Outfoxed: A Fable

by Dylan Meconis

Everybody knows to "be careful what you wish for." But should you be careful of what other people wish for?

A chance encounter on a forest road leads to unintended consequences in this original 24-page comic book fable! When a humble laundry girl rescues an unusual creature from the hunt, both their lives will be changed forever.

This comic, originally published online in 2011, was nominated for an Eisner Award in the Best Digital Comic category. This much-requested print edition is saddle-stitch in standard comics dimensions, with interior art lavishly printed in black and a vivid spot red on cream-tone paper.

(http://dylanmeconis.myshopify.com/col...)

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Webcomic, Graphic Novels Comics, Fairy Tales, Short Stories

25 pages, saddle-stitch

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Dylan Meconis is a cartoonist and writer. She was raised in Seattle, Washington, but now lives in Portland, Oregon.
She is a member of Helioscope, the largest studio of freelance comics creators in North America.
She is married to her wife Katie, and they have a dog named President Teddy Roosevelt.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.

this is the FOURTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2019 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.

if you scroll to the end of the reviews linked here, you will find links to all the previous years’ stories, which means NINETY-THREE FREEBIES FOR YOU!

2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2018: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

reviews of these will vary in length/quality depending on my available time/brain power.

so, let’s begin

DECEMBER 16



that picture is from the very end of the story, and is indicative of the way many human/fox interactions end; frustration and screaming.

i had some other screenshots ready to post, but as always, photobucket let me down. so you'll have to read this one yourself, because waiting for photobucket to play nice again is a fool's errand.

as i bring it back home, it is also a fool's errand to expect a FOX to play nice, although whatever they do, they're gonna do in style.

apart from that lesson, this transformation-based fairytale reminds us that change is bad. there's more to it than that, obviously, but those are the lessons i'm choosing to take away today because mood.

read it for yourself here:

http://www.dylanmeconis.com/outfoxed/

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DECEMBER 14 GOODREADS ERASED THIS STORY AND MY REVIEW FROM THE SITE, SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO READ IT, IT IS HERE. THANKS.
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come to my blog!

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may not be the biggest fan of graphic novels, but I definitely love the works of Dylan Meconis. Her graphic novel, Queen Of The Sea was one of my favorite reads in 2021. She has a clean palette, so to speak, so the illustrations don’t get too clouded and the words can stand out for the reader.



In this book, a laundress is walking along when she is startled by a fox running from hunters and their hounds. He begs her to hide him, which she does in the bag of stinky clothes she is on the way to wash. But the fox is not all he seems to be because, well, he’s a fox and the words “crafty” and “sly” are appropriate adjectives for such a survivalist.

It’s a short e-read, but worth it, just for the twisty turn of the path.

Book Season = Year Round (crafty vagrancy)

[itselv]

Maybe I missed something, but I wasn’t awed! Loved the shape-shifting and the eerie atmosphere, but the story ended right where it started to get interesting, which pains me to frustration.

[Hira Chaudhary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such an interesting story about humanity and what it means to be human. The fox was such an interesting character and it killed me how things ended. But also, that was just so grand.

[Mark Will Never Cry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel kinda bad about this, because it looks great, but the story felt so empty. This is presented as a fable, but then it just tells that people will turn against themselves if they think that it will give them power and even then the message is not really presented in a very interesting way. It's just nothing special and that is kinda sad.

[Natalie Weizenbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of contemporary attempts to capture the fairy tale vibe, and very few do as well as this.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fable and the art is just splendid.

[papilionna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork and design of this fable are fabulous. I really loved the story and characters too, I wish it was longer!

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever, cunning, and beautiful, from start to finish. Just like a fox.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Dylan Meconis, who did my favorite graphic novel Queen of the Sea, and I loved this short fable about a sneaky fox with too many wishes.

[curiouskat_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting short story. The illustrations were fantazstic and the premise was executed great. I only wish it were longer.

[*Tau* · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to come

[Anoushka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant story, colour palette and design!
Definitely an inspiration for other comic creators!

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published as a digital comic, this was surprisingly insightful and fun. A laundress meets a fox who not only talks but can shift forms and have things materialize out of nothing. Find a copy of this to experience it for yourself.

[Angela Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful fable that hit me in my feelers way too hard. But in a good way!

[Nona the First · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Gorgeous gorgeous art.

2. Actually funny.