A wise person once sang, ” I am what I am, and what I am needs no excuses”‘. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. Brands often diversify in order to stand out from the masses. Not every publisher has a Batman or Spider-Man to lean on. With this in mind, please consider Zenescope Entertainment. Vilified by many for their use of the cheesecake art to tell their stories, they have tried to continue their brand in a hostile commentary environment. This has meant a possible watering down at times of their art. Case in point, Grimm Fairy Tales #66.
A new evil is lurking in the Grimm Universe. Once again it is up to Skye “Snow White” Mathers, Guardian of the Nexus, and her friends at Arcane Acre to defend the world and save the day. With the need to check out a couple of locations Skye and Sam split up in order to locate Tamora. Of course things are never that simple, as what the good guys know, the bad guys are also aware of.
From a story by Zenescope vets Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini and David Wohl, with Franchini get the writing credit. I say that these guys are the vets, but in essence they seem to write the same story over and over, at least on Grimm. A big bad comes-a-calling. Skye has to fight it with the help of her friends. Do you remember when Arcane Acres was actually a school and had students? Anyways, Franchini is decent enough with type of story, allowing for a couple of comedy moments from the characters in the cheap seats and also dropping a few breadcrumbs to entice the reader to stick around.
The art is provided by Babisu Kourtis who does a horrible job across the board! If I wanted to see a book with inconsistent art in all phases including faces, body shape, action poses I would have drawn my own book! Stepping away from the things that Zenescope fans like means that all but one characters look like a man! Outfits are horrendous, pencil lines look rushed and unfinished and the usual curvier elements are none existent. Only one character, Nyarlathotep (trust me, not a spelling mistake) kind of escapes, with one panel matching your Zenescope expectations, though the outfit is absolutely bonkers! Overall, the art is so bad that the idea on which the cliffhanger is built upon falls flat. Jorge Cortes tries really hard with the colors, though is let down by the pencils that offer very little delineation. Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios delivers as expected; verbose patches are well handled, though with the art so ineffective, maybe I would have preferred some word balloons hiding the horrendous pencils. Shout out to Zenescope for consistently giving letterers cover credit. There are a range of covers; buyers choice prevails, though cover A has strong Thundercat vibes!
It is well known that Zenescope can be a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Generally, I enjoy the Tales of Terror, the holiday specials and Van Helsing is on my pull list! I remember when Grimm Fairy Tales, under Pat Shand, read like a budget Chris Claremont, with long reaching arcs and character development. Now, this book seems stuck in telling the same type of stories over and over and now the art, once a key part of the Zenescope brand, has devolved. Why then, would you buy this book?
Writing – 2.5 Stars
Art – 1 Star
Colors – 2.5 Stars
Overall – 2 Stars
Story by; Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini & David Wohl
Written by; Dave Franchini
Art by; Babisu Kourtis
Colors by; Jorge Cortes
Letters by; Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios
Published by; Zenescope Entertainment Inc.