Courtney Crumrin & The Night Things

[Judd]

I read a cute graphic novel called Courtney Crumrin & The Night Things by Ted Naifeh and it was adorable.  It had a spunky protagonist, a mysterious uncle, vapid yuppie parents, bullies, goblins and sorcerous bindings - flat-out sorcerous bindings.

Shit, once I put that together midway through the first issue, I started to note where the kicker structure too.

The fairy world is monstrous with humanoids with animal heads and all manner of unsavory critters.  Goblins range from feral little furry creatures to babyish changelings to little bone creatures.

I might have to cook up a one-sheet for it after reading a few more volumes.  They come in this cute little format, almost like manga but a little bigger.

Anyway, I'm charmed and I saw lots of Sorcerer in this one.

I'd think her first demon would be her uncle's house itself (or maybe his library).

[Ron Edwards]

Tons of Sorcerer. I have the whole series, and I think it's one of the best kidfic versions of this kind of material that I've ever seen. The cuteness never gets out of hand and the familiar tropes like the scary but nurturing uncle have enough content to keep from being mere reminders. The later stories are really good as well.

Best, Ron

[zediekiel]

While on the subject of books as sorrcerer setings, I find that it is very easy to turn almost any book, tv show or comic into a sorcerer/RPG seting (so long as it has "normal" people coming into contactwith supernatural entities). 

Despite this there are several series that I find would also make an excelent sorcerer setting i.e. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Johnathan Stroud or The seventh Tower by Garth nix, or even Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.

Although it may be somewhat surprising to find a sorcerer setting in so neat a package it is by no means uncommen.

Thank you for your time.

P.S. I apaologize if I am being condesending in this post

[Ron Edwards]

Hiya,

Condescending? Not at all. Geeking out about various literary and other sources and Sorcerer is something we do a lot here.

I agree about Garth Nix. I used his Sabriel trilogy (especially the first book) as a primary influence for a great game, although we did not use the actual setting for the novels.

I also suggest that many stories have Sorcerer-esque qualities although they feature no demons or sorcery at all. My favorite is the film Live Flesh, directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

Best, Ron

[Judd]

Another comic in the same genre as Courtney Crumrin that I'd like to re-read with its Sorcerer-ness in mind (and just because I recall really liking it) was James Robinson's Leave it to Chance.  Courtney Crumrin and Chance Falconer would have gotten along pretty well.

I haven't read that comic in a good ten years.  I'll have to track a trade paperback down.

[Ron Edwards]

I loved Leave it to Chance! Like Courtney, Chance managed to be cute and cool without overriding the real content.

Best, Ron

[zediekiel]

Recently I read this comic called Locke and Key by Joe Hill.  It seems like it would be a good setting almost like an offshoot of Grimm Fairytales.

However, it seems hard to tell wich ones would be the demons, the well girl, the house itself, the key's or all of the above? 

Regardless, I would suggest it to anyone into the horror/fantasy genere of comics.

[Ron Edwards]

I'll look that title up.

By curious coincidence, just two days ago, I was in the comics shop for the first time in a while, and the latest Courtney Crumrin paperback was available, the Monstrous Holiday one. It was great, but wow, pretty depressing!

Best, Ron

[Judd]

Thanks, Zedekiel, I will look that one up also.

I picked up all of the Courtney Crumrin trades and also the three Leave it to Chance trade paperbacks and they turned out to be these over-sized luscious hard-covers.  Stunning.

More here as I read through these comics and think on Sorcerer.

When we played Sorcerer as kids, it was some powerful stuff:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=124461