Princess Ugg has been a very consistent series. I know that’s really nothing to brag about, but it kind of is. So often in comics writers/creators only create with a certain number of issues in mind. You can’t judge the market and so you never know how long you’ll have to tell your story. In a lot of cases when something becomes popular you can see the shift in the story. It’ll slow down or even expand rapidly and sure that’s part of the charm of this industry, but there’s almost nothing that will top a well-executed story. With Princess Ugg #8 it’s clear that Ted Naifeh is creating a story that isn’t responding to the market, it isn’t responding to the fan reaction, it’s just telling its story. By that I mean we’re already behind Naifeh, which is a given, but he’s way ahead. He knows exactly where this series is going and nowhere is it clearer than the last five pages of the issue. I won’t tell you what happens, but it’s impressive to say the least. Not only did I not see it coming, but the message it delivers is very powerful.

This is technically the end of an arc so I’m not going to tell you much about the issue other than that. The Princesses may be trapped, but they’re not helpless and Ulga has rubbed off on all of them… all of them.

Naifeh continues to provide wonderful visuals for the series. He’s as talented of a visual storyteller as he is a writer. Something that has been a staple of the series is the alternating of coloring. While the normal coloring is fantastic and I couldn’t complain in the least, the water coloring really pops when used. I like the fact that Naifeh only uses it when it will add to the story. In a lot of ways it’s as if he’s putting together a storybook and all of the pages in-between the water colored pages are our behind the scenes look at the world.

I hope that people are buying this for their little girls and boys. Obviously I think little girls will benefit a bit more from the story, but boys too will benefit from it. It will show them strong leading ladies and help erase the lines of gender roles in our society and I think that’s just as important as showing young girls they can be warrior princesses.

Bottomline… read Princess Ugg.

Score: 5/5

Writer/Artist/Creator: Ted Naifeh Colorists: Ted Naifeh, Warren Wucinich Publisher: Oni Press Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/18/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital