Review - Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan

Title

Snow White: A Graphic Novel

Author

Matt Phelan

Content Warning

Death of a parent, murder, attempted murder, minor amounts of gore

Goodreads Synopsis

Award-winning graphic novelist Matt Phelan delivers a darkly stylized noir Snow White set against the backdrop of Depression-era Manhattan.

The scene: New York City, 1928. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words "Another . . . More Beautiful . . . KILL." In a moody, cinematic new telling of a beloved fairy tale, extraordinary graphic novelist Matt Phelan captures the essence of classic film noir on the page—and draws a striking distinction between good and evil. (Goodreads)

Story Review

*** (3.5 stars out of 5)

I enjoyed this graphic retelling of Snow White. It feels almost like a black and white movie with the title cards and such. The book is set in the early 1900s in New York City with Samantha White (called Snow) as the main character, her dad is the "King of Wall Street" and her stepmother is the "Queen of the Follies." It definitely leans on the traditional Snow White story motifs, but twists them subtly. Where it loses me is the general lack of text. Although you can infer a lot from the images, which are stunning, I would have liked just a little more writing. 

*Spoiler Alert*

Do not read beyond this if you have not read the graphic novel yet and you care about spoilers.

Retelling

What makes this a retelling is the setting and time period: early 1900s New York City. Most of the beginning of the book is in a very limited color palette of black, white, and red (white as snow, red as blood, black as ebony).

Story Motifs

• Queen wishes for a child - Not present
• Three drops of blood - three drops of blood in the snow from the mother coughing up blood
• White as snow, red as blood, black as ebony - the colors used in the beginning are white, red, and black exclusively, also one of the boy says "white as snow"
• Snow White - the main character's name is Samantha White, but her nickname is Snow
• Mother dies - mother dies from presumably TB
• King - father is the "King of Wall Street"
• Stepmother/Evil Queen - the father is bewitched by the "Queen of the Follies," "stunning" rise to fame, the father remarries, "Broadway royalty," sends Snow off to boarding school, the stepmother kills the father
• Magic Mirror - scene with many mirrors, also the ticker tape machine acts as an inanimate advisor and shows the stepmother's deteriorating mental state
• Jealousy - Snow inherits most of the father's estate and the stepmother is named as the secondary beneficiary in the event of Snow's death, the ticker tape also says "most beautiful... you... or another... young... beloved... white as snow" showing that she's jealous of Snow's beauty
• Huntsman to kill Snow White - the ticker tape says "kill," the stepmother asks Mr. Hunt (a stagehand at the Follies) to kill her stepdaughter
• Heart and liver as proof of death - the stepmother just wanted the heart
• Huntsman lets Snow White live - Mr. Hunt corners her in a gazebo and then throws his knife in the water and tells her to run and hide
• Huntsman kills boar for proof - Mr. Hunt goes to the butcher
• Cottage of the seven dwarves - seven boys that live in a hideout
• Snow White convinces them to let her stay - she tells them they are her seven brave protectors and tells them stories about herself
• Laces - Not present
• Poisoned comb - Not present
• Poisoned apple - the stepmother poisons an apple and disguises herself as an apple seller
• Glass coffin - the boys put her in a carriage in the Macy's shop window
• Prince - Detective Prince
• Snow White revives - the detective is not convinced Snow is dead, feels for a pulse, and then kisses her on the cheek, Snow wakes up
• Wedding - Not present, but you see Detective Prince courting Snow at the end, so it's implied that there is a HEA
• Evil Queen is punished/killed - the stepmother dies by falling off the roof of the theater
• Glowing hot shoes - the stepmother touches a cable that has an electric current running through it and gets fried before falling off the roof

Retelling Review

***** (5 stars out of 5)

As a retelling this stays fairly true to the original in terms of the story motifs. The biggest differences to the Grimm's version is how and when the stepmother dies and how often the stepmother tries to kill Snow. I love the way the author managed to incorporate so many of those motifs in a way that still makes sense for the story location and time period, as well as giving us insight into the time period with Hooverville, the stock market crash, and the follies. I also enjoyed the way even the colors at the beginning incorporate the original fairy tale colors of red, white, and black.