Reviews: Back To School & Grimm Fairy Tales

From Zenescope Entertainment.

Zenescope Entertainment has two new comics out now - Grimm Tales of Terror Quarterly: Back to School and Grimm Fairy Tales #61. Here are the details and some of my thoughts.

Grimm Tales of Terror Quarterly: Back to School

In these hallowed halls of learning, a new guidance counselor has arrived with a very...unique view of right and wrong. Her name is Keres, otherwise known as the Goddess of Death, and it’s best to heed her teachings as your very life may depend on it. Follow four new tales of terror, as both students and teachers alike will be finding out firsthand that the lessons learned can sometimes be fatal.

Story - Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini, David Wohl, Franco Giacomarra, Dan Bookbinder, R. Honor Vincent & Max Robinson
Writers - Dave Franchini, David Wohl, Franco Giacomarra, Dan Bookbinder, R. Honor Vincent & Max Robinson
Artwork - Massimiliano La Manna, Alessandro Uezu, Allan Otero & Eduardo Garcia
Colors - Leonardo Paciarotti, Juan Manuel Rodriguez & Maxflan Araujo
Letters - Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios

Four new short stories in this large-sized issue. This has a good selection of horror tales, all based around a school. Using this setting, there are some interesting dynamics between pupils and teachers and some classic issues.
In the stories, there is a monstrous theme here, with the monsters being both physical beasts, as well as something else. Some have a classic theme, with demons and the like, whereas others - including the first one - are a bit more nuanced.

The first story is actually my favourite, with some good aspects combining the suspense and the twist at the end. I also like the artwork here.

Generally, these are all good stories with good art and some clever finishes. If you are a horror fan, then you can easily work your way through these.

Grimm Fairy Tales #61

Taking over after the death of her mother, Sela, Skye Mathers is the new Guardian of the Nexus. With the help of Shang, her mentor, and her friends at Arcane Acre, she is learning the extent of her new powers and trying to figure out her place in protecting the universe. A new threat has risen, The Dark Princess, a tyrant that has broken free from a crumbling universe not much different than ours. Along with her generals, The Swarm, she began her assault on the Nexus by expelling Skye, Shang, and their allies, scattering them across the realms. Now they are desperately trying to find their way back to Arcane Acre to stand up to the Dark Princess before it’s too late.

Story - Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini & David Wohl
Writer - Dave Franchini
Artwork - Babisu Kourtis
Colors - Jorge Cortes
Letters - Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios

We have spent a lot of time bouncing around the dimensions. And here things start to come to a head. There are some interesting aspects here which may bode badly for the future. I’m not sure if it will be the immediate future or something for a storyline to come. Nevertheless, this leaves us at an interesting point.

Shang and the gang also get their plan together. Well, I say ‘their’ plan, but it’s really Shang and his scheming comes in here as we get all of the team back together.

Where we lead from here will be interesting. This was an interesting issue.