Dark, creepy, and cute!

Originally posted at Worlds Abound

I had never heard of Courtney Crumrin before stumbling across this graphic novel in Barnes and Nobles, so I decided to pick it up and give it a read! It was definitely worth it, and I'm glad I did.

The basic premise is that Courtney is forced by her crappy parents to move to the mansion home of her weird Uncle Aloysius. Locally, he's talked about as creepy and into occult type things, but Courtney doesn't know much about it before arriving. Curiosity takes hold, and she finds herself searching his library where she discovers spell books and enchantments along with other odd items.

This volume contains 4 stories, the first being Courtney's into to the home/occult. I really enjoyed all 4, with the 4th being my favorite (Courtney battles a doppleganger). This book is creepy and makes no bones about it; within a few pages Courtney makes friends with another outcast at her new school and then he's eaten by a goblin. Heartwarming!

If you like graphic novels/comics and things that are not necessarily happy and a little on the macabre side, you should check this out! I will definitely be getting volume 2, I can't wait to see what other stuff Courtney can get into.

Courtney's move to the richy suburbs does not make her happy - especially when she sees the eerie house she has to live in and loony uncle she has to live with. And like other teenage girls I've known (myself included) she just does not seem to fit in anywhere - not with her parents, not with the other kids at school.

Things are afoot, however. Courtney comes to find that nasty sorts of creatures lurk in and around her new home - and as Courtney faces her fear of those monsters in the night, she eventually starts finding she's got some hidden talents. Not unaware of these talents is her uncle - less loony and more like her than she thought, and Courtney starts paving her own way into the "other" side of things.

Girl power book, for sure. All sorts of gobliny/child eating/baby stealing creatures and none of them are a match for Courtney (with a little help from her uncle...). She's a bit of a downer in her real life (all that female teenager angst) but I appreciated her spunk in dealing with those night things.

A mystery, supernatural beings, and some horrors, all faced by a young girl. What more could you want? I'd like to read more in the Crumrin series, but I worry it may get lost among all the other books on my TBR pile. I think I'll be reminded of the series come spooky season, so I may be on the lookout for the next one then!

Awesome illustrations to showcase the ingenious world of precocious, sarcastic Courtney Crumrin. My daughter is enthralled and relates to young Courtney's moral sensibilities and desire for justice. Fantastic series.

via NYPL - good art, good story. I can't help but feel it's not terribly original, but it's still well done. I'm curious to see if Naifeh can find some hidden depth in the later volumes.

While I like the character type that Courtney represents, I did not feel that this series was anything remarkable or added anything new for other existing reads. However, I do understand this was released in 2003 and probably was more notable at that time - I just cannot speak for that time or really verify if my feelings would have been different back then. The book reads pretty quickly, as it is for middle grade readers, and there are seven books total to the series. This would be good for teenagers looking for a "darker" read and characters that represent the outcast type in school. There is a little bit of violence as it does deal with demonic creatures and the alternative world they reside in, so I would not recommend this book as the first choice for a darker plot.

Imagine a blond pixie-cut-wearing Wednesday Adams with self-awareness and minor social anxiety and you have Courtney Crumrin. At first I thought she was just going to be Gaz from Invader Zim but there's a bit more to her than that, and it makes her character all the better.

But the world Naifeh has created for Courtney to live in. This is why I rated it 5 stars. The book was created especially for me. The mignola-esque angular art depicting Courtney's forays into a world pulled from irish faerie mythology. The trouble she gets into and out of there, and the way she might unscrupulously use it to her advantage against some of the more unsavory individuals at school.

I need *all* the Courtney Crumrin.

Background: Courtney is a young girl forced to move into her creepy uncle's creepy house with her parents, who are oblivious to her woes about a new place. Once there, Courtney starts experiencing strange things around her. Volume 1 contains shorts about Courtney and her new life and the monsters helping her live in it.

Review: I am a huge fan of macabre, gritty, fairy tales, and Courtney Crumrin Vol 1 Special Edition is all of those things. I got this e-copy from NetGalley and read it almost immediately. The main character Courtney is wonderful, she is a loner, who won't take crap from anyone, she is sarcastic and at times almost even menacing. She takes it upon herself to learn about the monsters living in and around her uncle's home and uses them to her advantage when she needs to. These stories are creepy and funny. I saw some parallels to Coraline and the Lenore series...overall it was a great read. The art is also breathtaking.

**ARC for NetGalley- Publication date 4/11/2012**

It’s a pretty story and reminds me of my childhood, i used to pretend most of these tales in my head as i was playing