The Princess Murders Sings Like a Fairy Tale, Kills Like a Horror
It opens with a twirl and a love song. Then someone starts killing princesses.
That switch is the pitch for The Princess Murders, an ongoing Image Comics series co-written and co-drawn by Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ongoing means the story is built to run issue after issue, not to close in a short mini-series. The first issue goes on sale on 9 December, with colours by Brian Reber. The trailer was released to line up with a New York Comic Con panel featuring both creators.
The plot starts with a death. A princess has been murdered, which sets the terms for everything that follows. The focus then shifts to Princess Lottie and her stepsister Edwige. The two travel to the Kingdom of Sardinia to compete for the hand of Prince Carlo. A black-gloved killer is already moving through the castle.
The tone is two genres at once. Fairy tale romance sits beside Giallo, the Italian line of murder-mystery thrillers known for masked killers, hard suspense and bold visual style. The black gloves are part of that code. Image Comics describes the result as a playful new twist on fractured fairytales, or familiar stories pulled apart and put back together with a darker edge, in its December solicitations.
The trailer plays the romance straight before the turn. Fleecs and Seeley shaped it to look and sound like an animated princess movie musical. The centrepiece is an original song called "Can't You Feel It," with lyrics by Fleecs and Seeley, arrangement by composer Nima Fakhrara and vocals by Maria Schafer. Short, bright and sweetly sung, it could pass for the real thing until the premise lands.
Music does not stop at the trailer. Every issue of the comic will contain original songs and short snippets, built into the pages. That is unusual for a monthly horror title, where sound is usually left to the reader's head. Fleecs and Seeley are listed as writer, artist and cover creators for the debut, with Cover A and Cover F credits in Image's listings.
The pair arrive with sales behind them. Image says each man has sold millions of copies across earlier bestsellers including Stray Dogs from Fleecs and Revival from Seeley, in its launch announcement.
What makes this stand out is the delivery system. Readers are invited to hum first. The fright follows close behind.
