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Fan Expo 2015 – Cover Search

Posted on September 5, 2015 by

It is important to remember that beneath all the memorabilia and all the vendors at a convention, that beneath it all, the mediums exists there. While fans of television and film flock to screenings of new movies or television episodes, comic fans are left either in artist alley or searching the back issue bins for a missing issue in a collection. Surprisingly though, there is even a bit of a move away from this specific source at comic conventions, as it becomes less and less profitable for comic book stores to set up shop in a booth when their margins are not so high. Not surprisingly therefore it can be a bit of a challenge to find comics at all.

At the previous comic book convention that I attended I got so exasperated in trying to find specific issues that I effectively gave up and tried to find a specific issue of a decades-old Kamandi comic. It should be noted though that Fan Expo is quite a bit larger than the Toronto Comic Con, even though they are run by the same people, and so more vendors were on hand at Fan Expo 2015 than at Toronto Comic Con 2015. With this in hand, I decided that I would search out three separate issues that I had been looking for. The reasons for buying the covers were somewhat shallow, I had already read the issues themselves, and I was just looking for issues whose covers had stood out for me. I thus decided on three issues, two from DC’s new 52, and one from Zenescope from a few years back. Batgirl #26 stands out to me as one of the most beautiful covers that I have seen in recent years, and Wonder Woman #36 was of interest to me to see if the value had gone up at all as the beginning point in the series for the creative team of Meredith and David Finch. Reaching a bit further back was the cover for Myths and Legends #1 from Zenescope, a J. Scott Campbell cover, that the company uses all the time in its own advertisements.

Here were my findings, booth by booth:

Booth #1

The first booth had two different setups. Some of the more sought after recent issues were displayed on a table. I found Wonder Woman #36 here right away, with several copies available – there were a lot, I didn’t bother to count – and all of them for $4. Strangely enough, after checking the nearby back issue bins, I found the exact same issue for $3.99, effectively the same price, unless I was buying hundreds of them. Still technically this ended up being the cheapest that I could find. For Batgirl there were several nearby in the same sequence, but no #26, and there were no Grimm Fairy Tales at all.

Booth #2

I had no luck here at all. They had the first issue of the new 52 run for Wonder Woman, but no recent Batgirl, and no Grimm Fairy Tales at all.

Booth #3

I had even less luck here. For both Wonder Woman and Batgirl there were only older back issues, and again no Grimm Fairy Tales of any kind.

Booth #4

This one was better. It had no Wonder Woman of the modern era, but it had three of Batgirl #26, all at $4, though none at all again for Grimm Fairy Tales.

Booth #5

A decent collection of Wonder Woman, though nothing new 52, and no Batgirl or Grimm Fairy Tales.

Booth #6

This booth had a few new 52 Wonder Woman issues, but no #36. It did have two #26 of Batgirl, going for the standard price of $4. This place also had the most interesting collection that I saw while browsing, the entire collection of Alien Worlds eight issues for about $40.

Booth #7

Something about saving the best for last? Well not quite. This booth had 3 of Wonder Woman #36, including the Lego variant ($4) and the blank variant ($7) as well as the regular for $4. No Batgirl again, but this booth had by far the best selection of Grimm Fairy Tales, though not one of Myths and Legends #1. I picked up another that caught my eye, a variant for Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Oz #5, though as this was the last booth, I gave up hope on finding the last issue and cover.

… but …

After a walk down artist alley I noticed the Zenescope booth for the first time, and there on a cover of a book about Zenescope art was the cover that I was looking for. I flipped through it, but wasn’t really interested in it, especially after the previously unseen booth babe laid a hard sell on me, trying to get me to pay $130 for it. I put it down and walked around the other side of the booth and found some single exclusives, in this case focused on J. Scott Campbell and Dawn McTeigue as they were nearby, and they admitted trying to push some of these as they were hoping people would buy them to get them. I finally found the cover as the alternte to Code Red #1 (Zenescope does re-use this

Review: Realm War #11

Posted on August 6, 2015 by

Grimm Fairy Tales stands about halfway in terms of its ability to mange its own content. It has some series which are either standouts or which show signs of something much better, but it also has stories which are so unnecessarily muddled that it becomes hard to make sense of them. The main universe of the Grimm Fairy Tales universe all too often falls into the latter category as it doesn’t really have a clear direction for how much of myths, fairy tales and legends that it has taken on. Part of the problem with this is that it has mostly lacked a lot of character development. It has been there for the likes of Sela and Calie Liddle, but mostly has been absent elsewhere as the stories have assimilated so many characters in so little time. There is an additional compounding problem, in that the company wide crossovers have not really been of a high enough quality to add in a lot more depth, between the Dream Eater’s Saga, Unleashed, and Age of Darkness/Realm War.

