Zenescope Entertainment 2019
Written by Ben Meares
Illustrated by Allan Otero
Coloured by Ceci de la Cruz
Lettered by Maurizio Clausi of Arancia Studio
PART 3 OF 5
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.
This book has been on stellar revelation after another for me. The way that we see the story being told and how smart, intelligent and damn near adult manifestation of how we see Ben’s writing is just Stone Cold awesome! This is the kind of book I have been dreaming about and waiting for to come from these folks. Taking Gretel, from the Fairy Tale and making this into a vehicle for us to get to know her and her story after they met the witch has been a real treat. The way the story is told so that the we see this ebb & flow of how the past and the present and even the future is laid down exceptionally well. The way we get to traverse the road that is her life and meet those who play the roles they do is done so we connect with the character, empathise and want to root for them even to the point where they may betray you!
The characterisation here is utterly fabulous. The way that Gretel sees herself and the way we see her are completely different. She has this strength she isn’t even aware of hidden behind all that anger and rage. To have lived this long, to have experienced so much, which of course is detailed a bit in this very issue, to have no worries or cares, Regrets and mistakes their memories made, who would have known how bittersweet this would taste. Looking back on her past hurts her because she knows that she was driven by a sole purpose, this is her growing up, changing and evolving right before our eyes and there’s nothing quite like seeing that happen.
The interiors here at bloody brilliant! I haven’t been this excited by them in a Zenescope book in who knows how long. (Eric J aside because that man is brilliant) What we see in these pages, how Allan utilises the composition of the panels and pages so that the soft imagery of the past plays out while we are looking at the present is frakkin genius. The way the linework and it’s varying weights are utilised to bring out this beautiful attention to detail is stunning to me. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a sophisticated eye for storytelling. How we see backgrounds utilised to enhance the moments and bring this size and scope to the book is sensational. The colour work too is on point. The way we see the colours and through shading and colour gradation throughout add a layer of feelings and emotions for emphasis.
I do appreciate how we see Tituba has taken her time and played this out in her head so that like in a chess match she is ten steps ahead of Gretel and Samuel. They are doing precisely what she hoped they would do and in such she is attempting to trap them, kill them and leave the way clear for herself to conquer the world. Though life as we know it never quite goes according to plan, not fully, as there are wildcards out there, the mysterious woman tailing Gretel for example who will upset the balance.
With plot twists and turns, revelations and shocking moments galore this book is one of the best complex books out on stands right now. If you think you know Zenescope think again ad read this book and tell me again how you feel about them.