This is the ugly duckling as you’ve never seen him before.  As in other titles in this series, Blecha re-imagines the duckling and his companions in a visual style that’s half Tim Burton and half SpongeBob SquarePants.  With a few exceptions, the story is intact in its traditional form.  The mother has no part in the abuse of our young protagonist.  There is no mention of the cave by the lake from the original story.  And instead of going to the lake to seek death by swan-pecking, Duckling is going to the lake for no apparent reason at all when he sees his pleasing reflection.  And it just so happens that the swans are there, too.  Although Duckling’s experiences along his journey don’t make a lot of sense from an adult point of view, the illustrations and side jokes have massive kid-appeal.  As with other volumes in the Graphic Spin series, this includes a glossary, background information about the author, reteller, and illustrator, discussion questions and writing prompts.  All of these add value for educators to a version of this story that will catch the eyes of their students.