2023 EDIT:
Reread: What a fun, colourful, warmhearted, clever, thrilling, and sometimes surprisingly dark fantasy adventure comic. It's not perfect - the ending is a little rushed, the main villain is weak and one-dimensional, and a couple of plot points are quick and muddled and confusing. But whatever, it's great. It is a fantasy world, containing real world political subtext. Its messages about rebellion, freedom, equality, togetherness, and forming democracies are blatant, and important.
'Another Castle' may be better than I remember the first time reading it. In many ways it is my kind of graphic novel. A wonderful, hope-filled standalone.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
'Another Castle: Grimoire' is a fun fantasy graphic novel that is, appropriately enough, like a classic video game presented in another art form. It's a simple story with themes of rebellion and empowerment in all sorts of ways - nothing special, but enjoyable. The art is by the same person who worked on 'Zodiac Starforce', Paulina Ganucheau, and that ranks the book high in my, ahem, book. It is passionate, and adorable.
Artemisia, or Misty, is a princess who wants to kill an evil king, Badlug, using the only sword that can do the task. But her selfless, noble heart gets her locked up in his castle and forced to be his bride so he can rule over her kingdom of Beldora. It is Misty the story focuses on while, in the background, her "prince" comes to try to rescue her. She doesn't wait around for a mini-second, and by her own efforts, she uncovers the horrific truth behind Grimoire, the kingdom of monsters. With the help of Badlug's equally-trapped servants, the princess vows to set Grimoire free from tyranny, and kill her captor once and for all.
We've seen the rebellious princess trope so many times now that we've become as sick of it as we had the passive fairy tale princess trope that's existed since storytelling began. But at least Princess Misty, who excels with a sword and is as assertive and smart as they come, also likes dresses and jewellery, plus pink. There is more to her than any boxed gender stereotypes.
'Another Castle' is about Misty wanting freedom - from her external prison and to be whoever she wants, never ruling anywhere; alone or alongside anyone else. There's a revenge motif to her character; part of her motivation for going against Badlug is a vendetta for her mother's death years beforehand. She is hard yet kind, and cries in practically every chapter. That just makes her more brave and worth rooting for.
There is also a homosexual couple going through an on-and-off-again breakup that's a small detail to the story and not made a big deal of at all. Female friendships and sisterhood are put to the forefront. Fantastical racism with goblins and monsters - overcoming racism and loving and helping each other despite our differences really is a theme that is everywhere nowadays, and in fact was always around and we didn't care to see it until we realized how important it truly is to see in fiction right now. To that I say, "Good, keep it up, everyone always needs to be reminded about equality."
Overall 'Another Castle: Grimoire' isn't particularly groundbreaking. The villain Badlug is one-dimensional (he is just like Skeletor from 'He-Man', only not nearly as entertaining or memorable), and Princess Misty, however good she is, doesn't stand out much in comparison to the other colourful and charming characters (the monsters, including Gorga the half-gorgon, are funny and great to know over the course of the story). But as a comic for all ages, it is an exciting adventure. Energetic and not too violent, it is a fun-packed homage to eighties' Saturday morning cartoons and arcade games, notably Nintendo's 'Super Mario' and 'The Legend of Zelda'.
For a progressive, feminist dragon quest about hope, go read 'Another Castle'. The princess is in another castle, because she escaped and is on the move towards justice.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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