Scan barcode
lsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
a great collection of reworked futuristic versions of classic fairy tales. I loved the illustrations.
rollforlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed some stories more than others. I think my favourite was the last - had some clever wisdom in it.
jkenna1990's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so cool! It had a ton of different stories and different art styles. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that loves fairy tales.
atinydisaster's review against another edition
5.0
This is an extremely cool collection of short stories (in the form of comics/graphic novels), Once Upon A Time Machine takes a huge selection of stories we all grew up with and turns them into futuristic or entirely reinvisioned versions. There were a few stories I didn't recognize (that may have been appropriate additions of newer stories, I'm not sure) which were great, but my favorites were always the stories with hilarious new interpretations of my favorite fables.
While I genuinely enjoyed the vast majority of the stories, there were definitely a few that just had me scratching my head or anxious to get to the end of but I can see how they might appeal to a different audience. There is something in here for everyone. I should also note that I wasn't able to read three of the stories via the digital ARC I received but there should be no issue with a physical copy (I was reading on an iPad).
Some of my favorites included retellings of Hansel & Gretel, Pinocchio and an in between image of the Three Little Pigs. Awesome! The nuances of The Tortoise and The Hare was totally lost on me, I fully didn't get the robots racing for tea storyline. That being said, 100% of the art was amazing. I loved it ALL.
While I am not a collector of graphic novels in any sense, Once Upon A Time Machine seems like a great piece to add to any fairy tale collection and is absolutely a must read for anyone who loves both scifi and fables.
While I genuinely enjoyed the vast majority of the stories, there were definitely a few that just had me scratching my head or anxious to get to the end of but I can see how they might appeal to a different audience. There is something in here for everyone. I should also note that I wasn't able to read three of the stories via the digital ARC I received but there should be no issue with a physical copy (I was reading on an iPad).
Some of my favorites included retellings of Hansel & Gretel, Pinocchio and an in between image of the Three Little Pigs. Awesome! The nuances of The Tortoise and The Hare was totally lost on me, I fully didn't get the robots racing for tea storyline. That being said, 100% of the art was amazing. I loved it ALL.
While I am not a collector of graphic novels in any sense, Once Upon A Time Machine seems like a great piece to add to any fairy tale collection and is absolutely a must read for anyone who loves both scifi and fables.
ericbuscemi's review against another edition
3.0
First off, while the table of contents lists about fifty entries, about half of them are only one-to-two page illustrations that don't actually tell a story. For example, this -- albeit very cool -- image of the Headless Horseman:
That gripe aside, the half of the entries that were of proper story length size were a very mixed bag.
The collection started out very strong, with One Thousand and One Nights; or, 1001, an excellent update on the myth with the Arabian mythos mixed with the modern newspaper publishing world. My other personal favorites included the very next story, John Henry, which had a certain [b:I Am Legend|14064|I Am Legend|Richard Matheson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348790367s/14064.jpg|19273256] vibe to it; The Tortoise and the Hare; or, The Tea Garden Soapbox Grand Prix, which was an exciting blend of Mario Kart and Speed Racer; and The Shepherd and the Weaver Girl, a beautifully animated Chinese tale that is reminiscent of [b:Bridge of Birds|15177|Bridge of Birds A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was|Barry Hughart|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327940289s/15177.jpg|958087] (as they are both based on the same myth).
There were some other stories that stood out in different ways, such as The Last Leaf, which takes place on a space station; Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a touching, if saccharine story of a nanobot pet; The Five Chinese Brothers, which while I enjoyed, was not nearly as good as the myth on which it is based; and Hansel and Gretel, or, Bombus and Vespula, which had a delightful twist that I won't spoil here.
Other stories totally missed the mark, such as the incomprehensible Kid Yimage and the Really Big Hole; The Boy Who Cried Wolf; or, The Venusian Sheperd Boy Who Cried Space Wolf, which didn't seem to add anything in being updated; Alice in Wonderland; or, A.L.I.C.E., which was both incomprehensible and didn't add any new wrinkles to the original; and Humpty Dumpty, which was just rather disturbing.
