Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Joe Brusha
Illustrated by Ediano Silva
Coloured by Ivan Nunes
Lettered by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios
The world of humans has forever changed and the Grimm Universe has been shaken to its core. It started with the Age of Darkness and now with the death of Sela Mathers, earth’s long time guardian, the Realms of Power have fallen into chaos. But Sela left behind one thing that may be able to save the world...her daughter, Skye.
With Sela’s death her daughter Skye inherits her books and she has to learn how the power now works for her. So that means that all the stories that Sela had in her book are now going to be rewritten with new twists and turn. Everything old is new again for Skye as the newest bearer of the book now gets to record and experience the power of the book and being the new Guardian.
First up I wouldn’t say is Little Red Riding Hood but it’s close enough. At a small college in Western Indiana a young woman is seemingly stalked by a Werewolf. The opening of this is remarkably well done as we see the young woman chased by the werewolf and how that comes across is a definite attention grabber.
As Skye finds herself embroiled in the books new story we learn that the town has had a lot of animals being slaughtered. It’s vicious and the local police are stumped as to what could be around causing this kind of damage. Sky meets both the Sheriff and Officer Simmons who are working the case, actually cases as the young woman has reported being attacked by a wolf and that’s where Simmons is. Skye now has to figure out what’s happening here and see if she can help the young woman.
The interiors are magnificent! The use of page layouts through angles, perspective and the incredible use of backgrounds that really flesh out the story nicely. The attention to detail here is amazing to see. The line work is great and Ivan ever the master colourist really delivers here. The imagination and creativity is superb to see especially in the depiction of the Werewolf that we see.
The way that this issue plays out from the opening to Sela talking to Chang through its conclusion i’m pretty impressed. Skye is seen as being new and inexperienced and that it shows so nicely is a good thing. She shouldn’t know what her mother did she really is learning this as she goes along. The characters in this story are fleshed out nicely and we get a nice sense of who they are. Since we don’t really get to see them a lot and they are kind of throw away characters they are treated well.
There’s a great premise here, the whole new owner of the book means new stories told differently, so that we can revisit myths, legends and fairy tales in new ways. It also allows to watch Skye mature and come into her own and should that characterisation keep taking the slower more natural route then it could be a strong series. We’ll see how it goes but this is off to a great start. Strong, interesting and with that hint of horror needed.