Review by Frank Plowright

As is the case with several other Disney Princess graphic novels from Dark Horse, a collection of one page gag strips drawn, and often also written by Amy Mebberson separate a number of strips running to several pages. In this case they star Jasmine, Mulan (twice), Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White (twice) and Tiana. A broad view of what constitutes a Princess is taken in order to include the female leads from all Disney films going all the way back to Snow White.

This content previously formed the first half Disney Princess: The Comic Strip Collection Vol. 2, but the work was published there in landscape format. As before, there are no credits for individual strips, so no indication which are written by Mebberson, and which are the work of Georgia Ball, Paul Benjamin, Geoffrey Golden or Patrick Storck. Whoever’s responsible, though, the quality of the jokes is such that adults are likely to laugh along with the children, and these aren’t just generic jokes bolted onto Disney characters. In some cases, however, it may mean readers not familiar with every Disney film may not get the joke. In order to aid the process, though, the opening pages feature thoughtful introductory pages for some princesses starring in the longer strips.

These are of varying lengths, with the longest showing Snow White showing the dwarves how to befriend the creatures of the forest. Samples of the others are Rapunzel’s clever show involving fairy tales, Beauty tidying Beast’s bookshelves, Tiana judging the gumbo contest and Jasmine having trouble packing to go on holiday. A bonus of the reformatting is Mebberson frequently including pin-up pages, these more likely to be removed and pinned up than pages in superhero comics. That speaks to the appeal. These strips are unashamedly aimed at the young girl who loves all things Disney, and are well enough crafted to ensure that girl has a few giggles, and thrills to the short adventures.

The next collection to see print was Beyond the Extraordinary, but as there is no continuity the Disney Princess line can be read in any order.