COMIC REVIEWS: The Scarecrow Princess

The Scarecrow Princess

by Federico Edrighi

Morrigan Moore is a 14-year-old girl in Somewhere, England. Her mother and brother are a pair of well-known YA authors who write about fairytales, dragging her along to places where they can hunker down for research and writing. No one asked her if she wanted to live this life, but she doesn’t have much choice.

The Scarecrow Princess has the same feel of Labyrinth, thanks to the main antagonist The King of Crows, but overall, it feels more like Coraline with the normal world blending with the supernatural elements. The Scarecrow Princess is a bit like a fairytale, but think more Brothers Grim on acid than standard Disney. Some of the imagery is legit disturbing. For all of these reasons, if I had read this when I was 12-16, I would’ve loved it.

Plot/Characters 7/10

As a character, Morrigan isn’t very likable at first. She scowls her way through her first several pages, complaining loudly and being biting and sarcastic about having to deal with her famous family. Granted, they give her reason to complain about being ignored.

Girl with fluffy blonde hair scowls at her phone in the backseat of a car.

Things change as the King of Crows enters the picture, holding her mother and brother hostage, and threatening to devastate the town. Once Morrigan’s mother and brother are taken out of the picture, her character begins to come to life. The moral decisions suddenly become very, very hard.

Does it matter if other people are hurt in the fight against the King of Crows? Is she willing to sacrifice herself to win? In the end, most of the development centers on Morrigan figuring out how she’s able to make decisions for herself.

The King of Crows as a character is a kind of foil for Morrigan. He’s greedy, selfish, cowardly, and manipulative, but he is wholly unrepentant for who he is. Morrigan is predominantly uncertain, but as events unfold, she is a tremendously brave and selfless heroine…. And that may be the problem. It’s hard to have a sense of self while being too selfless. Has she given up the opportunity to create her own role, while grumpily tagging along with her family? Additionally, while the King is slippery and will try anything to get his hooks into Morrigan, she’s less skilled at being dishonest about her motives. If this were a superhero comic, she’d never manage the dual identity thing.

I’m a little iffy on the minor characters. Her mother and brother are nice. Her friend is nice. There are some teenage boys who seem… nice… They just aren’t very fleshed out. It’s just Morrigan and the King of Crows, really. And while it isn’t necessary for Morrigan’s friends to play a huge role in the story, I think more character development would have improved the overall story and increased the stakes.

There are also more twists than I’d expected from the outset. I wasn’t completely blindsided, but it was more intense than I’d expected. That’s a plus.

Art 7/10

Mum: “For the illustrations, I’m already thinking of a synthetic and dirty stroke, without any pointless virtuosities.”

Edgar: “And make readers hate you?”

Amusing dialogue above lampshades the author/artist’s style.

Morrigan and The King of Crows fight in jagged, sweeping strokes.

The art in TSP has a rough style. It’s reminiscent of 80s comic books like The Sandman and 90s Adult Swim. So while it doesn’t look beautiful at first, it really accentuates the action as the story progresses.

The characters aren’t terribly detailed but they are easy to recognize. Especially Morrigan, of course, who has stick-like legs and long blonde hair that floofs around behind her a fluffy cloud. At the very least, this is NOT a case of a teenage girl being drawn like she’s actually in her early twenties. She is and looks like a kid.

In fact, as we move towards the fight scenes, the style sacrifices clarity a little, but it also elevates the aesthetic quality. There are some grim scenes, and as Morrigan gains more power, the scenes become more and more grandiose.

Narrative Themes:

Self-sufficiency/Self-actualization

Heroism/What it is/What it justifies

Identity in Contrast to One’s Family

(lightly) Friendship

The King of Crows gives Morrigan some advice on self-actualizaton.

I think the questions surrounding heroism and use of power are probably explored the most strongly,  although there is a lot of discussion about taking a stand. We don’t see too much after the final showdown, so it’s hard to suss out what decisions Morrigan has made for herself.

TL;DR

This book is an enjoyable read with a pretty typical protagonist. Regardless, I enjoyed watching her strength grow, and the overall message to learn to be your own person, but that doesn’t require getting rid of everything else in your life.  

I’d recommend for anyone who enjoyed Coraline and maybe the Courtney Crumrin books. Very fun, interesting internal conflict.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.