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The Land of Stories Graphic Novels #1
Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer comes a graphic novel in the Land of Stories series featuring Goldilocks—as you've never seen her before!
When we first meet her in The Land of The Wishing Spell , Goldilocks is a beautiful and tough-as-nails outlaw. Discover her origin story and more in this brand new, lushly illustrated full-color graphic novel, as she takes you on adventures where she may or may not break a few laws along the way.
Once upon a time, the kingdoms of the fairy-tale world lived in perfect harmony under the guidance of the Happily Ever After Assembly. But not all creatures and territories have been invited to this peaceful union. Monsters and criminals have found refuge in the Dwarf Forests, a land without rulers or law. When a plot by the Charming brothers is unveiled and threatens to push society's unwanted from their homes, the fairy-tale world's harmony and Goldilocks' home are put in jeopardy . . .
New and returning fans of the Land of Stories will fall in love with the adventures of Goldilocks before she met Alex and Conner Bailey. Fans will recognize familiar characters including Porridge, Jack, and Queen Red Riding Hood; and a ragtag team of misfits is introduced, including Puss in Boots, Little Miss Muffet, Pinocchio, and more.
When we first meet her in The Land of The Wishing Spell , Goldilocks is a beautiful and tough-as-nails outlaw. Discover her origin story and more in this brand new, lushly illustrated full-color graphic novel, as she takes you on adventures where she may or may not break a few laws along the way.
Once upon a time, the kingdoms of the fairy-tale world lived in perfect harmony under the guidance of the Happily Ever After Assembly. But not all creatures and territories have been invited to this peaceful union. Monsters and criminals have found refuge in the Dwarf Forests, a land without rulers or law. When a plot by the Charming brothers is unveiled and threatens to push society's unwanted from their homes, the fairy-tale world's harmony and Goldilocks' home are put in jeopardy . . .
New and returning fans of the Land of Stories will fall in love with the adventures of Goldilocks before she met Alex and Conner Bailey. Fans will recognize familiar characters including Porridge, Jack, and Queen Red Riding Hood; and a ragtag team of misfits is introduced, including Puss in Boots, Little Miss Muffet, Pinocchio, and more.
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2021
118 people are currently reading
1722 people want to read
About the author
Chris Colfer
59 books11.1k followersChris Colfer is an Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actor best-known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the FOX television series "Glee".
He is also a New York Times bestselling author whose books include the first three novels in the "Land of Stories" series ("The Wishing Spell", "The Enchantress Returns" and "A Grimm Warning") as well as "Struck By Lightning: The Carson Philips Journal" which is a novelization based on the script he wrote for the film "Struck By Lighting" (Colfer also co-produced and starred in that movie).
He is also a New York Times bestselling author whose books include the first three novels in the "Land of Stories" series ("The Wishing Spell", "The Enchantress Returns" and "A Grimm Warning") as well as "Struck By Lightning: The Carson Philips Journal" which is a novelization based on the script he wrote for the film "Struck By Lighting" (Colfer also co-produced and starred in that movie).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 251 reviews
October 9, 2021
I did not enjoy this book as much as I was hoping too. First off, the artwork was really bad. The poses were stiff and inhuman, and the faces had no emotions. The line art was inconsistent, and the backgrounds were often just a solid colour instead of an interesting scene. The colours also didn’t go well together. The faces also seemed to just be copy pasted, shrunk, and flipped whenever a character was drawn again. I couldn’t focus on the story without finding yet another badly drawn panel. I mean, the faces were so bad that you couldn’t tell what anyone was feeling at all. Art is supposed to communicate things, not be like *this*.
Examples:
-in one panel Jack has his eyes going in two different directions
-Puss in Boots seemed like he only had a couple facial expressions, just copy and pasted over and over
-The anatomy was just…off. There were so many strange poses and Muffet looked like she had broken arms several times
-Cinderella suddenly appeared to not be pregnant in the last chapters
Now, the plot. I was a not big fan of who the antagonists were, I feel like it kind of ruined some of the good characters from the land of stories. And the conflict was resolved too quickly in my opinion. It just doesn’t flow that nicely. I didn’t like the plot all that much because of that.
Lastly, this is an origin story for “Goldie”. She is a strong heroine, but at one point she calls herself “damaged goods”, like…what? I feel like that’s out of character for her, I read the land of stories series when I was a kid, and I feel like that just doesn’t fit her.
Anyways, the book was decent. I just didn’t particularly like the artwork or the conflict.
Examples:
-in one panel Jack has his eyes going in two different directions
-Puss in Boots seemed like he only had a couple facial expressions, just copy and pasted over and over
-The anatomy was just…off. There were so many strange poses and Muffet looked like she had broken arms several times
-Cinderella suddenly appeared to not be pregnant in the last chapters
Now, the plot. I was a not big fan of who the antagonists were, I feel like it kind of ruined some of the good characters from the land of stories. And the conflict was resolved too quickly in my opinion. It just doesn’t flow that nicely. I didn’t like the plot all that much because of that.
