This is done in a graphic novel format, and consists of one of the fairy tales framed by present-day people that are reflected in the tale.
The first one is Little Red Riding Hood. A girl's boyfriend wants her to have sex with him and she's not ready. He leaves her and she goes to her room and finds a fairy tale book and starts reading Little Red Riding Hood.
Of course, we associate that tale with a young girl, but the Red Riding Hood of this story is older and amazing built. The tale, by the way, has a very different sort of wolf involved, and a Red Riding Hood who is not above killing.
The second story is Cinderella, which is done very well with a mother and two step-sisters who are far, far nastier than the 'traditional' version of Cinderella, and a Cinderella that is not at all above taking her revenge on them. This tale is framed within the story of a modern-day girl who tries out for a girl's sorority but is turned down and made fun of because she's not pretty enough for them.
The third story is Hansel and Gretel. Again, there's a present-day frame for the story about a sister that wants to run away from her stepmother and her brother who goes with her. The creature they meet in the house, though, makes a witch look mild by comparison.
Rumpelstiltskin is the next story. The story opens with a woman who is pregnant and her boyfriend who wants her to have the baby, then sell it. Then the story goes to the fairy tale, then back to the present. It seems to be an anti-abortion message more than anything.
Sleeping Beauty: A guy has a crush on a girl in college (I think), but she doesn't care at all about him. He lets her cheat off him, then agrees to pick up some marijuana for her, even though it will take him to a bad part of the city. The fairy tale matches reality, and the college guy realizes the girl he had a crush on is not worth his time.
The Robber Bridegroom: This is one I never heard of before. A girl likes a guy, but she catches him making out with her sister. Then in the fairy tale something similar happens, but the one sister kills the other and marries the prince in her place. It turns out the so-called prince is the head of a group of cannibals. The two present-day sisters make up.
Legacy: Another one I had never heard of. The main character, a woman who gives the fairy tale book to those who are in need of it, is seen as a college teacher. A girl asks her where she got the book, and this goes into a story from the past of a boy and his sister checking out the house of a supposed witch.
The sister enters the house and finds the fairy tale book. An old woman is there and says it's time for her to pass the book on to another. Sela, the girl, passes out. When she awakes and returns to her village decades have passed.
This is a very good book. The stories are very well-done morality stories and the artwork is extremely good, far better than the average graphic novel artwork.
Issue Volume 2
Again, these are fairy tales surrounding a modern-day situation which is related to that fairy tale.
The first story is Snow White. A woman is poisoning another woman from the cheerleader squad. The woman with the fairy tale book shows up. In this version of the tale Snow White is left to die in the cold and the seven dwarves find her. Later her step-mother gives her the poisoned apple, as the common story goes, but what the dwarves do after that is not common at all.
The modern-day woman who was doing the poisoning also gets her comeuppance.
The second story is Jack and the Beanstalk. The present-day story is a married couple with a child. The guy has no job and is pushing drugs. His wife doesn't want him to. Then it's to the fairy tale, where Jack gets greedy and keeps on stealing things from the giant. He cuts down the beanstalk, but the giant falls on his house, killing his wife and child. The present-day husband decides not to push drugs after all.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears is the third story. A woman has an abusive husband. She also has a boyfriend on the side, and then plan to murder the husband. Then the fairy tale is told, and it's back to the present. Not everyone gets a second chance is the moral of the story.
The Frog King is next. The present-day part of the story revolves around a frog dissection in a classroom. One girl runs out, unable to do it. Again, there's a girl who get a guy that likes her to do her work. Then we go to the fairy tale, which ends quite differently from what we are used to, and then back to the present day where the girl had not learned the lesson from the tale and pays for it.
Next is Bluebeard. A woman is suspicious of her husband and hires a private detective, who gets incriminating pictures of him and another woman. She also thinks he's planning to kill her. Then comes the fairy tale part. Neither turns out well.
The Pied Piper is the next story. There are two brothers who work for the same company. One of them has embezzled a lot of money and plans to kill some guy before he can testify against him. Sela, the woman with the book, talks briefly to the two and leaves the book with them. As with the story above, neither ending is pretty.
Timepiece is the last story, another one I am not familiar with. Some guy gives Sela a watch that he says was from some woman friend of hers. They end up dating. Sela is at least 300 years old. They marry but she leaves him because she doesn't age. There's something ominous going on, though, when she meets the woman from the start of the story.
Issue Volume 3
Beauty and the Beast (in two parts). The first part starts with a modern-day girl and her boyfriend who hits her. She meets Sela and Sela has her read Beauty and the Beast. The story is much darker, of course, then the sanitized version people are familiar with. The Beast claims he will try to be a better person, but he rips the head of a woman who is coming to look for the Beauty.
The Beast, though, refuses to recognize and admit his own shortcomings and causes the death of many others. In the present world, the girl's boyfriend threatens to kill a guy who has been nice to her, admitting to himself that he can't change.
The next story is the three little pigs. The story starts with three guys who are dopers and thieves. Sela shows up to get them to change their ways but they just want to have sex with her. She displays the fact that she can use magic and changes them into animals.
A wolf kills one of the guys as Sela walks away. The two others meet the same fate.
Little Miss Muffet is the next story. Sela has been asleep and had a nightmare. She wakes up and opens the door to her bedroom and there's an entire other reality there. A bunch of animals and a guy chase her, then she's caught by a spider and ends up in another reality.
She did not ask for her powers. She meets the guy that gave her the powers. She feels too many of those she tries to help don't take her advice, while the guy says she has helped a lot of people. They have an absolutely fascinating discussion about good vs. evil as far as mankind itself goes.