Thus far Realm War has been subject to the same level of muddled madness, as characters come and go, die and are reborn, and have all kinds of other random stuff happen to them without really adding much to their characterization. In short so far in this series, the Dark Queen has overtaken the Earth, with Las Vegas as her throne city, and allowed her forces to kill as they like, with a new age of darkness descending on the Earth. The heroes have not fared so well, having suffered numerous setbacks, with even major characters such as Baba Yaga seeming to be on the wrong end of victory and life. With Malec finally on their side though, the characters seem ready to finally take on the Queen and her forces, and in this penultimate issue, the heroes head for the Queen’s stronghold eager to settle it one way or another.

While the quality of the series has never really improved, at least this issue mostly focuses on action as opposed to too many maneuverings by both sides. The characters aren’t really constrained by anything because this is primarily one long battle after it gets underway about halfway through the issue. It is not really an excuse for what has come before, but at least shows that the creative team can know what to do with these characters when it is not too focused on the vast world that has been created. A smaller outlook would work better overall for the main world of Grimm Fairy Tales, and perhaps an issue like this one might signal that it is now time to take care of what they have instead of adding more.

Story: Joe Brusha Art: Sami Kivela
Story: 6.8 Art: 6.8 Overall: 6.8 Recommendation: Pass

We Talk About the Grimm Fairy Tales 10th Anniversary Special with Leonardo Paciarotti

Posted on June 21, 2015 by

With over 60 issues already credited to his name, Leonardo Paciarotti could be considered to already be a comic book veteran. Although he works for a variety of companies his focus has primarily been for Zenescope, and he joined us to talk a bit about Britney Waters and how to get the colors right inside a comic book.

Graphic Policy: We don’t often get to talk to colorists so this is pretty fun. When we think about the great writers and illustrators several names come up, but are there legends of the coloring world that the random comic fan wouldn’t even know about?

Leonardo Paciarotti: For me it is a pleasure to accept this interview. Here we go!

Of course, yes. There are many legends of color in the comic which I follow in particular. Great colorists, from which I learned a lot would be; Dave Stewart (Conan), Laura Martin (Before Watchmen Dr. Manhattan), Giulia Brusco (Scalped) or the incredible Brad Anderson (Batman: Earth One). Other favorites that I follow closely are Tomeu Morey (very realistic, for me, the best), Marte Gracia (very spectacular, very showy) and Justin Ponsor.

I guess there are a lot more, but these are my favorite, and my recommendation.

GP: Of course you also illustrate as well as to color, so are there any artists who stand out as having influenced either your style or your desire to be an artist?

LP: Sure, besides being a colorist, I also draw. I am currently inking a collection in another publisher. Besides, I’m always drawing (since I was a child). Artists who influenced me could be; Gil Elvgren, Jack Vettriano, Alphonse Mucha, Drew Struzan, Joaquin Sorolla and of course, Norman Rockwell.

They are all fully pictorial in his style, and that’s what I try to represent in my coloring.

GP: It strikes me as interesting that so many artists probably got into the medium through a love of superhero or related genres, but then end up for instance in burgeoning areas like with Zenescope and fairy tales. Did you ever think that you would be so tied to one specific genre? And how do you like working in stories focused around fairy tales?

LP: I started on Zenescope but I also really like superheroes. I worked on Batman two years ago at DC Comics and it was also a great experience. Currently in Wonderland or Grimm Fairy Tales, I feel great.

Actually, I’m always experimenting some variation on the technique of applying color to improve. I’m still in search a technique that identifies me 100%.

GP: Are there challenges to coloring fairy tale stories in particular? And you have have a favorite fairy tale from your childhood that you have worked on or that you would like to work on?

LP: Each issue is a challenge for me (sorry), EACH PAGE is a challenge for me!. I always try to improve my technique, always.

If I had to choose, I would like to work on Peter Pan and Cinderella (my favorite Fairy Tales from my childhood).

GP: You have also worked on Wonderland, Grimm Fairy Tale’s realm of madness. Are there extra challenges for coloring such an environment?

LP: I think this question is answered with the answer above :)

If I had to add something more, would be that I love explosions, hahaha! Every time I have to color a explosion is a challenge to make it more “BOOOM” than the previous (dirt, fire, flying particles, dust, wind, etc.). Quite a challenge. XD

GP: What is the process that you go through when you color an issue?

