I have read a few graphic novel anthologies now, and it's always interesting to see how different artists take the same theme and illustrate them differently. These illustrated fables were a lot of fun to read, though I don't know the original stories and so can't compare these versions to any other tellings. ( )

CW: magic (witches), potions

This is part of a series of "Cautionary Fables & Fairytales", with each short story having a message or key takeaway. I would recommend that patrons check out the other books in the series if they enjoyed this one -- The Nixie of the Mill-Pond and Other European Stories, The Night Marchers and Other Oceanian Stories, and Tamamo the Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories.

This book was shelved in the YA graphic novels section at my local library, but it is accessible to younger audiences as well. I would recommend this for grades 5 - 12.

Some of the stories were recognizable to me from picture books and short stories I read growing up, such as "Anansi Tries to Steal Wisdom" (why spiders have eight legs/are venomous), "Why Turtles Live in Water", and "Queen Hyena's Funeral" (hyena laugh). Others were ones I had never heard of, and a part of me wished that more cultural context or information about the origin of each story was included. There were short bios about each illustrator in the back of the book, but the book left me wanting more. Some highlights from the book: "Chief 5 Heads", "The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull", and "The Girl Who Married a Lion". ( )

As with any collection from various authors, some of the stories are good and others are not. That's to be expected. What bothers me about this particular collection is that it doesn't seem to know who its audience is. Some stories are well suited for teens or adults, others to middle grade, and some are so simplistic that they would make most sense in a picture book.There's also lack of cohesion in tone with some tales being highly comedic and others being very serious.

My favorite stories among the collection are the namesake "The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull", "Isis and the Name of Ra", and "The Stranger"; all of which happen to be among the longest and most complex stories. Many of the other stories are too short to have any emotional impact and often end abruptly.

It's also worth noting that few of the artists and writers appear to be African or African American. ( )

A talented mix of creators bring out the humor of these African folktales. I prefer the Asian collection in this series with its strong horror vibe, but this is pretty darn good also. ( )

Full disclosure: I contributed to the Kickstarter for publishing this book. It's a wide-ranging collection of African folktales brought to life by a series of online comic artists; the styles range from fast and funny to solemn and detail-oriented, and they come from across many different African cultures. With fifteen entries in all, there's pretty much something here for everyone, and many of the stories are very, very enjoyable, including "Anansi Tries to Steal All Wisdom," "Gratitude," "The Lion's Whiskers," and "Isis and the Name of Ra." A couple of stories do end extremely abruptly, which seemed sort of odd, and at least one (with, unfortunately, otherwise quite fun art) seems to have been printed at a resolution that renders it fuzzy and indistinct. Taken in all, though, this is a great collection, and I'm very pleased to have helped in some small way to bring it to life. ( )