The next story the Storyteller tells his trusty dog is about Reynard the Fox! Come find out how Reynard used his cunning to trick an entire town in Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters #3 by BOOM! Studios!
JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #3 (OF 4)
Writer: Amal El-Mohtar
Artist: Isa Hanssen
Colorist: Isa Hanssen
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Editor: Sierra Hahn
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 19th, 2021
Previously in The Storyteller: The Storyteller continues telling his dog companion stories about tricksters in many different folklore. Today we enter medieval European folklore and investigate Reynard the Fox, an anthropomorphic red fox who deceives other anthropomorphic animals!
WHAT GOES AROUND…
The Storyteller is travelling through a marketplace and warns his dog not to believe the lies of any peddlers. He then recites the story of Reynard who had to one-up a Stork by proving that he could make something out of nothing. Reynard came up with an elaborate story about how he recovered a Giant’s Hoard and used little white lies to make simple items seem extravagant. These lies were like “these stones are Colt Eggs, but if you open them early, they will simply just be rocks.” This encourages people not to use their purchases until he has already skipped town. Gaining a fair amount of notoriety, the Stork realized what Reynard was doing and tried to reveal the deception. However, since no one opened their purchases, they assumed that the Stork ruined the items by opening them too early. In the end, the town forced the Stork to pay them back and Reynard got away with a tidy profit! However, giants may have heard that a red fox was stealing from them…
…COMES AROUND
This is the first folklore in the Storyteller: Trickster series that I recognized. I knew a little bit about this character and in truth, this one was probably the least interesting of the series thus far. I think that is because this particular folklore doesn’t teach the reader anything. There isn’t something about wisdom or love. Just a fox who was simply playing tricks. It leaves us with a good story, but I guess the main lesson was not to believe everything something tells. Which feels a little hollow in the end. The last couple of pages did have The Storyteller buying some pies to a more genuine business woman. Maybe the lesson is to spend your money on passionate and genuine people. I still love the series and the art is enjoyable but this one was a little weaker than the other issues.
BOTTOM LINE: SOLID SERIES BUT WEAKER ISSUE
This is a strong series, but I think the story they decided to draw inspiration from wasn’t as strong as their previous choices. Still a good story that was expertly drawn and told. 3.5 out of 5 for me here. Looking forward to the conclusion!
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Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Tricksters #3 (of 4)
The Storyteller allows us to explore folklore that many would be unfamiliar of. This is a well told story by the creative team but it didn't have the lessons that you normally associate with a myth.
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Writing7
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Art8
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Coloring7
Christopher Rondeau is a storyteller based in Tulsa, OK. Finding himself with little work, he ended up creating a job as a Game Master full time on the internet. Chris spends most of his days reading everything he can, writing bad fiction, and watching old Digimon cartoons with his daughter. Sometimes you can find him Dungeon Mastering a podcast or streaming on twitch. Recently, he has completed his Master's degree with a focus on collaborative storytelling. Find out more at https://rondeaucreator.com