Interview with Shannon Hale about "Rapunzel's Revenge"

Rapunzel's Revenge isn't just a graphic novel; it's a superheroine adventure, and a Western, and a fantasy, and a fairy tale, and a comedy. [...] we asked, "What fairy tale hero can we turn into a comic book superhero?" We tried on lots of ideas, but Rapunzel seemed to have built-in weapons of kick-butt proportions, besides suffering through one of the most pathetic fairy tales of all time in need of a serious makeover. (Why on earth didn't the prince just bring her a rope, for Pete's sake?!) Using braids as whips and lassos evoked the Old West. Since we were doing a graphic novel, we wanted to use that medium to its fullest, and we went for a fullblown, Technicolor, Hollywood-style Western.