Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Fairies #1

Writer: Matt Smith
Artist: Matt Smith
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Letterist: Jim Campbell

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Fairies Tale #1 is the first part of a four part miniseries published by Archaia and written and drawn by Matt Smith. The first issue is a fun quick fantasy read for any fans of the fantasy genre or fans of comic book miniseries.

The Storyteller series starts the Fairies miniseries with a story of a brave shepherd, Grettir, in need of work who stays with the sheep during yuletide. Every shepherd before him has mysteriously died while tending the sheep during this time in the years prior. Grettir is confident that he can handle whatever forces are at work in the death of the previous shepherds and we get to tag along for that ride.

Matt Smith did a nice job establishing the mystery early and continues to do so throughout half of the issue. Then the story seems kind of rushed as the queen then explains her curse in detail as if they Hild has never heard it before. Even though we and Grettir needed to hear the details of the curse, the recap of it seemed unnatural. Then issue then moves quickly as Grettir gets back and exposes the curse and sets everything straight.

The issue is enjoyable but it is not breaking any new ground. The art style fits the story well and the story is good for a quick read if you like Archaia’s Jim Henson’s Storytellers series. Also, if you were a fan of Jim Henson’s Storyteller TV snow, this issue will definitely give you some nostalgia. Overall, I liked this issue, but I don’t know that I’ll be actively searching out the rest of the miniseries, but would definitely read them if I stumbled across them.