Rapunzel’s new hairy fairy tale

Rapunzel's Revenge. Dean Hale, Shannon Hale and Nathan Hale.

Reimaging is in the air: Batman is moved into a post-9/11 world, and Robert Downey Jr. is playing Sherlock Holmes without the deerstalker and pipe. Even the witches in Oz have gotten a makeover.

Now it’s happened to the namesake heroine in “Rapunzel’s Revenge“, the princess locked in the tower left with nothing to do but condition her hair and wait for her prince. At the hands of Shannon and Dean Hale in this 144-page full-color graphic novel, she’s a spunky Wild West heroine who climbs down from her tower and, armed only with her braids — which she uses as bullwhips — sets off to rescue her mother and avenge herself on the witch who rules the land.

Along the way, she hooks up with Jack, a thief with a goose, and bounces from trouble to trouble: posses, the rocky desert landscape, evil magic, dwarves, and a hulk sent by the witch to recapture her.

“Rapunzel’s Revenge” is part Western tall tale, part piss-take on the traditional fairy tale, and a delightful mix of adventure and humor that’s perfect for girls. But before you give it to the daughter in your life, read it first.

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