"The art is dreamy-good. Percival clearly summoning the likes of HR Giger and Simon Bisley, and does them both one up by telling a cohesive story, something less like a bad acid trip and more like someone just hitting away at your cerebral cortex with a steam-powered sledgehammer. These characters are sexy, they are savage, they are gloriously wicked. Entirely too much personality to be relegated under the label of anti-hero, this is aesthetically warped on more imaginative fronts than merely that. These Enchanted are not just the kids trying to reclaim their innocence in the confusing face of fastly approaching post-pubescence, they are exotic old warhorses in an unreal world, as bloodthirsty as they need to be in battling these insane things in the dark. The pages of this comic are full of their very own kind of life. Just the idea of Magic Beans as a drug of choice, and the crazy visuals that stem (pun intended) from that...

Percival is excitingly genius here. Really good. Buy this book so he will be obliged to make more of the same."

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"...the art, on the other hand, shows is right up front what Percival can do. It’s dark, gritty and at times frighteningly realistic considering the subject matter. Each panel is a swirl of color mixing the hues of pale, sickly flesh with vibrant background colors or the splash of blood as Jack the Giantkiller slays a jilted giantess. Even if you hated Percival’s writing, which you won’t, you’ll love the artwork as it could tell the story all by itself.

Let me sum it up this way: pick this up! You can’t go wrong for a buck."

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"There is one word to describe this #0 issue: intense! The comic opens with explosive action, and never lets up, even for one second. This is by no means a bad thing, because Nick Percival, still deftly manages to slip in strong introductions to several of the key players, as well as establish the plot of the larger story,  that of the death Pinnochio and the plot to eradicate the Enchanted. It’s an incredibly intriguing first issue, with a strong concept and plot, great characters, fantastic dialogue, and thrilling action scenes. Percival is known primarily for his artwork, and I believe this is his first published script, which is actually quite hard to believe, because this is an astonishing piece of work!

We are seeing a lot of comics coming out at the moment that re-purpose characters from children’s stories, including Fables, Jack of Fables, Grimm Fairy Tales, Escape from Wonderland, and the upcoming Fractured Fables. I’m a huge fan of Fables and its spin-offs, but I find all the other derivatives of this title to be unoriginal trash, particularly the Zenoscope stuff, which is basically a badly written version of Fables with huge boobs everywhere. Legends: The Enchanted is the first comic to bring something new into the mix, and use these characters in an original way i.e. not just rehash Fables. Legends is set in some sort of twisted and dystopic world, in which we find radically different version of the classic characters, trying to get by in this nightmare world. The concept feels like something tat Pat Mills would dream up, and I mean that as the highest compliment, because Pat Mills is one of my all-time favourite writers!

 If you haven’t been paying attention, Nick Percival also illustrates this comic, and the art is just breathtaking! The art work looks fully painted, but I believe it was painted digitally, or at least some digital effects were added later, which produces the perfect look for this dark and gritty world. The art is incredibly intricately detailed, and all the characters and environs look incredibly life-like. The best way I can describe the look of the book is to say that it looks like industrial music brought to life! It’s actually quite similar in style to the artwork of Clint Langley, who is the current artist on A.B.C. Warriors in 2000 AD. It’s just a beautiful looking comic, and I can’t wait to see the full hardcover!

Legends: The Enchanted #0 is an intense and powerful opening chapter of what is set to be an epic graphic novel. With an amazing story and beautiful artwork from Nick Percival, Legends: The Enchanted is sure to be an essential purchase. You can pick up this introductory chapter for only $1.00, which you would be a fool to miss out on!"

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"The first thing I have to call out on this book is the art. Man, that is some bea-utiful painted artwork. Creator Nick Percival has really got the goods. LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED really is visually fantastic. I don’t think I’ve see artwork this remarkable outside of a European graphic novel. It’s really that good. I’m impressed. Pretty much out of the gate, from cover to back page Nick Percival has presented a painted world of grimy glory. LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED is worth picking up for the artwork alone. This is the work of a real pro.

But as we all know art is only one part of the puzzle when it comes to graphic storytelling. Not to worry. Percival adds to the quality of LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED by providing an interesting narrative to back up his stunning artwork. The story itself is pretty standard stuff for comicdom: A lone drifter with a chip on his shoulder walking the land righting wrongs. There’s really not much new about that…but the world that Percival is able to flesh out with both his writing and artwork is a fantastic place of fairy tale characters gone wrong in some mad apocalyptic wasteland. It’s basically MAD MAX meets FABLES. Actually that might be a bit too simplistic a comparison, as it seems as if Percival has crafted something uniquely bizarre with LEGENDS. This is something new, something fresh and most of all…something unique. To offer it up as just a copy of something else is to do it a disservice. Trust me when I say that in the pages of LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED Radical Comics has given me a glimpse of a new and freakish world that I’ll be excited to visit again.

