Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Shapeshifters

Jim Henson's The Storyteller

by Various, Darcie Little Badger, Emilia Cilento (Illustrator)

The Ringo Award-winning anthology series returns with four spellbinding fables based on Caribbean, Lipan Apache, Celtic, and Japanese Shapershifter myths!

Locus Award-winning writer Darcie Little Badger (A Snake Falls to Earth, Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices #1), and esteemed writers Andre R. Frattino (Simon Says: Nazi Hunter) and Deron Bennett, along with up-and-coming artists Nori Retherford, Alexandra Fastovets, Dani Pendergast, and celebrated cartoonist Emilia Cilento (INGOVY) bring together a timeless collection of tales about shapeshifters from around the world. With themes ranging from the importance of heritage and familial love, to cautionary tales best heeded, these stories are sure to delight all fans of Jim Henson’s beloved and timeless Storyteller. Collects Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Shapeshifters #1-4.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Short Stories, Fairy Tales, Folklore, Supernatural

112 pages, Hardcover

Published November 29, 2022

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot even BEGIN to express my excitement for this newest installment in this utterly transportive, UNDERRATED, & PHENOMENAL series that celebrates diverse cultural/folkloric #ownvoices stories ! Seriously this is one you will want to add to your TBR immediately!

AND YES, THAT IS A KITSUNE , a fox yōkai (aka spirit) of Japanese myth/legend, (& only POSSIBLY MY FAV MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE OF ALL TIME— I am just obsessed with Japanese mythology/folklore in general tbh) on the cover ! STOOOOKKKKEED AF!

Which omfg how BEAUTIFUL is this damn cover?!

Besides a Japanese tale, there will also be Caribbean, Celtic, & Lipan Apache (this one written by Darcie Little Badger !!) fables featured in this volume ! … ummm FLIPPING. OUT!

These books bring such a BRILLIANT concept to the table— each volume presents four tales, each of a different world mythology/folkloric background, that are all united by one grouping of creatures of lore… and of course, in graphic novel format, each chapter a different culture!

This has the potential to open readers’ minds to new cultures & their mythologies, and if you follow me or are my friend on here, you probably know how much I AM ENAMORED with world mythologies as a whole, & how important I think it is that lore from all over the world— not just greco-roman lore—has a chance to be discovered, loved & cherished!

November can’t come soon enough!
While you wait, check out the previous Installment, Tricksters featuring a story by Jordan Ifueko, author of the Raybearer series!

[Alex(Books-In-A-Storm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was beautiful. I loved the stories and the art.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another wonderful addition to The Storyteller’s series. This has a particularly interesting set of shapeshifters with a few stories outside the norm.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable collection, though there is the usual problem I have with this series, that most of the stories barely fit the theme. There is also the oddity of the various covers again: this book features the "alternate" cover for each tale, all by the same artist; at the end of the book are the original covers for tales 1, 2 and 4, all by different artists. None of the cover artists are artists for any of the tales, but at least all of the cover art matches the tale they are connected to. I wonder if the cover art of the collection was the original art for tale 3, since it would fit.

Children of Lir-- I have read summaries of this story, though never a proper version of it, and find it rather disappointing. This version tweaked a lot of the details and I liked it better as a result, though I'm not sure I agree with the decision to change the father so he was focused on military ambition and the pursuit of glory to the neglect of his children. I felt this story didn't quite fit the theme since shapeshifter implies some combination of control and innate ability, while the major change in form of the children to swans is the result of a curse. True, their wicked uncle also changes his shape, but it seems more the use of a general form of magic he has.

The Dancers-- This story felt very uneven, with major events and large (though unknown) spans of time happening between panels with little to no warning. It also felt like the plot was trying to follow a certain path (a child growing up and becoming rich and famous through their talent, but neglecting their roots only to realize what they had lost too late), except it never quite fit that either. It has some nice elements to it, but it felt very roughly built. Partly that may be because the original story doesn't have much substance to it, as revealed by the author's intro. To me the shapeshifting aspect seems very minimal. True, it is depicted that the reeds become people, but the overall feel is more like nature spirits than a classic shapeshifter.

Come and Sleep-- I'm really curious about the original version of this story that the author references (noteworthy that this is the only story with a single creator, all the rest of 2 or 3), since it is such a nice break from the usual arc of shapechanging fox stories from Japan. Also curious about the language behind the slightly punning title revealed at the end: ki can stand for a word that means come, and ne can stand for a word that means lie down/sleep, but I don't recognize how tsu fits in there. This story is exactly the sort I would expect for the theme.

Ole Heg-- Generally a good story, and it was interesting to read how the author generated it. Again, the specific monster to me does not quite feel like a shapeshifter as I would tend to think of one. Arguably it is in some ways an inverse of a common shapeshifter motif: instead of having a magical animal skin it wears, it sheds its human skin to become a fiery spirit vampire.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel slightly guilty having picked this up. As if I've deprived a child of something.

This is the collection of a 4 issue miniseries put out by BOOM studios that centers around Jim Henson's character, The Story Teller. The collected issues here are stories from across cultures and eras that as you might imagine involve shapeshifting.

I've only read the first one so far, The Children of Lir, but I thumbed through and I have to say the art is pretty brilliant throughout. There are four different artists (as well as four different writers), with different flairs, but they are all fantastic for what they are. If you have children, or are a child at heart, I can recommend seeking this out.