LP: Usually I read the script first. After, I will look for all of the necessary references (or ask my editors).

Always, I work by scenes. For example, if there is a fighting, and if that fighting lasts 4 pages then I will work on those 4 pages at the same time, to keep the color narrative. The first step if the backgrounds. The environment, on top of the background, is what will give light and shade to the characters. It’s not the same for instance to paint a sunrise on the beach or to paint a dark cave. The light will influence differences in any character.

After, I will color the characters, the clothing, armor, etc, first, and last the hair, skin and faces.

Usually I do not limit myself in color palettes, but I have some colors assigned to hair, clothing, or items that should always have the same colors. Now I change the colors with the colors “bg/ambiance”. For example, if a person who is blonde, will not have the same hair color value and saturation at 1 a.m., that at 1 p.m. All this varies with walking.

GP: It sometimes seems that certain panels are more alive with colors than others. Is this a conscious decision to highlight certain scenes, or does it just evolve with the story telling?

LP: Everything I do is always done consciously. Surely, if any action that needs to be highlighted, on the same page, I will highlight it by saturating the colors, creating an edge around the characters, or using complementary colors if it’s necessary.

Always, of course, keeping the story telling flowing.

GP: In the case of Red Riding Hood/Britney Waters it would seem that by default that you are stuck using a lot of reds in the issue. In a case like that does it become hard to sort out all of the different hues? And is a character or group of character that is dependent on one color therefore harder to handle?

LP: It could be a difficult task if you do not take control of all colors. I refer to a color file that I created, for the issue. Therefore, it is not a problem, it is about have a good organization.

For example, if they had 10 people in the same scene, and those 10 people were dressed in red, and were in a group, I’d take care of assigning a different red tone to each character.

If the characters were dressed in red and wearing the same clothes, there are other ways to separate them, like saturation and values, as I said earlier. (Even painting the ink line).

In the end, everything is a challenge, and I really enjoy it.

Best greetings, and thank you very much for the interview. :)

We Talk About the Grimm Fairy Tales 10th Anniversary Special with Jeff Massey

Posted on June 20, 2015 by

Although relatively new to the medium of comics as a writer, Jeff Massey already has an impressive list of writing credits to his name. He has been responsible for most of the Oz offshoot of Grimm Fairy Tales at Zenescope, and recently had the chance to writer the 10th Anniversary special featuring Britney Waters. We got a chance to talk to him about the special and what to look forward to at Zenescope.

Graphic Policy: Britney Waters is technically the oldest of the Grimm Fairy Tales characters but she has never made it higher than the secondary role except for the occasional miniseries or story arc. Do you think that she is ready to break through as a character and maybe some day get her own ongoing series?

Jeff Massey: Absolutely! I’d love to see her in the spotlight more often. Brit has lots of fun narrative potential in her internal conflict (psychoanalytic intellect/feral rage) and external hybridity (beauty/beast), and werewolves are just fucking awesome in general, so it’s about time she got more attention. Pat (Shand) and I have talked about a possible team-up with Brit and Robyn, and I have ideas for building Red’s rogues gallery / support team that I think would give her storyline legs. My pitch: “It’s like Kolchak the Night Stalker meets Karen Sisko meets Moonlighting”: who wouldn’t like a dose of that werewolfy goodness every month?

GP: This special is a strange opportunity to both look forward and to look back to the beginning of the company’s amazing run on Grimm Fairy Tales. How did you manage to find the balance between the two?

JM: In the one-shot, Brit is in transition—between her old life in (evil) Hibocorp and the start of her new life as a “solo” hero—so I think her current narrative reflects the general awareness of the past and future that Zenescope is celebrating. But “balance” is a good term to keep in mind with Brit and her own transitions!

GP: I think it is fair enough to say that wolves are often associated with masculine features and also therefore also masculine heroes. How do you approach the character as what is pretty much the most feminine wolf character in comics?

JM: Werewolves have been traditionally male, certainly—there are maybe three pre-modern female werewolves in literature—but I loved Wolfsbane back in the old New Mutants series, and when Ginger Snaps hit theaters I realized how much fun werewolves running against gendered expectations could be. And Terry Pratchett’s Angua is amazing. So I think Brit should deal with the typically “male” difficulties of lycanthropy—uncontrolled rage, unruly hair, unexpected public nekkidness—but her reactions to these difficulties will likely be unconventional.

