed, but then again, I do not see it as that big an issue as other readers.

A short word on the illustrations: I loved the overwhelming quality of the pictures, which perfectly match the overwhelming times Morrigan has to face in this story - both because of the fantastic war she gets involved in, but also - again - because of her age on the brink of reaching adulthood.

Note 1: I remember a time when there was no such thing as 'teen' fiction. There were children 's books and then there was fiction, period. Maybe we should have more trust in today's teenagers than assume they will be damaged by reading this book.

Note 2: I never proof-read my reviews, so maybe later I'm going to regret some of the things I wrote 'in the heat of the moment' - I might have leaned a bit on the rambling side with this one...but I just couldn't help myself. Sue me!

Note 3: I enjoyed this story, and despite every doubt whether or not it is appropriate, I do recommend it. Just find out for yourself.

(Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own) ( )