EDIT: Now I've finished it and can say I stand by my word. It's true to the spirit of The Story Teller and to Jim Henson. A fine thing to give any child, or to collect yourself for love of art and fables.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series, it takes me back to my childhood when I used to watch the TV series, The Storyteller, with John Hurt. I have read all of the collections that I can get my hands on, and I think that this one was my least favourite. I would say it was 3.5 stars. As with all of the previous collections, I loved that this brought different myths, legends or folklore from different cultures. I also love that the artwork is all different, and that you get the insight from the storytellers about their inspiration for the tales, and an insight into their working process. What made it a lower score, compared to the other collections that I have read, is that I just didn't enjoy these tales as much as I have enjoyed the others. Still a worthwhile read, but I think there are better.

[Molly Lazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful collection of stories, and I was really happy to read stories from cultures I wouldn't normally encounter, like Apache and Belizean. The art is wonderful, as I would expect from this series, and the coloring ties the issues together even though they are illustrated by different artists. My favorite story was the Apache story about the reed dancers, which actually made me cry. My six-year-old son, who read the whole thing with me, liked the first story--the Irish tale of the swans--the best.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite creatures/ character types out there! The tables are based off of Caribbean, Celtic, Lipan Apache, and Japanese folktales. Each with creatures,capable of change that range from those cursed into new forms, to those of nature spirits both plant and animal, to those of the hidden vampiric nature. Another great read with outstanding illustrations to go along with this compiled volume.

[Isaiah (aka Isaiah Ward) Herrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for some inspiration suffice it to say it didn't give me that much inspiration except for maybe a couple which were in here. Overall definitely 4 out of 5 stars for this cause while some stories were good others were just ok.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I look forward to this series every year. One of my favorite comics.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these stories

[Highland G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable for a quick read. Not something I will come back to.

[Esther O. Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faves:
-Darcie Little Badger (reclaiming ancestral dances!)
-Emilia Cilento (a love story!)

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the variety of myths in this: Caribbean, Lipan Apache, Celtic, and Japanese Shapershifters

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great collection of stories based on folklore and fairytale about shapeshifters. Each was based in a different culture and exposed me to tales I was unfamiliar with.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope this series never ends. I had been waiting on this one for a long time. It took a while to find its way to the local store from which I usually pick up books in this series. This has to be one of the most interesting themes they've had for one of these books. I feel like this is the most diverse book in a franchise that prides itself on its diversity and I also feel that this is some of the strongest art in the series.

We'll start with the stories. All four are really strong. The first is an Irish tale about four children facing down an evil sorcerer, the second is a tale from Apache legends dealing with a girl who makes friends with a mysterious group of people who can turn into reeds, the third is a tale of Japanese origin detailing the romance between a human man and a kitsune woman, and the final tale hales from Belize and tells of a young girl's battle against a dreadful spirit named Ole Heg. Each story is engaging and reflects the storytelling traditions and mythology of its place of origin fantastically, but I feel a particular need to shine a light on the Apache story. First off, I don't believe that I've ever seen a story in one of these books taken from the legends of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and it made me really happy to see it. Granted, this is only the fourth of the Storyteller books that I've read to date and I believe that there are a fair few in this series, so perhaps I just hadn't seen it yet. Second, the author did an incredible job of taking a one sentence story concept (as she related it, at any rate) and turning it into an emotional, lengthy story that always caught me a bit off guard with the ways it continued on when it seemed like it had no way of doing so. In fact all of the stories here have struck much stronger emotional notes (for me, at any rate) than any of the stories I've read so far. Three of the four are extremely bitter sweet and will really hit the heartstrings while the fourth will put you in mind of stories that your own grandmother told you when you were growing up.

Next up is the art. It's also really strong but it falls a little flat for me in the fourth story. Some of the individual panels are strong but on the whole it just doesn't quite seem to match the tone and setting of the story particularly well to me. The two stand outs are The Dancers (the Apache story) and the Japanese story. The Dancers really stuns due to both its lush color palette and the way in which it's used. It really puts me in mind of autumn in general, and of a great many panels from the Trick 'r Treat graphic novel in specific. The Japanese tale somehow manages to combine two iconic Japanese art styles seamlessly: classic medieval Japanese art and the very modern stylings of Studio Ghibli. The colors and character models are just so warm and inviting, and they really accent the emotional nature of the story. The first story's art is great but doesn't quite complete the story as with the other two.

Bottom line: another great entry in a series that continues to keep alive the memory of Jim Henson's most underrated creation. Go out and get it if you can find it.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

These four stories are complemented by illustrations from four very different artists; your tastes may vary. The stories by themselves are very winning, with object lessons about the dangers of sibling rivalry, learning to appreciate differences and being wary about whom you invite into your home. All of them feature children but not all the children are in pivotal roles.

The shapeshifters in question range from innocent victims to malevolent spirits, presenting a world of uncertainty for the humans involved. As in many cautionary tales, we learn that we are not masters of the planet. There are still surprises and shocks that can take us unaware. When the mystical decides to traipse into your life, you best be on your guard.

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jim Henson's The Storyteller series has officially run its course for me. 4 short stories, but I wasn't really into any of them and the art failed to impress.