RAPUNZELBased on a story by the Grimm Brothers

Copyright © 2012 Emma HutsebautAuthor: Juna Peeters

Print: TinseltownCover design and illustrations: Emma HutsebautLayout and graphic design: Emma Hutsebaut

Wanna-be Graphic Novel ISBN 654-99674-96-6-6

RapunzelA modern Grimm fairy-tale adaptation

Illustrations by Emma HutsebautText by Juna Peeters

Once upon a time, there was a girl.

Not just any girl, no, this girl was… unique, to say the least.

Whether through a blessing or a curse, she had most amazing head of blonde locks ever seen.

Her mother, believing this to be a gift from the higher powers, vowed to never cut it off.

As the years went by, the golden-haired maiden grew tall as the weed she kept hidden in her bedroom.

And with every inch her locks gained, her desire to behave as her angelic appearance dictated, dropped.

While her mother looked upon her hair as a miracle, she found it like a ball-and-chain that was weighing her down. So one day she had decided to pull an old-fashioned Houdini on her blonde locks… with a bottle of black dye.

“Rapunzel, NO! Don't you realize dyeing your hair would be an affront to the Lord’s gift to you?!”

“To hell with you and your Lord! I answer only to Satan! And just for your God, mother, I added a lock of pink. Guess I'll be getting rid of that after all.”

Horrified, her mother banished her to her room, and set out to find a priest who might prove powerful enough to exorcise the demon that had surely taken possession of her once so demure daughter.

Locked high in her tower, and high she was indeed, Rapunzel had little to do with her days.

With only a Bible for reading, she preferred to spend her days looking for split ends, smoking spliffs and staring out the window, hoping for a miracle of her own.

Until one day, a tall, dark, handsome stranger appeared on the pavement below.

“Oh dark-haired minx, let down your hair, so that I can come closer, and gaze meaningfully into your eyes!”

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

the sassy maiden quipped, grinning as she tossed her troublesome locks out the window.

So the prince climbed up to show her.

And it had nothing to do with algebra.

After several weeks of fiery, all-consuming passion, however, the young couple actually did the math, and came to a terrible conclusion.

Knowing that her mother would never approve of this new change in her future, Rapunzel and her beau decided to run away.

Her ever-present grin got wiped from her face when she realized that she was, indeed, pregnant.

Unfortunately, their escape was a disaster. Having never done anything athletic besides engaging in illicit activities between the sheets, Rapunzel soon came to realize that her hair was weighing her down immensely.

she declared to her reflection in the nearest puddle of water,

And with those words, Rapunzel smashed her empty bottle of Vodka against a tree and used the sharp edges to cut off her hair until it was short and ruined and stuck up at various angles.

bumping fists with her lover in

victory!

“WICKED!”

Eventually, our rebellious teens set up residence in a shabby appartment building.

“So, what happens now?”

the prince asked as they lay in their mouldy sofa, wrapped around each other and sharing a pot of overpriced ice cream.

“I hear there’s a new season of Teen Moms coming up, so maybe we could check that out.”

Rapunzel replied around a mouthful of her favourite treat, patting her bulging stomach.