MISC. MANGA, *Another Castle

Andrew Wheeler has won both Shuster and Eisner awards as a comics writer for his work on various titles including Dungeons And Dragons. He teams up with artist Paulina Ganucheau from the magical girl inspired Zodiac Starforce series to create this gender fluid fairy tale which has nothing to do with Super Mario Bros. Another Castle was a 5-issue mini-series from Oni Press about a kidnapped princess with no Italian plumbers to help her, so she has to rescue herself. There is a major anime influence to this as well as a diverse set of characters.

Misty is the princess of the land of Beldora who gets captured by the immortal sorcerer Badlug from the rival kingdom of Grimoire. The only thing that can kill Badlug is a magic sword that Misty's would-be husband tries to deliver to slay the evil demon lord but is completely incapable of completing the quest. Misty teams up with two of her captors including a gay gargoyle and a saucy gorgon to try and liberate the land from Badlug's rule.

Another Castle does a good job of reversing the "damsel in distress" trope by proving that Misty is no Disney Princess waiting in a tall tower for a Prince Charming to free her. Paulina Ganucheau brings her amazing anime style in this dynamic looking comic. There are two separate collected editions of this with the first one being titled Grimoire and a revised version titled New Edition, even though both releases are of equal quality. A great YA adventure for otaku and lovers of high fantasy.