The best thing about LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED however is the price. At a measly one dollar, LEGENDS is more than worth its weight in gold. Sure, this first issue is just a primer for a hardcover graphic novel coming out in March, but it’s still a great deal for a book that’s brimming with quality like this one is."

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“Rich: Why did you decide to create "Legends"?

Nick: Legends: The Enchanted contains a lot of themes and ideas that I’ve wanted to explore for a long time both in the storyline and visuals. Classic fairytales and folklore have always been a strong interest of mine but I also wanted to create a dark, compelling tale of my own where I could use characters from these fairytales that everyone would be familiar with and then revamp them, give them a new look and style and introduce a threat that would bring them all together in a unique adventure.

Rich: What genre is "Legends"?

Nick: I think it’s a real mix of action, urban fantasy and horror with some healthy dark humor thrown in for good measure.

Rich: Who are the Enchanted?

Nick: The Enchanted are a fragmented group of powerful characters whose origins are taken from the classic fairytale stories. Imagine the X-Men but inspired by the Brothers Grimm and then given a twisted, gritty polish with horror spiked battery acid. These characters exist as vigilantes, outlaws, bounty hunters, warriors and such trying to get on with their lives in a dangerous creature infested world. Using their wits, super-natural powers and customized weaponry, they discover that someone (or something) has found a way to break through their mystic immortality and started hunting them down, killing them one by one, beginning with the murder of Pinocchio – a powerful warrior man built from bionics, muscle and wood.”

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Creator, Writer and Illustrator of LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED, Nick Percival talks with Chris Arrant of Newsarama

"There are these stories that have been passed down through generation – first as oral stories told around campfires and candlelight, and then transcribed to the written form. They are stories about fairies, goblins, princesses, trolls, talking animals and magic. Intended not only for children, these stories were partly to pass the time but also to learn morals and safety from the community, such as the Cry Wolf story.

But in modern times, these fairy tales have been regelated to the light all-ages arena, and while some of those can be entertaining --- few retain the dark elements they had in their earlier incarnations. But in the upcoming Radical Publishing series Legends: The Enchanted, these fairy tales get their edge back.

The Enchanted are the supernatural immortals such as Pinocchio, the Red Hood, the giant killer Jack, Goldilox. These aren't the children's storybook versions, but dark reimaginations made of steampunk and dark magic. In this miniseries, the murder of one of their own pulls together the group to find (and fight) the murderer in the ever-changing world.

The miniseries comes by way of European artist Nick Percival, who has worked extensively for 2000AD as well as Marvel's recent Dead of Night miniseries. But now Percival comes into his own writing and drawing this lush and bloody tale. For more, we talked to Percival by email from his home in England."

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Nick Percival, the creator, writer and illustrator of LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED, talks About his steampunk fairytale in this interview with THINGS FROM ANOTHER WORLD.

"While fairytales are eternal, passed down for thousands of years, the popular notion is that these classic fables are just for kids. Well, not anymore. Artist and writer Nick Percival has created a dark, steampunk wonderland: Legends: The Enchanted, an upcoming graphic novel from Radical Publishing. However, you can get a sneak peek of this epic with issue #0, out January 27, with a cover price of just $1 ($0.80 if you pre-order from TFAW.com now). Read on to learn more about Percival’s vision and to get a glimpse of his haunting, twisted world!"

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Check out this recent interview with the creator of LEGENDS: THE ENCHANTED, Nick Percival, and CBR featuring awesome, never-before-seen preview images of this upcoming and highly-anticipated new title.

"Get ready for a new journey into the world of fairy tales and fables. In 2010, Nick Percival and Radical Comics take the beloved fairy tale characters of old and thrust them into a gothic, steampunk world in "Legends: The Enchanted." The publisher will release a special $1.00 preview issue in January, followed by the full graphic novel in April. According to Percival, the graphic novel centers characters known only as The Enchanted - harsh, adult versions of the characters we know and love.

"The Enchanted are looked upon with fear and distrust by normal everyday folk and despised by their dark counterparts, known as The Wicked," says Percival. "Most of the Enchanted operate as vigilantes, outlaws, bounty hunters and so on - trying to find their place and purpose in a land that is growing increasingly hostile towards them. Armed with a hard attitude, unique abilities and customized weaponry, the Enchanted's world is shattered when they discover that some unknown enemy has found a way to break through their mystic immortality and begins slaughtering them one by one beginning with the killing of the half bionic/half wooden warrior, Pinocchio."

CBR News recently spoke at length with Nick Percival about his take on the characters in "Legends: The Enchanted," what sets the story apart from the other adaptations of fairy tales in the comics world, and how his previous work in comics all add up to one amazing view on the fairy tale tradition."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW AND GET A GLIMPSE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD OF THE ENCHANTED