If you're a Courtney Crumrin fan already, then In The Twilight Kingdom should put you into nirvana, as it pays off any number of older stories, continues the evolution of Courtney as a witch and in the process tells a really entertaining story set in the realm of Faerie. If you're not already a Courtney Crumrin fan, you'll still enjoy the book, but you're being dumped in the deep end, and it's definitely worth reading volumes one or two first... hardly a punishment, since they're both as excellent as this series. Naifeh's stories have explored young children's fears and anxieties through a lens of goth-y magic, and this issue is all about friendship and isolation, exploring what happens to Courtney when she's really not able to isolate herself as usual, putting her fierce inviduality into a context where it's a weakness as much as an endearing character trait. Ted Naifeh's story about a young girl who gets mixed up in magic and goblins and all that type of thing speaks to the outsider, but it also has heart to go along with the humor and the darker elements of the story.
At first blush, this series seems to have more in common with the first Crumrin miniseries, a set of self-contained issues rather than one long story. However, it becomes clear as the story rolls on that Courtney's return to her old neighborhood and her old friend resonates thematically with the rest of the story, which is about finding new friends and adjusting to changes in your life rather than clinging to what you had and being stubborn and grumpy about where you are. To be certain, Courtney at the end of this series is pretty similar to Courtney at the beginning, but she has gained a little bit more of a support group and opened herself up a little bit.
Of course, Courtney is hardly a stranger to the notion of change. The return to Courtney's old home shows a side of her we hadn't seen before and makes it clear that even her sour loner persona from the first series was a shift in character, and it's interesting to see how Courtney's role has evolved, from powerless to powerful, without losing the outsider quality that defines her. Even amongst a bunch of other young witches and warlocks, she stands out as someone more reserved, far more intelligent and of course disliked for these qualities. And it was fascinating to see her coming back to her old neighborhood with some new tricks, and a certain new maturity, up her sleeve. Her freedom to walk around at night, and just the sense that she had gotten bigger than the neighborhood, that she didn't have anything to fear from it anymore, showed off just how much she has changed in the last two miniseries.
In amidst the story of Courtney and some young warlocks and witches messing with forces they really shouldn't, Naifeh continues to flesh out the details of Courtney and her uncle by means of a little backstory, revealing that maybe their outsider nature and considerable power comes from a historical place. Indeed, there's a really strong story about a renegade marshal that explores how the Crumrin eccentricity and power can drive others to jealous madness.
The heart of this story, though, is Courtney basically realizing that she can't be an island. Her own conscience won't allow it, if nothing else. I was surprised, in reading the last three chapters of the book, at how much it all seemed like a darkly twisted version of a Harry Potter tale. Courtney is considerably more snarky and ill-tempered than the famous boy wizard, but her role as the one who knows what's going on, who has a destiny and who has enemies and allies within the adult community as well as the kids, not to mention the whole exploration of a magical (and yet dangerous) realm is the kind of thing that made Harry Potter so engaging. Naifeh does a great job of making the realm of Faerie seem potentially deadly and yet enticing, and of portraying the "monsters" of the realm as characters rather than just foes to be overcome.
In particular, the Twilight King is a fascinating character. There's a sinister cast to him, both in terms of his appearance and his role as a player in the realm, and yet Naifeh makes him a very sympathetic character. The reader is never sure if he's telling the truth to his new "daughter" or not, but he comes off as genuine and human rather than as a monster, and certainly when his family comes under attack, the sympathies of the reader lie with the Twilight King. In addition, it's interesting to note that Courtney, a full-blooded human (as far as we know) has more in common with the enigmatic, dangerous-seeming but generally well-meaning night things than with the humans, mostly represented by fanatical and misguided hunters or the overly political warlock's council.
As always, Naifeh impresses with his artwork, especially with his rendition of Faerie and its inhabitants, which compares nicely to the work that Mignola has done on Hellboy. The splash page of the goblin market, in particular, or the first glimpse of the Twilight King's court, are terrific pieces of artwork that really set the mood.
