Books

The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark

By Leroy Douresseaux
May 4, 2010 - 09:43

The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark cover image is courtesy of barnesnandnoble.com.

The Stuff of Legend is a comic book series from writers Mike Raicht and Brian Smith (both former editors at Marvel Comics) and drawn by Charles Paul Wilson III.  The series is published by Th3rd world Studios, but Villard, an imprint of Del Rey Books, has collected the series’ first story arc in The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark.

The story begins in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in 1944.  While an American serviceman participates in the fight against Axis forces on the war-torn beaches of Europe, back in Brooklyn, his son is about to begin a battle of his own.  The boy is snatched by the evil Boogeyman and dragged into his bedroom closet, where he is transported to the realm of the Dark.  The child’s beloved toys, who live their own secret lives, band together to stage a daring rescue.  Led by the insistent Colonel and the loyal teddy bear, Max, the toys plunge into the Dark, with the boy’s loyal dog close behind them.

In the Dark, the seven toys become real.  The piggy bank becomes a real pig (the shifty Percy).  Max becomes the ferocious grizzly bear, Maxwell, and the toy soldier Colonel becomes a real rifle-toting military officer.  Their struggle, however, also becomes real.  Their perilous mission pits them against a legion of the boy’s bitter and forgotten toys, and they must also face betrayal in their own ranks.  After tragedy strikes, the toys must make their union stronger, and the town of Hopscotch will test their bonds.

THE LOWDOWN:  The reader may choose to see The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark as merely another example of juvenile fantasy/children’s literature.  Indeed, The Stuff of Legend seems like a fusion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the book) and the Toy Story movies.  As a children’s fantasy, The Stuff of Legend is a decent high concept that yields a rather entertaining story, for the most part, although much of the first chapter is wildly uneven.

On the other hand, readers may notice that The Stuff of Legend seems allegorical.   Writers Mike Raicht and Brian Smith seem to use their fantastic scenario, especially the town of Hopscotch, as a symbolic stand-in for our real world.  The characters make pointed statements about the corruption of power and the rule of law.  Who makes the rules, and what does it mean when rule makers can become rule breakers when it suits their interests?  “The most important thing about any game is not only knowing the rules but also how to manipulate them,” one villain says.

The narrative frequently questions loyalty and sacrifice.  Individually, is each toy sacrificing his or wellbeing to save the boy for the boy’s sake or because he or she will enjoy the good feelings that come from doing great deeds?  In fact, the series’ most complex character, Percy the pig, often questions blind obedience and the willingness of the others to simply march into a losing effort or into a battle even when they know that there is a strong possibility that they will be torn apart.

Yeah, the art is pretty, but The Stuff of Legend is one of those comic books in which the words are just as beautiful and perhaps more powerful than the art.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for fantasy comics will find a good one in The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark.

B+

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12