Troll Bridge (Fantasy) (Graphic Novel)

by Neil Gaiman (Writer) and Colleen Doran (Illustrator)

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (OCtober 18th, 2016). 

Hardcover, 64 pages. 

Based on a short story by Neil Gaiman of American Gods and Sandman fame; and drawn by Colleen Doran of lesser known A Distant Soil fame. While not initially intended as a graphic novel, her incandescent art blends perfectly with the tone of the original text.

In his standard technique of taking old legends and putting a modern tint on them, we have the dark fairy tale story of a boy who drifts away from the world (or to a strange part of it) and encounters a troll who demands payment of “eating his life” in exchange for the boy walking across the troll’s bridge.

The boy, Jack, is no helpless protagonist. He attempts to trick the troll several times and finally manages to put him off until a later date. Very often in these stories, the monster is a dunce and easily deceived, but there’s something else going on here. What Gaiman does is take the story beyond its confines and stretches it out to its natural conclusion decades later. Here Jack, always the snarky trickster, has ruined his life before meeting the monster again.

And for those who do pick up this book the unexplained phrase “fol rol de ol rol” is used twice in the text. It has two meanings. The first is an noun meaning a gaudy trinket or piece of jewelry having little actual value. The other is a nonsense phrase used in classical folk music, like tra-la-la or sha-na-na.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.