“Troll Bridge”

Dark Horse adds another book to their Neil Gaiman Library series with “Troll Bridge.” Adapted from one of his short stories, this book, in keeping with tradition, features some wonderful artwork by an esteemed illustrator. In this case, it’s Colleen Doran, who offers a provocative and sensual painted style. Not only is it a worthy addition to this series (which already features some spectacular work like “Murder Mysteries”, illustrated by P. Craig Russell, and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” from Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá), but it also successfully translates the story from one medium to the next.

Written by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Colleen Doran
Young Jack’s world was full of ghosts and ghouls, but one monster-a ravenous and hideous troll-would haunt him long into manhood. As the beast sups upon a lifetime of Jack’s fear and regret, Jack must find the courage within himself to face the fiend once and for all!

One of Neil Gaiman’s signatures is to take old narratives and give it a slightly modern twist. To offer it a new perspective. A different approach. Certainly, most of his famous and acclaimed work — “Sandman”, American Gods — uses this as a launching point. But what makes Gaiman so much more effective is how he’s able to take these old legends and use them to help create an emotional and empathetic story. The short story version of “Troll Bridge”, for instance, was originally commissioned for an anthology of fairy tale retellings, Snow White, Blood Red. (The story was nominated for a World Fantasy Award.) Gaiman based his treatment off The Three Billy Goats Gruff, but the material went into an entirely other direction as he developed it. In both the original piece and now the comic strip, he launched into a mediation about growing up, coming to terms with your life, and seeing the world leave you behind.

I don’t know how much of the script Gaiman actively wrote. I get the sense with these adaptations his involvement wavers depending on the artist. What was an interesting story in prose becomes something special with Doran’s illustrations.

“Troll Bridge” centers around a young boy named Jack. He lives in the countryside, although it’s under expansion and development. Jack is your typical seven-year-old boy, spending the day running around barefoot and exploring the far reaches of his neighborhood. One day, on one of his random expeditions, he comes across a great brick bridge and encounters a troll who wants to eat his life. Using only logic understandable to a seven-year-old, young Jack is able to broker a deal to live and little longer before returning to the troll. The rest of the story, then, revolves around Jack’s encounters with the creature throughout various stages of his life. Right until the whole thing reaches its climax.

The first thing you notice is that Jack is a bit of a shit. His initial reaction to the troll is to offer up his sister in his place. In fact, all his negotiations involve him attempting to find someone else to assume his position, to take his place, as it were. As a teenager, he’s manipulative and opportunistic, which of course leads to him being a band manager as an adult.

Gaiman and Doran rely heavily on nostalgia to make him at least manageable to deal with. There’s the stuff where he’s a kid, delivered brightly. There’s scenes where he recalls walking around all night with a girl he’s crushing on as the neighborhood evolves around him, which Doran renders in soft colors and muted lights. “Troll Bridge” gives us a sense of what he’s feeling, while never letting us forget that Jack himself isn’t entirely wholesome. The hubristic nature of the ending also allows us to feel some more connection to Jack; the book rewards people who read it more than a few times.

Doran does wonders with the tone and aesthetic of the piece. Gaiman’s narration has a morose, melancholic pitch, where the further and further we get into the story, the more and more we realize Jack hates himself. Doran, however, blows a different life into the scene. She captures the excitement and jubilation of childhood, where Jack’s so excited not even the panel borders can hold him down; the sensation of adolescence, with its soft touches and chaste lustiness; and the mundanity of at least Jack’s adulthood.

The painted drawings lend a fairy tale vibe to the whole book (which should honestly come as no surprise considering Doran cut her teeth on fantasy stories), and this works especially well for the more realistic parts of the book. Take, for instance, the train remains early on, looking like a dragon skeleton. Trees have this constant overhanging presence, like they’re blocking the characters in, constantly twisting and crawling their way up the page. The art is not formal, but it’s completely evocative. What else would you want from a story like this?

Dark Horse has been doing well with translating these Gaiman stories from prose to comics. “Troll Bridge” continues that legacy, with the expected sensual art and interesting perspective. Early on, the young boy Jack says, “It’s good for children to find themselves facing elements of a fairy tale. They are well equipped to deal with these.” The book suggests that that’s not limited to kids, but it’s a way for us to approach life, for all its faults and triumphs. That we can understand who we are and who we want to be through these stories.

Final Verdict: 8.5 – Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran explore ideas of coming to terms with yourself in a morose story that’s exuberantly illustrated. The two elements don’t just balance each other out, they are also complimentary.