GP: Is it harder to approach a female character as a male writer?

JM: I don’t know: I’ve never been female, so I don’t know how women feel about writing women. But I do run some ideas past my wife, just in case. But really, I’ve mostly written women and wolves so far at Zenescope (my first assignment was a Toto back-up story, then Dorothy, and now Brit), so it’s hard to make the comparison, I suppose.

GP: Werewolves are also a pretty common topic these days in popular culture. How do you approach the story to give a fresh take on it?

JM: I spent a few years researching werewolves in popular culture as part of my doctoral studies—my dissertation was on medieval lycanthropy—and I’ve been the vice-president of MEARCSTAPA (a society for the study of literary monstrosity), so I know my monster history. As you say, there are lots of werewolves out nowadays, but I still think there are different werewolf traditions (mechanics of change, psyches, demeanors) that haven’t been tapped yet. And there’s always a fresh take to reflect our changing culture. Have you seen Wolfcop? Awesomesauce!

GP: The setting for the 10th anniversary special is in Los Angeles. Is there any particular reason that this setting was chosen? And are there any difficulties in writing a story based there?

JM: Joe and Ralph chose the location; I’m not sure what their reasoning may have been, but I like the idea of spatially distancing Brit from Robyn. The two are besties, sort of, but also very different people, and their geographies reflect that. Like me and Pat: he lives in CA and writes about Robyn in NYC; I live in NY and write about Red in LA. It’s all pretty Freaky Friday. And LA is so…sunny. It should yield some nice gothic juxtaposition: dark monster themes in Sunnydale. Oh, wait. Now I get it!

GP: The Master of the Hunt is making his debut in this issue. Is he possibly going to become Britney’s main nemesis?

JM: I loved creating Rikk. He’s terribly self-righteous, and I think that makes him a great villain-who-thinks-he’s-a-hero. If I have my way, he’ll be back. But I also think previous writers, like Pat Shand, have given Brit a great foil in Ivory. Ideally, I’d like to see Brit get a rogues gallery of her own, maybe have some two-on-one villain action. Who says you only get one arch-nemesis? Plenty of time to make enemies!

GP: What can we look forward to seeing in the remainder of the 10th anniversary specials? And will you be involved with any more?

JM: Honestly, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens as much as the next guy—this was my one anniversary project for Zenescope. But (my wife and co-writer) Kristin and I are currently wrapping up scripts for Oz: Reign of the Witch Queen, so if you haven’t checked out the high fantasy shenanigans in the Realm of Hope yet, take a look!

We Talk about the Grimm Fairy Tales’ 10th Anniversary Special with Chris Johnson

Posted on June 19, 2015 by

Chris Johnson is an accomplished comic book artist, but also one that has been below most people’s radar despite a career spanning almost a decade. He joined us to talk about working on the most recent Grimm Fairy Tales 10th anniversary special, and how he took on the challenge of drawing a female werewolf.

Graphic Policy: How did you get involved with the 10th anniversary special?

Chris Johnson: I’d been doing fill ins and one shots for a handful of companies for a while when I met Pat Shand and we’d had a few conversations about doing something with Zenescope. It took a little while for schedules to work out before Pat offered me Red Riding Hood. So I guess it’s all Pat’s fault and I’m very grateful for the opportunity. Drawing Brit has been a blast.

GP: The 10th anniversary special is based in Los Angeles, one of the biggest cities in the world, but also features wolves who are obviously associated with nature. Is it hard to mix together urban and wild themes artistically?

CJ: I grew up in Los Angeles so having the book based in LA was another positive aspect for me. It’s a cool city with it’s fair share of ghost stories so I don’t think I had to dig too deep for the fantasy aspect of it all. I love California and Los Angeles in particular.

GP: On the same note, how do mix fairy tales together with the modern setting, as fairy tales are mostly set in earlier times?

CJ: Hollywood alone is built of fairy tales and broken dreams so I think the setting is a very natural fit for Red and the strange mythology that follows her. The more wild themes didn’t feel like too much of a stretch. It’s a big city but it’s still got a lot of wilderness. Bears, coyotes and mountain lions are all over so werewolves made sense to me.

GP: Wolves are often more associated with masculine features, so how do you approach a character that is essentially a female wolf to make her more feminine?

CJ: Having Brit transform into a werewolf was tricky. They’re usually big, hairy and slobbery brutes so I had to downplay some of those aspects but still make her look fierce. I knew how I wanted her to look in my head but getting that out on the page isn’t always easy. It took a few tries before I felt confidant enough to send of the designs for approval.

