Beauty

October 6, 2014
Hubert and Kerascöet, authors of Miss Don’t Touch Me, again explore sexual compulsion and entrapment, but this time, the setting is a fantasy. This fairy tale for adults combines elements of “Cinderella,” “The Frog Prince,” “Rapunzel,” and any number of Greek myths. Coddie, the protagonist, is ugly and smelly. She helps a fairy, who then makes her seen as the “very idea of beauty in woman incarnate.” Of course, this is a curse, as every man Beauty (as she is now known) encounters tries to rape her or kill others to get to her. No one comes out well here. The first love’s loyalty dooms him; the local prince is driven berserk by obsession; the king is made mad by the need to possess her; and Beauty herself is stupid and selfish. Fans of the recent Beautiful Darkness (by the same duo, whose real names are Sébastien Cosset and Marie Pommepuy) will find the style and tone similar, although this much longer piece allows for more depravity and death as Coddie sends kingdoms to war. Newly lovely Coddie and the other characters are wildly expressed, the better to show the futility and despair of their actions. It’s a dark fable with an ominous moral for those who think appearance is everything.

November 1, 2014

When a fairy returning a favor gives an ugly maidservant the appearance of beauty, the girl expects a happy future. But this fairy is evil, the girl a dimwit, and her apparent beauty a curse. Now a magical magnet for males, the enchanted Coddie unwittingly spreads discord among the populace and civil war among kingdoms when crazed rulers battle to possess her. But as the chaotic plot unfolds and heads roll, a plain, clever princess and one of Coddie's suitors form an alliance. Through unexpected twists, Hubert (Miss Don't Touch Me) does bring the story to a satisfying if uncharacteristic ending, while the art of husband-wife team Kerascoet (Dungeon) works its own magic. Their gorgeous panels incorporate both Asian and European artistic traditions and textures in striking colors. A cameo of the reclining beauty evokes French impressionist nudes; battle scenes recall medieval parchments. Yet even the most complex drawings show a charming folk art simplicity. VERDICT This satiric, flamboyant fairy tale reverses tropes to entertain as well as caution against illusory "gifts." Recommended for older teens and adults looking for out-of-the-way fantasy with a message.--M.C.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2014
Artistic team Hubert and Kerasco't (Miss Don't Touch Me, 2009) return with what appears to be a simple fairy tale about beauty being in the eye of the beholder, but it is actually a dark, twisted story of envy, obsession, manipulation, and power. Coddie, an ugly girl teased and bullied by her fellow villagers, has her wish to be beautiful granted by an evil fairy. Her now Helen-like beauty and uninhibited vanity cause war, death, lust, and several other deadly sins before Coddie recognizes the harm her desire to be beautiful has done. This gorgeous, full-color edition showcases the artistic talents of Kerasco't. The combination of simple yet expressive figures against lush, painterly backgrounds is an exquisite example of European comic making. Collected into one volume and translated from the French by Johnson, Hubert's work takes the fairy-tale trope and removes from it all the cheesecake Disneyness, giving the cautionary tale back its edge and teeth. This engrossing, subtly feminist story will have adult readers wanting to examine the underbelly of other traditional fairy stories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)