Review - Gretel: Seeds Of Despair

From Zenescope

From Zenescope Entertainment is the latest one-shot story of Gretel as she continues her witch-hunting mission in Gretel: Seeds Of Despair - out now!

Gretel and Calabar must travel to South America as they hunt for the next piece in Mother Margaret’s deadly puzzle. But when they encounter a witch who forces them to look into their past and face their greatest sins, can they come out of it with their souls intact?!

Story: Dave Franchini & David Wohl, Writer: David Wohl, Artwork: Allan Otero, Colors: Maxflan Araujo, Letters: Taylor Esposito (Of Ghost Glyph Studios), Editor: David Wohl and Production & Design: Christopher Cote

Building on Gretel’s quest to rid the world of witches, we take a slight step away from her main storyline. This issue gives us a more straightforward story, but there are some interesting hints, which I expect will move the overarching story arc onward well.

Dealing with a coven of witches abducting children and turning them into monstrous slaves is an interesting twist. The children are not getting eaten (for the most part) but are getting used to these witches’ plans.

This issue deals with a lot of the action here, and the fight scenes are well played out, combining the magical aspects with the more mundane blood and bullets. Those bullets make an impression in this issue, and the relationship between Gretel and Calabar seems to be starting to fray around the edges as some interesting doubts are playing on the minds of both of the duo.

Luckily these doubts do not affect the results of this story, but the seeds have already been planted in both of their minds - each with a different reaction - and it makes you wonder if this will be pushed on in the later adventures in the arc.

Art-wise, there are some excellent scenes - mainly featuring the more horrific aspects of the story, and I like how the first battle plays out.

This was a good, if slower, stop on the main story, but it is refreshing and a good time to jump on board.