Castle Waiting Vols. 1 and 2 -Linda Medley
I’ve read the first volume of Castle Waiting countless times since I first found it at my library—it’s one of those books that I had to buy lest I destroy the library copy (I am terrible at taking care of books). Finally getting the second volume a month ago was far more exciting than it should’ve been, and since then I’ve been flipping through them both on an almost daily basis. They’re flat-out amazing stories, even if you’re not generally a comic person—the kind of thing that you find yourself thinking about randomly. Even my mom, who’s not a fairy tale or a comic person, said that Castle Waiting had that effect on her, which is just fantastic. The fact they’re comics actually aids their amazingness, at least for me—it gives them a weird picture-book/fairy-tale quality that feels very welcoming. Somehow, that seems to fit the books, since they start in fairy-tale territory and sort of expand outward from there.
Linda Medley, from what I can tell, seems to have somehow slipped under the radar of a lot of people who are into alternative comics (which, uh, means that she’s escaped the notice of a really, really small niche, but whatever), and that’s just grossly unfair. Castle Waiting is beautifully drawn, intriguingly plotted, and written with a great sense of character (and a great sense of humor). It’s made up of stories that detail the lives of a varied cast of characters living in an old castle. This castle happens to be the one that Sleeping Beauty abandoned upon being woken by Prince Charming (this story’s detailed in the first part of Volume 1), and her three handmaidens are still there, filling the crotchety old lady role with great fervor. The story then opens up and shifts, largely following the newcomer Lady Jain, who has escaped from her old home in order to find a safe haven away from her husband. She’s smart, slightly mysterious, but also very down-to-earth in a way that’s rare in fairy taleish stories. Volume 1 details her journey to the castle, how she settles in among the various strange folk there, and the birth of her very odd-looking baby. Volume 2 details how she makes her permanent home in the castle’s mysterious keep.
Some of the other denizens of the castle: Rackham, the stork adjutant (who’s named after the guy who illustrated Grimm’s Fairy Tales, among other things); Dinah, the cook, who becomes Jain’s best friend, and her son (Simple) Simon; Sir Chess, resident Manly Man who happens to be both a knight and a horse; Iron Henry, the blacksmith who barely utters a word; Dr. Fell, the extremely creepy mask-wearing alchemist who means well but is just… goddamn scary; and my favorite, Sister Peace, the badass, beard-sporting nun. Phew. 
From L to R: Iron Henry, Sister Peace, Dinah, Pindar (Jain’s baby), Jain, interesting-looking creature that isn’t in the story yet, Peace’s pet Piety, cool looking dog-dude that isn’t in the story yet, Rackham, Simon, and the three ladies-in-waiting.
Jain is in the center of all of these people, and we begin to learn about her story via flashbacks throughout both volumes. The other characters also develop through flashbacks—the final third of Volume 1 is devoted to Sister Peace’s tales of her life in the circus and, later, a convent for bearded women. This is easily my favorite part of Volume 1, both because it contains two extremely sweet love stories and because Peace is such an intriguing character. We still don’t know very much about her by the end of her story. Peace is a nun, and is all about self-sacrifice, so in a way it makes sense that we don’t learn much about what happens after she leaves the convent—the stories she tells about the convent aren’t really hers at all. In that, though, you can see a bit of weariness and this deep intelligence that Peace often hides with humor. There’s a pesky demon, Leeds, who follows her around throughout the story, and the reader’s left unsure of why—however, it hints at a lot of inner conflict and strange things afoot. The fact that you can feel that is amazing, and is one of the reasons I like these books so much. I read a review (I think it’s linked in the picture above) that says that Medley sort of meshes a lot of typical fairy tales together and ignores the typical allegory. It’s true, and in doing so, she leaves room for a more natural, realistic relationship between characters that allows for a lot of new ideas. Peace is a character with a lot to say, and I hope that she figures out how to say all of it by the time Castle Waiting is complete.
In Volume 2, more backstories are uncovered, although none of them interested me quite as much as Peace’s did (I’m not sure why—I think a lot of the reason why her flashbacks kept me interested was her voice—Medley makes her a very compelling storyteller and you can feel it). Two of Henry’s adoptive relatives, Dayne (his brother) and Tolly (the nephew of both) also make an appearance, which is also very enjoyable. They’re Hammerlings (dwarves), and they introduce some political intrigue and a damn good game of ninepins. Tolly, is… aww, he’s just adorable. He befriends Simon, and the ways in which they do and don’t get along are great to watch. Tolly talks about art in a really endearing, earnest way that Henry and his other uncle don’t really listen to, and Simon, being Simon, doesn’t get it, but it doesn’t matter; they can be friends anyway.
There was a lot about Tolly that I liked, and I hope that he shows up again. I didn’t enjoy Volume 2 quite as much as the first, largely because it very much felt like the middle chunk of something—maybe the bridge between the first volume and the third (I hope!) But still, it’s absolutely worth reading, especially since the story of Dinah and Simon’s father is just as good as the love stories in the first volume.
Castle Waiting has been touted as a feminist fairy tale, and I think that’s accurate—the women are portrayed as strong, interesting people, not just princesses or damsels in distress. The men are also portrayed that way. Even though the book doesn’t really discuss a lot of adult themes (which is probably why it’s been labeled as “all ages”), the characters still feel full and human, and the world feels like one that is actually functional. These are books about home and what it takes to make a home, and you can’t really accomplish that without fleshing out the people who are responsible for the place. Linda Medley does that beautifully, and I love these books very much. (Go read them NOW. There’s a lot about them that I’ve left out.)
Other Thoughts:
-The relationships between the residents of the castle (especially the friendship between Rackham and Chess) are some of my favorite parts of the book. The characters satisfy a lot of typical fairy-tale tropes (and normal ones as well), but the jokes they make and the nuances Medley gives them make all the difference.
-I really liked this review of Castle Waiting (hopefully I’ll have time to read some more of this blog soon!) http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/01/17/she-has-no-head-linda-medleys-castle-waiting-volume-ii/
Tags: castle waiting review, comics, linda medley
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