Silverline’s Thumbelina-Inspired OGN Debuts In January 2025
Let it go, Elsa, there’s a new fairy tale princess in comic book fantasyland. She’s tiny, on the run from trolls, and trying to find her home.
Tiny is an OGN debuting from Silverline in January 2025. The full-color graphic novel is written by Silverline’s founder Roland Mann and illustrated by newcomer Deonna Herrold.
Freely adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s “Thumbelina,” this modern retelling of the classic fairy tale pits the tiny heroine against a wild menagerie of creatures and anthropomorphic critters.
Hans Christian Andersen’s stories have inspired such classics as The Little Mermaid and Frozen.
“I’ve always loved fairy tales,” said co-creator and writer Roland Mann. “They are often stories of misunderstood characters who assemble a group of misfits to help them overcome tremendous challenges. They are stories of struggle, redemption, and freedom, and they’re very much like super-hero stories told from a different angle.”
In this modern reworking of Andersen’s “Thumbelina,” Mann and artist Herrold, tell the story of a tiny girl who is kidnapped by an under-the-bridge troll to be a bride for her incel son. After a breathtaking escape, the tiny girl befriends an entire menagerie of anthropomorphic fairly tale creatures and critters who are by turns helpful, friendly, funny, and sometimes just the opposite.
“Deonna’s art really brings this story to life,” Mann said. “She so great with the different fairy tale creatures and her wonderful expressions have made the story pop. This will really resonate with fans of fairy tales, Scholastic graphic novels, and Disney animated cartoons. I gotta start thinking of a sequel!”
Artist Herrold is a big fan of classic Disney animation and the “Disney Princess” archetype. “I’ve always been interested in fairly tales,” Herrold said. “My influences are obviously Disney and Dreamworks, but also everyone from fantasy greats like Arthur Rackham to the modern Norwegian illustrator Malin Falch.”
She added that Mann’s script gave her a lot to work with. “Roland knows the story he wants to tell, but he left me a lot of room to explore my own storytelling. We made a good team.”
Tiny is in the current issue of Diamond Previews (NOV241827), and will ship in January 2025.
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