The Junper Tree is next, and is a direct continuation of the last story. There is brother and his step-sister, and he's trying to get her to use cocaine. The mother knows and puts out a hit on the brother. Then there's the fairy tale part which is similar to what is happening in the present. Something goes wrong and the story doesn't end the way Sela thought it would.
The Billy Goat's Gruff. A boy is being bullied and Sela tries to help him. He points out to her how just helping one person can have an effect over time on many other people.
Wicked Ways: Someone is making reference to how Belinda has been serving their purposes. Belinda takes delight in the chaos, hatred and violence of humans to other humans.
Issue Volume 4
Rapunzel is the first story. Sela is talking to a guy, and then there's a flashback to a month earlier. A guy and his girlfriend are robbing people and taking their car. Sela talks to the girlfriend and gives her the book, so it' s on to the fairy-tale part of the story. It's a very dark story and Rapunzel definitely doesn't come out well in the end. Things don't go as Sela planned, either, and Belinda is back in town.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Present day, a boy's parents are dead, and so are his foster parents. Then there's the fairy tale, but it turns out Belinda is helping the evil boy from the present.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice: An old professor is trying to molest a student and then Belinda comes along and gives the student the fairy tale book Belinda is in the story, and she is an invalid. Things go as expected. She kills the sorcerer and he curses her forever. Belinda says she is a djinn and was trapped in a bottle but finally escaped, so we now have her back story.
The Snow Queen. There's a demon that hates people and has had made a mirror to reveal the true souls of humans. He's defeated, but a female demon later assumes his power. The fairy tale/real time material becomes mixed as Belinda is once again out to hurt someone and Sela is out to help him. The Snow Queen is out to finish Sela once she saves the boy.
Snow White and Rose Red. Sela and Belinda are having a major showdown. Belinda kills Sela.
The Lamp: An intro story to 1001 Arabian Nights.
Issue Volume 5
The Little Mermaid. A wooden ship crashes and a mermaid saves the life of a prince. Belinda visits a mother who ends up getting mad at her daughter. The mermaid gives up her ability to speak, but the Prince ends up betraying her. Things work out badly for everyone concerned, but that's to be expected with Belinda involved.
Three Blind Mice. There's a guy and his female partner that plan to cheat an old woman. In the fairy tale part the mice (which are not blind at all) have tricked an old woman into giving them food, making her think they are blind. Belinda makes a short appearance in the story. Both old women turn out to be utterly evil.
The Ugly Duckling. Belinda again in a high school. A girl who is unattractive is offered something to grant her her 'wings' by Belinda. It changes her into a beautiful girl. That was a flashback; now we're ten years later at the high school reunion. Things, as expected, don't go well in the end for the girl.
King Midas. Some guy is tied and gagged and his daughter is tied and gagged, and another guy says he plans to shoot the guy's daughter. Belinda (who is definitely drawn by a different artist because she looks a lot different), runs a day care center.
The voice belongs to a woman. The guy had been a hit man and killed her mother so she, now, in turn, kills the guy's daughter.
Rip Van Winkle: The story is about Sela marrying a guy named Rip Van Winkle. Sela has her powers, but has chosen not to use them. Suddenly she ends up somewhere else. A fairy-like creature from that world shows Sela what the Earth will be like if Belinda has her way. Death has been talking to a Sela frozen in ice after her battle with Belinda.
But Sela might not be dead.
Pawns: Some guys seem to be pulling Belinda's strings behind the scenes.
Issue Volume 6
Pinocchio: Present: A boy's mother has been killed by a thug. Then the fairy tale part, although this Pinocchio is not a good person by any means. This is a thoroughly evil Pinocchio. Again Belinda is involved in what happens.
Three Snake Leaves. Modern day, a guy's wife is dying and he wants to save her. Belinda appears and has the fairy tale book. This ends up to be a vore-type story.
Puss in Boots. Belinda fouling things up again, this time with a woman watching over an ancient Egyptian statue. The statue feeds on souls
Dorian Gray: Again, Belinda is running wild, causing people to kill others and spread chaos. The present events reflect the past events.
The Ugly Duckling part 2: A guy that was reject at school becomes a murderer later, Belinda leading him on. Sela suddenly appears at the end of the story.
The Gift: More on the Sela/Belinda situation, and who Belinda serves is revealed.
Issue Volume 7
The first story is about Little Miss Muffet, who happens to be Sela. Sela's mentor talks to her about where her powers come from, and how there are five realms; one of magic, one of dreams; one of wonder and imagination; one of virtue and hope, and the Earth.
He also explains about evil and the fights against the realms led by the evil beings who want to take over the Earth.
The Lion and the Mouse is the second story and is about a guy who becomes a fighter through the power of evil but eventually realizes what he has done.
The Scorpion and the Frog is the next story, and is updated. It also ties in Sela and Belinda, and how Sela has been duped just like the frog.
The Goose and the Golden Egg is the next story and is about a daughter who is greedy despite all her father has done for her. She pays the price for her greed.
Dante's Inferno prelude is next about a woman who kills people. It's the prelude to the separate book Inferno. Then there's a story about Baba Yaga and how the book was passed down to Sela. The Collection is a short story, and then there is the cover gallery sect
Issue Volume 8
Pretty much this entire volume centers on the fight between Belinda and the one she serves, along with others that serve him, and Sela and the ones who fight on the side of good. It's a major, bloody battle which has an ending for the battle, but not for the war.
There's also one other unrelated story and a cover gallery.
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