Raowl v1: “Beauty and the Creep”

I needed a good laugh. And this twisted little nugget. “Raowl”, provided plenty of them.

It’s a humor book that’s poking fun at its own fantasy genre.

If you liked Skottie Young’s “I Hate Fairyland,” you’ll see something of a kindred spirit here, though more focused on the fairy tale/princess set of concepts.

The Credits are in Another Castle

What Is Going On Here?

The book begins with a princess purposefully trapped in a castle tower, eagerly anticipating the handsome blond prince with the pencil mustache who will save her.

Instead, she gets the beastly Raowl, a more (slightly) monstrous figure who doesn’t know his own strength. He wants to strike a deal for love, as he’s the only one who can actually save her.

The two mix instantly, like oil and water. He “rescues” her, only to take her to a village where lots of princes normally hang out — if only Raowl’s violent actions hadn’t already scared them away.

But she’s not giving up so easily and persuades Raowl to continue to help her.

That’s the first story, that takes up the first 15 pages of the book. The rest is one larger story starring another princess, fittingly named Belle.

Here, we learn the details behind Raowl’s big secret, and Belle and Raowl begin to understand each other better — just before the bats swoop in to kidnap Belle.

We also get introduced to our first true villain of the series, who collects princes like Sarlac Pits collect Jedis.

So What is “Raowl”?

It’s a fairy tale parody book. It’s like a more subdued “Shrek,” focusing on the tropes of the princess in distress and her might warrior savior instead of the pop culture references. It’s trendy with its language, at times, but doesn’t rely on pop culture references.

It uses your preconceived notions of what a book like this is supposed to be to toy with you. Sometimes, it actually follows those tropes, but with a knowing nod and wink. It keeps you off-kilter.

In the end, it’s the dialogue that serves this book so strongly. It feels like a British comedy, with self-awareness and a sense of whimsy in the mix. This feels like an Adult Swim or Netflix animated comedy waiting to be made. Even the art has that kind of look.

The helpless princess isn’t entirely helpless. She just really wants a prince, so she’ll use that to get what she wants. And when it turns out that you should be more careful about what you wish for, she doubles down on being the spoiled brat and asks for more.

It’s the way Tebo uses these characters to play with the reader that’s so much fun for me. There is a plot and it’s cute and all, but you read this book for the humor and enjoy the crazy actions and reactions of the characters. Maybe in another book or two, I’ll feel more attached to the characters, but right now they’re just stand-ins for certain types that sell the gags.

I’m fine with that. Not everything has to be deep, character-driven drama or comedy.

The Art of Tebo

It’s also a quick read. The art is done on three tiers per page, with fairly generous sized panels. The trick here is that Tebo does not ever skimp on backgrounds. There are a few empty backgrounds spread throughout the book — after establishing shots have done their thing, of course — but every panel indicates a place.

It’s just that the backgrounds are about as detailed as the characters in the foreground. They match, which is nice to see. They’re cartoony and, often, not ruler-straight. Everything has a hand-made feel to it.

That’s helped a bunch by the coloring, which is flat and bright. There’s not even that much shadow work in the colors, but the little bits that are there help round corners and indicate depth and subtly add dimension to a very two-dimensional world.

Usually, changes in tone or color on a plane indicate a darker area, rather than a shadow. There are no cast shadows or rim lights or key and fill lights in this book. It’s all so perfectly simple.

Tebo’ art style fits his writing: straight ahead, deceptively simple, slightly twisted and over-the-top effusive. Even though a lot of the humor in the book is verbal, Tebo isn’t content to deliver talking heads panels over and over again. Characters move and act across the page.

In the one case I can think of where two panels are nearly duplicated, it’s done for comedic effect and the panel is redrawn to handle a certain amount of limited motion.

A Quick Note on Lettering

I love the lettering choices that European comics make.

And I’m very very happy that the English language translations use the same font as often as possible. It might not work out for the hand-lettered books of old, but modern books can pass fonts along between languages. It helps keep the overall look and style of the book consistent.

I pulled up the French edition of this book to compare it to the English language edition. You can see that they’re using the same font here in both.

Recommended?

Obviously, it all depends on your sense of humor, but I’m a fan. The stories play well on the established tropes of the genre, and the cartooning and timing sells the gags well.

At first glance, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. The character designs were a little flatter than what I’d normally prefer. But Tebo’s style and the way he pushes the characters through their motions really sold the style to me. The coloring is a big part of that. This book is unapologetically bright.

Just look at the panels in this review. They’ll be a pretty good indicator of what this book is about. If you see something you like or are curious about, give the book a chance. I’m glad I did.

— 2019.047 —

Buy It Now

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