Lastly, this is an origin story for “Goldie”. She is a strong heroine, but at one point she calls herself “damaged goods”, like…what? I feel like that’s out of character for her, I read the land of stories series when I was a kid, and I feel like that just doesn’t fit her.
Anyways, the book was decent. I just didn’t particularly like the artwork or the conflict.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2021
After reading and obsessing over Chris Colfer's Land of Stories book series, this was the perfect prequel type book to share Goldilock's story. She has always been one of my favorite characters from his books and it was so great to see her beginning life depicted in the comic style of art. I absolutely loved this super quick read and super recommend it!
February 25, 2024
✨ "Sometimes in life you've got to make a stand, not for your survival, but for your soul. And sometimes we have to stay and fight, not because we think we'll win, but because it's what's right."
4.5⭐️
This was wild, feminist, immensely fun and I loved every moment.
A Goldilocks retelling and fresh origin story? Villains that are actually just misunderstood misfits? Crossovers of iconic fairytales and characters? Found family banding together? Yes, yes, yes and yes!!! This ticked all the boxes for me.
I loved how sassy Red Riding Hood was and the romance subplot. But Little Miss Muffet was the literal best ("I am a spider god!") and stole the show lmaooooo.
The only thing I didn't like was the art. The characters looked super weird and had uneven eyes + odd expressions. Which is a shame considering how rich and vibrant the story is. The ending also felt like it had lots of loose ends so I hope there will be a sequel!
Anyway, kinda crazy that I happen to read about a fictional genocide in the current climate. But is it really that crazy and is it really that fictional?
4.5⭐️
This was wild, feminist, immensely fun and I loved every moment.
A Goldilocks retelling and fresh origin story? Villains that are actually just misunderstood misfits? Crossovers of iconic fairytales and characters? Found family banding together? Yes, yes, yes and yes!!! This ticked all the boxes for me.
I loved how sassy Red Riding Hood was and the romance subplot. But Little Miss Muffet was the literal best ("I am a spider god!") and stole the show lmaooooo.
The only thing I didn't like was the art. The characters looked super weird and had uneven eyes + odd expressions. Which is a shame considering how rich and vibrant the story is. The ending also felt like it had lots of loose ends so I hope there will be a sequel!
Anyway, kinda crazy that I happen to read about a fictional genocide in the current climate. But is it really that crazy and is it really that fictional?
September 15, 2021
Pretty disappointing. I didn’t like the art style, and the writing was a little irritating.
February 7, 2025
i’ve been meaning to read this book for years. it felt nice to go back to the book universe that got me into reading. i really enjoyed this book and probably could’ve finished it in one sitting if i didn’t start this book at night
April 8, 2024
➳ 4 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚
this was enjoyable! i am not usually that into graphic novels but i read this because i love chris colfer’s other books and i was not disappointed.
a fun, quick, empowering read! i am so happy i got a chance to go back into the land of stories world. also i just love red riding hood so much 🎀
୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆
this was enjoyable! i am not usually that into graphic novels but i read this because i love chris colfer’s other books and i was not disappointed.
a fun, quick, empowering read! i am so happy i got a chance to go back into the land of stories world. also i just love red riding hood so much 🎀
୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆
March 24, 2024
After reading and loving Chris Golfer’s Land of Stories book series, I thought that this book would be an amazing prequel of Goldilocks, who in the Land of Stories I loved, but I was pretty disappointed.
The story itself was pretty good, but the art disappointed me. When reading about Goldilocks in the Land of Stories I always pictured her as a beautiful woman, the art in this graphic novel I don’t think captured that beauty. Similar to my opinion on Goldilocks, is Jack, I always pictured Jack as a handsome man, but again, just like my thought on Goldilocks, I believe that the looks weren’t captured in the best way. In general the art in this graphic novel just throw me off.
The story itself was pretty good, but the art disappointed me. When reading about Goldilocks in the Land of Stories I always pictured her as a beautiful woman, the art in this graphic novel I don’t think captured that beauty. Similar to my opinion on Goldilocks, is Jack, I always pictured Jack as a handsome man, but again, just like my thought on Goldilocks, I believe that the looks weren’t captured in the best way. In general the art in this graphic novel just throw me off.
December 12, 2022
"A cat, a puppet, a little girl, and a pastry are defeating our men, sir!"
A pretty great story about how one outlaw and her band of misfits with weird powers stopped an ambitious a-hole from committing genocide in refugee-land.
But good lawd above, the art is all sorts of wonky! Some I swear were just re-drawn Disney characters! Expressions were all over the place, action is laughable, and somebody really needs to reassess their mastery of colors for fabrics so it doesn't look like it was all made with the gradient tool on Photoshop.
