The night marchers and other Oceanian tales

This anthology of cautionary fables and fairytales is one of a series which includes selections from Africa, Asia and Europe. This collection from Oceania includes stories from Hawaii, the Philippines and Fiji. Each black and white fable has its own author and comic style and many feature a fusion of modern and ancient cultures. In 'Tabi Po', creatures from the spirit world break though into everyday life when disrespectful children draw their attention with terrifying results. In 'The Legend of Apolaki and Mayari' children squabbling over the TV game controller hear a tale about another brother and sister fighting and the serious consequences. Some are quite frightening and 'The Alan and the Hunters' quite disturbing. 'The Turtle and the Lizard' is unusual as it is written in Babayin, an old Filipino Tagalog script and is followed by 'Lets Learn Babayin' with the challenge to decipher some of the words in the story. Abrupt changes between stories are a bit disconcerting but the range of styles maintains interest and there is a brief bio of each of the 19 contributors at the end so readers can follow their preferred artists online.

Aspiring comic artists will find some new ideas and those who like classic fearsome fairytales won’t be disappointed.

Themes: Fairytales, Fables, Oceana, Comics.

Sue Speck