Reviews: Mystere Annual & Phoenix Files

From Zenescope Entertainment

From Zenescope Entertainment, there are two new comics out this week, and I had a read of both of them - Mystere Annual: Spawn Of The Abyss and Phoenix Files #3.

Mystere Annual: Spawn Of The Abyss

From the dark recesses of our world, an evil has returned spreading its reach into all ends of the universe–even to the realms of the spirits. Mary “Mystere” Medina, tasked as the Oracle of the Dead, must venture into this unseen plane to quell a disturbance that threatens to shatter the balance of life and death!

Story Joe Brusha, Dave Franchini & David Wohl
Writers Dave Franchini & David Wohl
Artwork Renato Rei 1-27 Dario Tallarico 28-37 Sergio Arino 38-64
Colors Maxflan Araujo Letters Taylor Esposito (Of Ghost Glyph Studios)
Editor David Wohl Production & Design Christopher Cote

After the appearance of Mystere in the main Grimm Fairy Tales story, I wondered how they would get her into the series and close that circle. This issue goes a long way to explaining the link and why she is there.

Starting with a spooky introduction in the swamps, we get a good idea of what Mystere will be up against and the foe's power.

Mind control is difficult, as Mystere doesn’t want to harm those being controlled as it is not their fault.

In this issue, we get a good bit of a history lesson as we learn about mankind’s first battles against the star spawn who came to earth for destruction. This did not go well, but on the plus side, it links well to Mystere and where she is based (conveniently!)

This issue, taking advantage of the larger size, has plenty to get your teeth into, with some well-shown flashbacks and some big battles in the past. There are some good action pieces in the present, and Mystere really gets to show off her powers and skills.

This ends up being a good link to the main story arc, and things are really crossing over in this story.

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Phoenix Files #3

Phoenix has been compromised, a new evil called Tempest has emerged from the murky depths, and Avril Williams is all alone in her fight to save the world. Can she pull her friend back from the brink before he is consumed by the darkness?

Story Joe Brusha, Dave Franchini, David Wohl & Chas! Pangburn
Writer Chas! Pangburn Artwork Julius Abrera
Colors Fran Gamboa With J.C. Ruiz Letters Chas! Pangburn
Editor David Wohl Production & Design Christopher Cote

Concluding this story for Phoenix and Avril, there is a lot of internal strife going on here.

Phoenix is struggling not only to deal with his power but also with the issues from his past - on top of that, he is being controlled by Tempest and is fighting against Avril.

So, in conclusion, there is a fair amount of action being shown in this issue. Even the flashbacks have some good action and a good link to the present as Phoenix fights against the control.

It’s all well played out, and Avril with Phoenix does make a good team, and this mini-series has humanised the usually stoic agent. The story has a good ending, with a satisfying battle against Tempest and a good way to deal with her. The links to the main Grimm Universe story arc are also well played out, especially with a clever epilogue that may have further ramifications.

In general, things are all linked together well.

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