A pretty great story about how one outlaw and her band of misfits with weird powers stopped an ambitious a-hole from committing genocide in refugee-land.
But good lawd above, the art is all sorts of wonky! Some I swear were just re-drawn Disney characters! Expressions were all over the place, action is laughable, and somebody really needs to reassess their mastery of colors for fabrics so it doesn't look like it was all made with the gradient tool on Photoshop.
July 26, 2023
I am reviewing this book on behalf of my 7-year-old daughter. She LOVES it. We discovered it at the library months ago and she has read it at least 13 times. She even requested that I read it too so I did. It was definitely fun to see the intertwining of so many different fairy tales. We got a few laughs out of it too. She is very much looking forward to a sequel please!
July 5, 2021
Excellent!!!! The land of stories series by Chris Colfer has intrigued me but I’ve never read it. I love graphic novels so I thought I’d try this one out. I loved seeing Goldilocks in this light!!! Such a great character! I hope Chris Colfer and Jon Proctor do more and make it into a series! Hooray for feminism!
April 20, 2022
I am a HUGE fan of reinventing the fairy tale world, taking the characters and putting them into a new world. Bill Willingham's Fables series is a favourite, but too adult for the school audience. I have never read one of the Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer (despite it being on my TBR list) but when I saw that there was a graphic novel I had to pick it up.
I love the feisty girl power in this book, the redemption story and the power of one person to make a difference. All glory Goldilocks.
I love the feisty girl power in this book, the redemption story and the power of one person to make a difference. All glory Goldilocks.
November 10, 2022
“Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive” is an adventurous kids graphic novel which introduces the reader to the “Land of Stories” kingdoms and follows the Charming brothers as they begins a quest of total world domination.
The graphic novel consists of nineteen chapters and begins with a map showing the kingdoms of the fairy-tale world and provides background on how the various kingdoms came into existence.
Although most humans and fairies are united in diplomacy, criminals are allowed to roam free from laws and convictions in the Dwarf Forests.
As the graphic novel progresses, the reader learns the backstory of Goldilocks and the situation that lead her to become a fugitive who lives in the Dwarf Forests. After being framed for a crime, Goldilocks (aka Goldie) finds herself cast out of the house by her parents but finds a two new friends in the dangerous forest.
After the Happily Ever Council meets and makes a decision that directly impacts Goldie and her forest home,she gathers the inhabitants of the Dwarf Forest to fight off the power hungry princes.
While preparing to fight the princes, Goldie has an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend. Although Goldie has accepted her life as a criminal, her childhood friend encourages her to return home to clear her name. Goldie’s request for help in fighting the Prince leads to three more joining her in the fight.
When the attack on the forest has been moved up, Goldie directs the inhabitants to leave while she remains to fight Charming’s army solo. By Goldie showing bravery in a time of trouble, this inspires women in other kingdoms to step up and claim their power.
Interesting to see how various fairy tale characters were involved throughout the book including “Red Riding Hood,” “Rapunzel,” Puss in Boots,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Gingerbread Man,” “Pinocchio,” and “Little Miss Muffet.”
In closing, I liked the overall theme of not letting others define who you are as well as presenting a story of receiving redemption after a childhood of pain.
The graphic novel consists of nineteen chapters and begins with a map showing the kingdoms of the fairy-tale world and provides background on how the various kingdoms came into existence.
Although most humans and fairies are united in diplomacy, criminals are allowed to roam free from laws and convictions in the Dwarf Forests.
As the graphic novel progresses, the reader learns the backstory of Goldilocks and the situation that lead her to become a fugitive who lives in the Dwarf Forests. After being framed for a crime, Goldilocks (aka Goldie) finds herself cast out of the house by her parents but finds a two new friends in the dangerous forest.
After the Happily Ever Council meets and makes a decision that directly impacts Goldie and her forest home,she gathers the inhabitants of the Dwarf Forest to fight off the power hungry princes.
While preparing to fight the princes, Goldie has an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend. Although Goldie has accepted her life as a criminal, her childhood friend encourages her to return home to clear her name. Goldie’s request for help in fighting the Prince leads to three more joining her in the fight.
When the attack on the forest has been moved up, Goldie directs the inhabitants to leave while she remains to fight Charming’s army solo. By Goldie showing bravery in a time of trouble, this inspires women in other kingdoms to step up and claim their power.
Interesting to see how various fairy tale characters were involved throughout the book including “Red Riding Hood,” “Rapunzel,” Puss in Boots,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Gingerbread Man,” “Pinocchio,” and “Little Miss Muffet.”
