'The Courageous Princess Volume 3: The Dragon Queen' - what a grand, exciting, action-packed, and lovely and touching conclusion to 'The Courageous Princess' comic series.
'The Dragon Queen' is the shortest of the volumes. Maybe too short, but it manages to keep a good, steady pace, and it balances out an awful lot of elements, ideas and characters in such a small space of time fairly well.
Character development is had by all.
Princess Mabelrose remains the sweetest, and the most good and caring of them all.
Her relationship with the Dragon Queen herself - wow, what a highlight.
The princess and the queen. It could have been developed a bit further, in a longer story, and therefore better, but oh well.
Ursula, aka the Dragon Queen - this queen subverts the fairy tale evil queen archetype after all. Just because she's an unmarried and childless ( !!! ) power-mad and greedy female monarch, it doesn't mean she's one dimensional and irredeemable. Also, come on, her reasons for being evil are mostly justified anyway; certain cowardly and stupid men in her family need to be held accountable for what they did to her (no, nothing like that , thankfully, this isn't that kind of fairy tale). They are not held accountable, however, and they receive no comeuppance, nor page time, for that matter, which is a flaw in the comic.
But, love and care - i.e. Mabelrose, the embodiment of kindness, brightness and joy - are powerful and do conquer everything else in anyone's life. Or they should.
"What is life without love?" - something we should all take to heart.
I'm sure there are still some retcons done in regards to the first volume, particularly with certain main characters and their relatives, which I won't disclose due to spoilers.
How does Puss in Boots, or PIB, know so much?! Who is he, really?
Why is Mabelrose's treacherous and sketchy fairy godmother, Mem, forgiven so easily? Villainous women are forgiven easily in this series, with varying scales of earnestness and being earned.
The fairy tale references, including the Disney versions, are great. As are the callbacks to the first volume. Is there a crafty, multifaceted reason for the villainess's name to be Ursula?
Are all giants (who look like ogres here) bad guys? Are they all a threat to the kingdoms? Are all dragons evil, too? Does the love and anti-prejudice message not apply to those species'? Uh, why?! Some giants seem to die by the end, as well, and literally no one cares.
The series is fast and loose when it comes to violating and manipulating people's free will, even by the good guys, especially in this volume. Very troubling.
The climax and ending montage and scene really make sure that none of the hundreds of characters are forgotten about, don't they?
Finally, slight spoiler, but Mabelrose doesn't really have a love interest, ever. As eager for courtship as she is infrequently shown to be, she never settles on anyone, let alone a prince. She doesn't need one, and in a subtle touch to her character development, she comes to realise this. And she's the embodiment of love in the series; of different, no less important kinds of love.
Hoo-hopping-ray!
No I don't care that she's still young and may likely marry one of her prince friends in the future, shut up!
That's all I'll reveal.
'The Courageous Princess' is a flawed but fun epic fantasy, fairy tale princess comic book trilogy. It's a nostalgic treat, containing awesome action sequences and set pieces, and strong characterisation, without being completely, perfectly feminist. I still like it.
Princess Mabelrose, of the tiny kingdom of New Tinsley, is a hero. Who is capable of anything she sets her mind to. She can save herself, and her kingdom and beyond, and be loved, respected, and appreciated for it.
My review of the first volume link.
My review of the second volume link.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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