In some cases I know I enjoyed the stories more because I knew how they were manipulating the source material, but in some others where I was not familar the original story, I still enjoyed the updated take. In others, either the art, the story (or lack thereof), or both ruined the fractured fairy tale whether or not I was familiar with the original.
That gripe aside, the half of the entries that were of proper story length size were a very mixed bag.
The collection started out very strong, with One Thousand and One Nights; or, 1001, an excellent update on the myth with the Arabian mythos mixed with the modern newspaper publishing world. My other personal favorites included the very next story, John Henry, which had a certain [b:I Am Legend|14064|I Am Legend|Richard Matheson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348790367s/14064.jpg|19273256] vibe to it; The Tortoise and the Hare; or, The Tea Garden Soapbox Grand Prix, which was an exciting blend of Mario Kart and Speed Racer; and The Shepherd and the Weaver Girl, a beautifully animated Chinese tale that is reminiscent of [b:Bridge of Birds|15177|Bridge of Birds A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was|Barry Hughart|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327940289s/15177.jpg|958087] (as they are both based on the same myth).
There were some other stories that stood out in different ways, such as The Last Leaf, which takes place on a space station; Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a touching, if saccharine story of a nanobot pet; The Five Chinese Brothers, which while I enjoyed, was not nearly as good as the myth on which it is based; and Hansel and Gretel, or, Bombus and Vespula, which had a delightful twist that I won't spoil here.
Other stories totally missed the mark, such as the incomprehensible Kid Yimage and the Really Big Hole; The Boy Who Cried Wolf; or, The Venusian Sheperd Boy Who Cried Space Wolf, which didn't seem to add anything in being updated; Alice in Wonderland; or, A.L.I.C.E., which was both incomprehensible and didn't add any new wrinkles to the original; and Humpty Dumpty, which was just rather disturbing.
In some cases I know I enjoyed the stories more because I knew how they were manipulating the source material, but in some others where I was not familar the original story, I still enjoyed the updated take. In others, either the art, the story (or lack thereof), or both ruined the fractured fairy tale whether or not I was familiar with the original.
jasmiinaf's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed some of the stories and most of the time the art. To me the best stories were the saddest ones, like Pinochio. There were lots of stories that I knew nothing about and maybe that's why this got only three stars from me.
jcschildbach's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars is probably a bit high for this. I almost gave up on it, but there was just enough to keep me going. Most of the stories are pretty arbitrary, just minor alterations to old fairy tales...like they're set in space and there are robots and stuff. The collection starts up with a pointless intro about the comics division of all media potentially being shut down...but not if the daughter of an Eisner-Award-winning cartoonist can come up with enough great stories to save the comics. The "Three Little Pigs" story was probably the first one I really liked in terms of how the story was told, illustrated, and 'updated.' I enjoyed the version of "Rikki Tikki Tavi" although it seemed a bit obvious. Most of the stories had something to recommend them. 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' and 'Humpty Dumpty' had some interesting elements. But then there were things like the update of 'The Tortoise and the Hair' which may as well have been a scripted game of 'Mario Kart'--if Mario Kart was boring and annoying But, anyway, that's more than enough time spent on this. Check it out, just don't expect much.
jkenna90's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so cool! It had a ton of different stories and different art styles. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that loves fairy tales.
whatisjordyreading's review against another edition
... And that was the tale of the five brave mayflies."
-"... I thought that was the tale of Bombus and Vespula!"
"So did Bombus and Vespula. But they were wrong. And that's why you should always treat others with care, even if they seem small and insignicnficant to you because you never know whose story you're in."
-'Bombus and Vespula', Josh O'Neill
-"... I thought that was the tale of Bombus and Vespula!"
"So did Bombus and Vespula. But they were wrong. And that's why you should always treat others with care, even if they seem small and insignicnficant to you because you never know whose story you're in."
-'Bombus and Vespula', Josh O'Neill
slipperbunny's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed some of the stories and most of the time the art. To me the best stories were the saddest ones, like Pinochio. There were lots of stories that I knew nothing about and maybe that's why this got only three stars from me.