In closing, I liked the overall theme of not letting others define who you are as well as presenting a story of receiving redemption after a childhood of pain.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2021
Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories began weaving new elements into classic fairy tales since the release of The Wishing Spell in 2012. Now, Colfer teams up with graphic artist Jon Proctor with an origin story starring Goldilocks along with Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, their husbands/consorts and other fairy tale staples including Rapunzel and Jack (of the beanstalk). There is depth to the story told and readers will have to do much more than simply look at the art panels to follow the tale that presents Goldilocks as a strong, capable woman who was wronged by those bears so many years ago and now has teamed up with Puss in Boots to wreck a plan to take over the Dwarf Forests. Target audience for this graphic novel is grade 5-8 and while students younger may be drawn to the art and the idea of swords, kings/queens, and castles, the vocabulary and intricate plot may be a bit challenging. Content note: sword violence and talk of executing criminals present, but no blood or gore; no profanity or sexual content. Thanks for the ARC, Little Brown for Young Readers.
December 19, 2021
so good i really missed all the characters, especially goldie, red and jack and i love how this graphic novel shows their various perspectives and the effects they all have on each other's lives. likewise with all chris colfer books, the ending was super touching and the illustrations were brilliant; sped through this in one seating which is unusual cuz im not usually one for graphic novels so yayayayay
July 7, 2022
This was such a fantastic book! As someone who loved The Land of Stories series, I was happy to learn more about Goldilocks and her story. This was such a fun, quick read that was greatly enhanced by the comic style art. I definitely recommend to anyone who loves fairytales or is a fan of The Land of Stories.
January 13, 2023
I love Chris Colfer‘s narrative of Goldilocks, so naturally I loved this graphic novel. The art was not my favourite style of all time, but it was fine overall.
Especially loved all the feminist icons <3
Especially loved all the feminist icons <3
July 30, 2021
absouletly loved this graphic novel :) i am yet to read a book from chris colfer that i dont love :) he sucks you into his worlds and they are just so magical :) love love love :)
October 25, 2021
I actually really loved it and it's funny that I found it because I had been recently saying that I regret not reading the land of stories series sooner
August 8, 2022
My granddaughter liked this, so I thought I'd try it out.
December 2, 2022
Little Miss Muffett tickled me in this. Being in comic book form made it a fast read.
January 12, 2024
I really liked this book!
March 19, 2024
"She's someone who chose courage in a time of fear...
... someone who showed strength when many were weak...
... someone who fought for others even when others wouldn't fight for her...
... someone who risked her life for the greater good and expected nothing in return...
... someone who possesses such bravery, such determination, and such compassion...
Well, criminal or not, we should all aspire to be someone like that."
... someone who showed strength when many were weak...
... someone who fought for others even when others wouldn't fight for her...
... someone who risked her life for the greater good and expected nothing in return...
... someone who possesses such bravery, such determination, and such compassion...
Well, criminal or not, we should all aspire to be someone like that."
November 17, 2024
Loved the teamwork very good 👍
September 13, 2025
This book was just a lot of fun so I’m giving it 5 stars 😄
October 21, 2025
I had such a good time with this graphic novel
but had to dock a star because the art throughout the book was just kinda funky and weird, plus the characters and events that happened in this book were also weirdly disjointed from what happens in the land of stories novels
but had to dock a star because the art throughout the book was just kinda funky and weird, plus the characters and events that happened in this book were also weirdly disjointed from what happens in the land of stories novels
July 3, 2021
*3.5/5 stars!!!
This was a cute, quick read! I enjoyed the plot and I love the character of Goldilocks. I also appreciated the ending! However, the art style wasn’t my fave (I liked the colouring though), and it lacked diversity. I also found that the story just flew by, but considering it’s a middle-grade graphic novel, I can’t fault it much for that. Overall, I’m glad I read this and it was entertaining! I’m so proud of Chris Colfer and am a fan of basically everything he writes. It was such a cool experience to read his first graphic novel!
This was a cute, quick read! I enjoyed the plot and I love the character of Goldilocks. I also appreciated the ending! However, the art style wasn’t my fave (I liked the colouring though), and it lacked diversity. I also found that the story just flew by, but considering it’s a middle-grade graphic novel, I can’t fault it much for that. Overall, I’m glad I read this and it was entertaining! I’m so proud of Chris Colfer and am a fan of basically everything he writes. It was such a cool experience to read his first graphic novel!
July 7, 2021
I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn’t such a short read. I started it yesterday and I already finished it. But otherwise it was a great read! Goldilocks was always my favorite character and this did not change that. It was enjoyable to read!
October 18, 2021
I loved this book and now want to read The Land of Stories!
January 31, 2022
I loved the Land of Stories and had wanted Chris Colfer to write more books!This was exactly what I was looking for! I highly recommend this book!
February 13, 2022
This was my first graphic novel and I really enjoyed it. Fun story, interesting characters and exciting twists on traditional fairy tale characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 251 reviews