As acclaimed series like The Sandman have shown, there are few cultural pairings sweeter than folklore and comics.
Tiny but mighty indie comics publisher Iron Circus Comics is continuing this tradition with the sixth and final volume of the long-running Cautionary Fables and Fairytales series. Titled The Lizard Prince and Other South American Tales, the volume, now live on Iron Circus.com, is edited and collected by the Cautionary Fables team of Alberto Rayo, Kel McDonald and Kate Ashwin. Like previous volumes, The Lizard Prince focuses on regional folklore retold by creators that represent it.
The anthology includes the following stories:
“The Basnemporo Spider” by Brenda Argon, where a spider tries her very best to help.
“The Myth of the Condor” by Diego Carvajal, a sweeping romantic fable about love in the stars.
“The Ring” by Francis Francia, in which a new bride gets a little more than she bargained for.
“The Muki’s Deal” by Rick Lazo, where we learn all about mining goblins and true friendship.
“The Little Shepherd” by PD Loupee and Bruno Ortiz, where a brave little boy is able to find light even in the darkest places.
“Yara” by nique, the journey of a young girl determined to control her own destiny.
“Let Me Cook My Breakfast, Mr Caiman!” by Randal Ranpokoka, a hilarious tale of breakfasts, cooking fires and capybara!
“Pineapple Wishes” by Luisa F. Rojas, in which a magical Palenquera teaches a young girl that history can come alive.
“The Bum Who Tricked The Devil” by Rodrigo Vargas, in which—well, you guessed it!
“The Lizard Prince” by Lore Vicente, an epic tale of magic, love, courage and reptiles!
“A Girl and Her Bird” by Coni Yovaniniz, when the Tue-Tué bird comes calling.
Polygon has the pleasure of sharing a five-page excerpt from Rodrigo Vargas’ “The Bum Who Tricked the Devil,” a story hailing from Chilean myth.
“Chile has a lot of stories with tricksters messing with the devil, so it felt fun to take one of those and update it,” Vargas told Polygon. “In the original story, Bartolo would trick the devil to get money to party, drink and dine. But also, I read how in these stories the devil can be meant to represent a landowner and the bum is the common man using their wits to get an upper hand. It felt fitting with the times to change the landowner to a banker and Bartolo using the money to improve the world around him (and destroying a bank in the process). It’s a bit silly, but it made me very happy.”
Image: Rodrigo Vargas/Iron Circus Comics
Image: Rodrigo Vargas/Iron Circus Comics
Image: Rodrigo Vargas/Iron Circus Comics
Image: Rodrigo Vargas/Iron Circus Comics
Image: Rodrigo Vargas/Iron Circus Comics
The Lizard Prince and Other South American Tales is now live on IronCircus.com.