David Wenzel had finished his illustrated adaptation of The Hobbit and was looking for something to do until everyone was ready for him to the the same for the Lord of the Rings (which never happened). The editor matched him up with Kurt Busiek, who had a wonderful fantasy story. And so, Wizard’s Tale was born. Busiek has a wonderful mind for taking well-work stories and turning them on their head so they are fresh and exciting. This is exactly what he has done here. So, let’s go visit the wizard.

Bafflerog is a bad evil wizard. And by that, I mean that he is very bad at being an evil wizard. When he concocts a spell to bring wind, rain and flooding to the town is he terrorizing, his alchemites (little fairy type helpers) mess it up and brings a light rain and a rainbow to the town. Bafflerog’s best friend is the toad prisoner Gumpwort. Gumpwort had stolen the Book of Worse, which holds all the best evil spells, and has hidden it from the evil wizards. Bafflerog is supposed to be finding out the location of the book for the evil council, but Gumpwort isn’t cooperating. Until, one day, Gumpwort shows Bafflerog exactly where the book is. And our adventure begins.  

Bafflerog goes on a journey to rescue the book and do his duty for the evil council. Along the way, Bafflerog is guided by Muddle, the third child, and runt of the litter, of a wood-cutter who is convinced that his humble upbringing means he will be a king. The journey will take them to lands beyond explanation in order to find the Book of Worse and then Bafflerog must decide what to do with it And we also find out how much Gumpwort knows and has planned for the book. 


The art is just wonderful. It has a watercolor, fairy-tale look:

The design is interesting as well. Busiek and Wenzel designed the story so that on most two page spreads, the left page is a full page drawing, while the right page has several panels.

The combination of Wenzel and Busiek make for a fun journey with a different take on the fairytale from the evil wizard’s point of view. Highly recommended.