Award-winning illustrator P. Craig Russell's adaptations of Oscar Wilde's The Remarkable Rocket and The Young King are exquisitely spun tales for adults and children alike.
Philip Craig Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Since 1972 his work has won multiple Kirby, Harvey, and Eisner Awards, and Cartoon Crossroads Columbus presented him the Master Cartoonist Award in 2019.
Have you got a small child perched attentively on your lap, waiting for another story? If not then Gruncle Rick says you're doing something wrong here. But then don't listen to me, I read this wonderful, if all too brief, collection to myself as well. Still there's nothing like having a youngster to whom to tell a story and what better stories than delightful pearls of wisdom from that master craftsman himself: Oscar Wilde, beautifully adapted and gorgeously illustrated by P. Craig Russell. These two tales are treasures. The first being one that should be required reading for all those Christian fundamentalists who really haven't a clue what being a Christian really means. The Young King not only defines the hypocrisy of the concept of compassionate conservatism but also the inherent contradictions between true Christian values and trickle down economics. Oh Uncle Oscar sure knew how to skewer the plutocrats didn't he? The Remarkable Robot is another fine tale of a pompous firecracker with delusions of grander; in other words: a blowhard politician who only knows how to shoot off his mouth. Sounds like these are both tales that need to be retold more often these days. Don't worry, these tales are for charming little kids who will be totally absorbed and could undoubtedly teach the morals to those adults who have forgotten what they should have learned in, remembered from, kindergarden.
The first story is amazing...the art is good. The second story is also good, but not very deep or serious. Just satirical. Oscar Wilde was a complex character with as many sides as a dodecahedron.
The Young King is a nice fable about the disparity between the rich and the poor, but the Remarkable Rocket is a little slow about big talk, but the art is so wonderful!
I love both stories. the young king is about poverty, guilt, and shame. the remarkable rocket is about ambition, superiority complex, and humility. 3 stars, I guess.
Russell has turned two of Wilde's short stories into graphic novels. It works well enough. I'll put them on the shelf and see if students check them out...