Goodnight Mrs. Goose Review: Same Old, Good Song

Mother Goose’s tales gave entranced children for generations. Jorge Santiago Jr. one day decided to give those magical powers to a lawyer and make her fight fairy tale creatures. That may sound absurd, but that’s the premise to an American manga called “Goodnight Mrs. Goose” which, despite all its tropes, is one magical ride.

Valerie Clark is a successful lawyer, but not a successful mother or wife. After falling asleep in her office, a gingerbread man, a gift from a friend, comes to life and gives her the powers of Mother Goose. Too bad she really isn’t keen on having these powers and tries everything she can to try to get rid of the gingerbread man.

If this sounds like your typical comedy involving a successful career person with family troubles suddenly gaining magical powers, it is. It seldom deviates from the tropes associated with the genre. Its only saving grace is that Santiago has managed to scribe likable, well-written characters that don’t act like the typical comedy characters.

He has also managed to avoid the forced, cringe worthy “funny” situations and instead weaves opts for a more cohesive narrative. This creates a more down to Earth story that does not feel like it was written as a cheap gimmick, but enjoyable as a whole.

As per usual there must be a rival in this type of tale and this time around, predictably,  it goes exactly as one might expect. The rival side story has all the tropes down to the T. Fortunately this side story does not alter the quality of the story one bit.

Santiago’s artwork at first may not look like anything too outstanding, but upon further reading it grows on the reader and it takes on a magic of its own. The way the characters act and interact with each other is well-executed that the reader develops deeper feelings for the characters than if the story was text only. The only downside is that the cover art is very bland and does not tell the buyer anything about the comic.

“Goodnight Mrs. Goose” may not deviate that much from its genre, but due to strong characters, plot and art it’s all forgiven. Santiago has managed to make a story that will turn any adult into a Mother Goose fan all over again.