It’s been fascinating watching Andrea Peterson recreate various fairy tale characters in her webcomic No Rest for the Wicked. While Peterson isn’t the first author to weave the various fairy tale stories into one cohesive world, her characters come alive and seem far more believable than the two-dimensional caricatures found elsewhere. Part of this may lie with who Peterson has chosen to follow… or how she has interpreted them. Of all the characters, Red (taken from the classic tale Little Red Riding Hood, and borrowing elements of both Perrault and Grimm’s versions of the story) has to be the most intriguing, especially as it seems likely that Peterson will remain true to the original stories and Red’s horrific ordeal in those tales.

In a world of greys, Red is the only spot of color with her scarlet cloak and hood flapping behind her and a dark cynical look to her eyes. She’s the sword- (or axe, rather) wielding heroine who protects her weaker companions. She’s the anti-hero who does what must be done, even against the wishes of Princess November, who leads this small band in her quest to find the fallen Moon. She’s the cipher who remains a mystery even at four chapters into this tale. She’s the beautiful young lady who finds herself picking flowers to put in a basket, an odd dichotomy to the anger and aggression she shows others. And finally her armor is starting to crack. It is in this latest chapter that we’ve finally caught a glimpse at the girl Red once was, with a series of flashbacks that show a girl who was far too innocent for her own good.

The younger Red is bright and pure… even her hood and cloak is a brighter color, instead of the color of dried blood it now is. Pieces are falling into place; a broken bottle of wine, which no doubt will be used by Red to cut herself free of the Wolf’s belly. Flowers gathered for her grandmother… now the only link she has to a lost childhood. And a fear of the darkness behind her eyelids, a smothering darkness much like what November feels, but due no doubt to being in the belly of the beast. Whether Red died literally that day remains to be seen… but her innocence did… leaving a fearful young lady who lashes out at the unknown, and who has chosen to protect November, a young lady in who Red sees so much of the child she once was and no doubt wishes had not died even as she was reborn into the world.