BB Wolf and the Three LPs

Title: BB Wolf and the Three LPs

Arthur: JD Arnold

Artist: Richard Koslowski

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Binding: Hard cover

Release Date: July 2010

          

We all know the story of the three little pigs. Cute little porkers going about their lives when the big bad wolf appears to tear down their houses and gobble them up. The classic story of brains triumphing over brawns when the wolf is defeated by the infamous brick house. It is always told as a clean open shut case, but did anyone ever ask what the wolf’s side of the story was? What made him want to devour the three little pigs? Were his actions justified? Were the pigs truly innocent? Taking the classic tale and cleverly reimagining it, BB Wolf tells the story from the predator’s perspective and proves that what we are told is not always the full gospel truth.

At first glance, the hard cover design has a simple and humble look to it. Given a faux textured look of library books of older years, we get a small sepia tone photo of our hero in the center. From here the reader can see that staying true to the classic fairy tale, the use of funny animals are going to be depicted and the guitar along with clothing style suggests this will be a period piece centered around the blues era. Open the book and one quickly sees that this will be the case.

The artwork is done in a black and white charcoal sketch style on thick heavy pages. Richard Koslowski’s (Three Fingers), character designs are fitting for a typical fairy tale as his facial expressions along with distorted anatomies do a great job of portraying various personalities throughout the story. Even the designs of the characters eyes are enough at times to let readers know what the character is thinking or feeling at points. The clothing style and the environments do a superb job at throwing the reader into the early 1900s. Wolves are second class citizens, thus their wardrobes are withered and worn compared to tailored garments of the wealthier pigs.  Atmospheres are rich in detail from smokey bars to cold damp nights on city streets. With that said, this is not a bed time story one will be reading to the little ones as violence is illustrated here in graphic detail. Rib cages are burst open, disemboweling will occur, and horror filled faces of death appear throughout the story.

For the most part, the dialog is placed well through out the panels, but there are one or two instances where the locations are off, causing characters to utter phrases not meant for them. Exposition dialog is easy to follow though and sound effects are always used properly to bring more action to scenes. The sequential art also is easy to follow and does it’s job of guiding the eyes from panel to panel.

As mentioned before the story of our hero Barnabus Benjamin Wolf is not meant for real young kids. It deals with issues like the infamous Jim Crow laws that flourished in the south and talks about what one must do to seek justice when state laws won’t help you. Like the comic Blacksad, this is a world where the color of ones fur and species depicts race. Wolves are the second rate black citizens where the pigs represent the more superior white race. BB Wolf is a poor farmer in Mississippi. He’s not a soul longing for riches beyond his wildest dreams. In fact he's pretty content with his humble life. He has himself a loving wife, some pups, and his prized guitar named Molly that he uses to play the blues at his local bar. One morning suffering a hangover, he awakes to the sound of his screaming wife and learns that his farm is being legally stolen from under him by Little Pig due to a loophole in the mortgage. Turns out Little Pig is snatching up land all over the state and in a powerful turn of events all the local wolves get together and make a stand to protect BB and his family’s house. All is well for a while until one night while away, our hero returns to find his house burned to the ground, his neighbors killed, and even his family murdered.

Unlike the classic tale, in here we learn that it is only BB who looses his house shedding more evidence that despite of popular belief not all we hear is true. Knowing for sure that Little Pig is responsible, BB goes on Murdering rampage only to go into hiding afterwards and learn that LP had two older brothers also responsible for the crimes done to him. The rest of the story can be figured out. BB continues his quest for vengeance and along the way meets a handful of interesting characters good and bad. Even in this dark tale humor can be found but it never gets silly and remains at an adult level.

Overall BB “Wolf and the Three LPs” brings a fresh outlook on an otherwise stale fairytale. The characters are rich with personality, the time setting is unique, and it deals with real adult issues shedding light on one of humanity’s darkest shames. I honestly found myself disappointed that story ended as quickly as it did though. Being only ninety pages long I feel that this could’ve been a much longer story maybe even a series possible. This was JD Arnold’s first graphic novel to my understanding and the fact that this tale immersed me as it did says a lot about his story telling skills. I can only hope that he has more ideas to come. With that said, is BB Wolf a must buy? In my opinion, yes because it was quite the experience seeing this old story get retold and grow on a more intellectual level. Plus when the book is only eleven bucks right now on amazon.com it truly is a bargin to add this to your collection.

Ryan Pierce