Gretel #2
Zenescope Entertainment 2019
Written by Ben Meares
Illustrated by Allan Otero
Coloured by Ceci De La Cruz
Lettered by Maurizio Clausi (Arancia Studio)
Gretel’s story has been more of a nightmare than a fairy tale ever since the tragic events of her childhood. These events have left her life cursed for many centuries. After her heart-wrenching debut in Grimm Universe Presents, Gretel has been gifted the power of premonition. But when she has a psychic vision foretelling the end of the world, Gretel must open old wounds if she wants to try and
prevent it from coming true.
So this is a wonderfully told story in equal parts flashback and present arcs running through the issue. The way the are woven together through memory of situations that find themselves similar is such a nice touch and it’s something about Ben and writing that impresses me. This is the real introduction to Gretel to the world and creating her own legion of fans. So for me to see how Ben can flesh out her past while looking the future is a true gift. Plus the way that this is structured and the fact you never know when you will find yourself in the past adds a different kind of intrigue to the storytelling.
Ben also brings this sophistication to the book with his stylised writing, the story & plot development and definitely the characterisation that we see. Plus we’ve got our mysterious woman who is gunning for Gretel, thinking she’s a bad witch. There are quite a number of layers to the story that you may or may not be expecting, yet for me it just enriches the quality of the storytelling. Also there are some major revelations that hit us this issue whose impact will change Gretel for the foreseeable future.
This is exciting, to see a new character emerge who has this devastating past and learning to overcome it. It is like watching someone with PTSD fighting to cope and that is extremely relatable. Plus that she isn’t a Highborne and yes she was a character in a fable but that’s really the extent of how connected she is to this universe. I feel as if this is her Bal des Debutantes and she has the potential to be one of the most fascinating women in the world. There is a freshness surrounding this series already that makes me want to see more.
I am such a huge fan of the work Allan does. He has his eye focused on the page doing everything within his power to bring his best work to the table. The linework is so crisp, clean and strong yet through utilised the varying weights he’s also able to showcase the delicate linework when creating this gorgeous attention to detail. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this superb eye for storytelling. I am such a huge proponent of utilising backgrounds because they expand the moment and bring this sense of size and scope to the world and here we see that done nicely. Ceci is a dream colourist. From that black and white with splashes of colour to the full technicolour present she utilised the spectrum beautifully. The way light sources are captured through shading and shadows through some really nice gradation effects it completes the work phenomenally well.
Over the last few years, see like 5 or so, the shift at Zenescope to this level and quality of storytelling has been sensational to see. This is far from their beginnings featuring T&A and bringing back the Grimm to Fairy Tales this goes into that realm of real true storytelling where everything old is new again, revitalised and given a new spin to thrill readers. I feel like the Age of Zenescope is now upon us.
Zenescope Entertainment 2019
Written by Ben Meares
Illustrated by Allan Otero
Coloured by Ceci De La Cruz
Lettered by Maurizio Clausi (Arancia Studio)
Gretel’s story has been more of a nightmare than a fairy tale ever since the tragic events of her childhood. These events have left her life cursed for many centuries. After her heart-wrenching debut in Grimm Universe Presents, Gretel has been gifted the power of premonition. But when she has a psychic vision foretelling the end of the world, Gretel must open old wounds if she wants to try and
prevent it from coming true.
So this is a wonderfully told story in equal parts flashback and present arcs running through the issue. The way the are woven together through memory of situations that find themselves similar is such a nice touch and it’s something about Ben and writing that impresses me. This is the real introduction to Gretel to the world and creating her own legion of fans. So for me to see how Ben can flesh out her past while looking the future is a true gift. Plus the way that this is structured and the fact you never know when you will find yourself in the past adds a different kind of intrigue to the storytelling.
Ben also brings this sophistication to the book with his stylised writing, the story & plot development and definitely the characterisation that we see. Plus we’ve got our mysterious woman who is gunning for Gretel, thinking she’s a bad witch. There are quite a number of layers to the story that you may or may not be expecting, yet for me it just enriches the quality of the storytelling. Also there are some major revelations that hit us this issue whose impact will change Gretel for the foreseeable future.
This is exciting, to see a new character emerge who has this devastating past and learning to overcome it. It is like watching someone with PTSD fighting to cope and that is extremely relatable. Plus that she isn’t a Highborne and yes she was a character in a fable but that’s really the extent of how connected she is to this universe. I feel as if this is her Bal des Debutantes and she has the potential to be one of the most fascinating women in the world. There is a freshness surrounding this series already that makes me want to see more.
I am such a huge fan of the work Allan does. He has his eye focused on the page doing everything within his power to bring his best work to the table. The linework is so crisp, clean and strong yet through utilised the varying weights he’s also able to showcase the delicate linework when creating this gorgeous attention to detail. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this superb eye for storytelling. I am such a huge proponent of utilising backgrounds because they expand the moment and bring this sense of size and scope to the world and here we see that done nicely. Ceci is a dream colourist. From that black and white with splashes of colour to the full technicolour present she utilised the spectrum beautifully. The way light sources are captured through shading and shadows through some really nice gradation effects it completes the work phenomenally well.
Over the last few years, see like 5 or so, the shift at Zenescope to this level and quality of storytelling has been sensational to see. This is far from their beginnings featuring T&A and bringing back the Grimm to Fairy Tales this goes into that realm of real true storytelling where everything old is new again, revitalised and given a new spin to thrill readers. I feel like the Age of Zenescope is now upon us.
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