Princeless: Short Stories for Warrior Women #1

Until the next full Princeless story comes out, continuing the tale of Adrienne and her battle to rescue her sisters, this two-issue limited series should fill the gap. In Princeless: Short Stories for Warrior Women #1, author Jeremy Whitley has created three short stories (well, two and a teaser) illustrated by three female artists.

The comic can be ordered right now through Diamond with code JUL12 0704, but I think there’s some confusion. The catalog copy says it’s 40 pages; the description line says 24; but the promo copy I got was 28 pages, including ads. The catalog also says it’s four stories, but I read two, with five additional pinups and a preview of the coming Princeless volume two. The author has since clarified: “We had initially planned to do one oversized issue with all four short stories, the preview, and some pinups but it just got too big, so we had to break it into two to manage all the great content we got…. there will be two twenty four page issues plus a few ads(we don’t believe in including ads in page count). One in this previews, one is September when readers will be receiving this book.”

The first piece is simply charming, as it’s a flashback to the royal kids all playing together. Adrienne demonstrates gumption even then, telling her younger brother what to do and how to pretend. The cartoony style, by Nancy King, is a good choice to keep the mood light and funny, with all its curvy lines. There’s also what I think is a hint to a future storyline, with a mysterious rescuer. I’d like to see more with these kids, to get more insight into their tight family bonds.

The second story, drawn by Quinne Larsen, gives us more idea why Adrienne’s father, the King, is the jerk he is, as we see a bit of his relationship with his dad. I think we also see how he met his wife, but the character isn’t explicitly identified that way, so I’m leaving myself an out if my guess is wrong.

The teaser section makes me eager to see the next book NOW! Adrienne’s father has gathered a motley group of knights and sent them to catch the mysterious rebel plaguing the kingdom — not realizing that it’s Adrienne herself. He bribes the knights, a crazy collection of personalities, with the hand of one of his daughters, their choice. Emily Martin does a wonderful job capturing the variety of exaggerated character types and their emotions.

If you liked Princeless — and everyone who read it has — then you’ll want these glimpses into the family history to prep you for the next miniseries.