If you read the last issue of Princess Ugg then you too have been patiently waiting for this issue or in my case impatiently waiting. There was a stark difference between the first and second issue and with the cliffhanger I had to wonder what the tone of this third issue would be. With the first two issues there was a bit of a mystery behind why Ulga was attending a school for princesses. We knew it had something to do with her mother, but really that was about it. Well this is the issue that answers that question.
It picks right up after the events of our last issue in which Ulga is surprised by her history teacher on the rooftops. She was all but heading home and announcing it to herself as if to make it real when the teacher spooked her by answering from the shadows. He asks her what we’ve all been wondering and that’s, “why is she at this school.”
Well Ulga answers him and it’s a wonderful story, but I’m not going to tell you it. That’s for Ted Naifeh and Ulga to do. I will say that the obvious happens and that’s Ulga stays at the school, but the teacher gives her a task that you won’t see coming.
The challenges that Ted Naifeh puts in front of Ulga are quite different from any other princess story and I quite enjoy it because of that. I wondered how long Naifeh would hold out on the origin of why Ulga is there and thankfully it wasn’t too long. The thing is, I think it only makes the story more interesting now because there’s so many places it can go from here. Ulga has new challenges to conqueror and I want to read that journey and be there with the character.
To say that Naifeh is a good artist is an understatement, but to say something new about his style is a difficult challenge. What can I possibly say about a man’s artwork that manages to express the tone of the character with their facial expression? The teacher is a prime example since we already know his tone for the most part, but then we get to see the real him which is the type of man that’s teacher for a job and not because he enjoys the students he deals with. In fact he probably detests them as much or more than Ulga and that all rings true because of the art. Warren Wucinich continues to be the perfect complement to Naifeh’s artwork with his coloring and manages to fit the same tone of Naifeh’s watercoloring.
This continues to be quite the series and definitely one that you should check out. I mean the premise along is still enough to warrant a look; a barbarian princess attending a school for royal princesses? Come on, what’s not to be interested in. Then when you add in the fact that the story and art are both pretty fantastic, it makes it a no duh.
Score: 4/5
Writer/Artist/Colorist/Creator: Ted Naifeh Colorist/Letterer: Warren Wucinich Publisher: Oni Press Release Date: 8/13/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital