A fun and serviceable comic book story that feels like it could have been an episode of the 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' TV series (set between seasons two and three, to be precise). There are no chapters or issues; just a stream flow of colour, magic, walking around and talking à la 'Lord of the Rings', friendships past and present, and battles.
There is one mission: to find the runestone of the Fire Princess of legend, which is said to have wiped out its entire kingdom after its power corrupted the Fire Princess and left her heartbroken and alone in the end. Adora/She-Ra and her friends set off to find the runestone in order to possibly heal it and use it for the Horde vs the Rebellion war on Etheria, or destroy it if necessary.
I really like the funny banter amongst Adora, her Best Friends Squad, and the other princesses; especially from Mermista (my favourite princess besides She-Ra and Scorpia) and Bow. And I especially love the hilarious, heartwarming and kind of sad relationship of the buddy duo Catra and Scorpia (highly reluctantly on Catra's part). Scorpia is too precious. There is a lot from Entrapta as well. Nearly everyone gets their chance to shine, to develop.
Just... don't expect anything epic, or anything spectacular on a larger scale. There are nice little character moments, and lessons learned between friends, but this is a short graphic novel, so full potential is not given to some individual characters, like Perfuma, and even Adora, bizarrely. The Legend of the Fire Princess itself, which, as the title of the book, you'd think would have a huge impact on the story and the characters, in fact barely factors in for the majority of it all. It's only given potent significance at the beginning, when the legend is first told to Adora (and the reader), and at the end, when further thoughts are given to it and what the characters have learned from it based on their own recent experiences. Its themes are subtle throughout the adventure, and then it's treated like an overt cautionary tale. She-Ra's struggles and development throughout happen at a fast pace; perhaps not given the weight it deserves. There is hardly an attempt at a parallel between She-Ra and the tragic Fire Princess.
At least it's clear that She-Ra/Adora has loving and supportive friends by her side, who share in her power, and who love best friend hugs.
Also, the artwork by the great Paulina Ganucheau of 'Zodiac Starforce' fame, while fitting and similar to the cartoon for the most part, can be a bit awkward-looking, when it comes to facial expressions. And mouths and teeth *shudders*.
But 'The Legend of the Fire Princess (She-Ra Graphic Novel #1)' is still sweet, funny, emotional, and dynamic for any 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' fan. It's an episode in comic form, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's faithful in that it is very gay and femme (Bow and Hordak are the only male characters) - I love the all-ages show for that. So I love this comic by an all-female creative team. (Gigi D.G. of 'Cucumber Quest' fame wrote the script - squeeee!)
I'll leave off my latest review of a 'She-Ra' related product by paraphrasing what I've said about 'The Princesses of Power' in past blog posts:
'It's an imperfect, colourful (in far more ways than one) little girl power gem of an animated series, for our times. It's magical girl power with depth and great relationship drama - so emotional, tragic even.'
What a commendable cartoon reboot.
(Sorry if this review is short for my usual style on books such as this. I'm quite sick at the time of writing)
Final Score: 3.5/5
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