Neil Gaiman was my gateway-drug to Charles Vess, since he did the illustrations for Gaiman’s Stardust. Then came his illustrations for Peter Pan, and Instructions, again with Gaiman. Finally, his work on Gaiman’s Sandman and The Books of Magic are very pleasing to the eye.
Some time ago, I picked up a copy of Vess’ The Book of Ballads, which contains the great songs and folktales of the English, Irish and Scottish traditions in sequential art form.
So, it’s old tales, retold and illuminated, followed by the original. Now, I’m not that familiar with those traditions, nor very inclined to change that. The main thing I took away from this volume is that it’s quite pretty.
- Book read
- Charles Vess (et al.) — The Book of Ballads
- First line
- I’m off to school ma. (from The False Knight in the Road by Charless Vess with Neil Gaiman.)