GP: Britney Waters is one of the most iconic of the Grimm Fairy Tales characters, having appeared on the cover of Grimm Fairy Tales #1. She has obviously undergone some changes since then, but what do you with such a character to put your own spin on her?

CJ: She’s also a character with a solid amount of published history at this point and a fan favorite so you have to respect what’s come before while still giving her a personal touch. I knew early on that she’d be downplaying the werewolf aspects and I wanted her to look like a bounty hunter so I gave her the bulletproof vest. At the time I didn’t know if they’s go for it but other than that I didn’t really mess with the costume. I did try to change up her hairstyles throughout the book. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down, sometimes it’s braided.

GP: A lot of people don’t really consider the characters in Grimm Fairy Tales to be superheroes despite the fact that they obviously are. Why do you think that is the case? And when you draw them do you approach them like superheroes?

CJ: My background is very heavily influenced by superheroes. So if someone has powers in the book, I’m probably going to come at it with that mind set. I know super heroes dominate the comic book scene but I think I’ve done more spy stuff than tights so this was great to go for it with muscles and claws. Everybody has an idea of what a super hero is but I think Red Riding Hood and Robyn Hood easily fit in that category. Much more easily than some of the books coming out from the big two. If they haven’t been seen that way I’d just assume it’s due to people not giving those books a shot.

GP: It seems like supervillains are often being introduced for characters, and the supervillains just come and go. You got a chance to draw the Master of the Hunt for the first time. Did you approach the character as though they might have a more lasting impact on Red’s character?

CJ: The Master of the Hunt was fun. He has a big enough personality that I could do a lot with his face and how he acts. He’s dangerous but also has a cheesiness to him. I kinda lucked out and nailed his design on the first pass. I knew he had to look a certain way yet still interact with modern day society. No matter what type of character you’re designing, you’ve gotta make them stand out. Hopefully, I did that. Nobody wants to read a book with a bunch of stiff figures who all look interchangeable. That was another good thing about Jeff’s script, Everyone looked different. I loved that.

GP: Are you getting involved with any other Grimm Fairy Tales 10th anniversary projects or other Grimm Fairy Tales projects in the near future?

CJ: For now I’m working on a couple of small, creator owned stuff. Nothing I can really get into yet until there’s something worth showing. But I’d like to get a chance to draw Britney and her world again. It was a lot of fun. I hope everyone likes it and if people want to see me draw more of her they should let it be heard.

Anyone curious to see my process shots on the book and what I’m drawing on any given day should check out my instagram or my tumblr!

Thanks a lot for checking out the book!

Check out username chrisjohnsoninfiction on tumblr and instagram for more artwork from Chris

Review: Realm War #9

Posted on May 8, 2015 by

The decision to go for a big company wide crossover is a strange one for Zenescope and Grimm Fairy Tales. First of all, such crossovers are very much hit and miss even at the big two of comic publishers where at the very least fans will get in line for their favorite characters. So too is it a strange decision because the shared universe at Grimm Fairy Tales is really not that big. After tying in a couple of series there is really not that much further to go, and even after giving characters like Cindy their own miniseries, there is not that much ground to expand upon. Thus even before the series started there was an uphill battle for Zenescope to pull this off, and the track record thus far has not been going in their favor either.

This issue is as good as any other to demonstrate what problems exist within this series, which itself exists as a microcosm of what is wrong in the Grimm Fairy Tales universe. As with the overall theme of Grimm Fairy Tales, characters are borrowed from all across the spectrum of legends, fairy tales and myth to populate the story, but the manner in which this is done is confusing. The Cinderella character is bad and the Little Red Riding Hood character is good. Previously established characters such as Robyn Hood have turned bad with little explanation, and other characters are around who serve as stereotypes of characters that are anachronisms in modern comics, such as the martial arts master. Of all of these characters are thrown together as Sela and her team are fighting back against the forces of the Dark Queen, and for the first time manage to fight back.

While this is still a convoluted mess at times, this issue pulls the story together better than previous issues in this series have managed. There is a stronger focus on the plot and less on all the disparate sub-plots, even if these do include such tangents as Cindy’s own desire for power and Sela making up with her ex in the most intimate way possible. For the first time this series appears to be heading in the right direction which is a positive sign, but it still has some way to go before making this crossover gamble pay off.

Story: Joe Brusha Art: Sami Kivela
Story: 6.2 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.2 Recommendation: Pass

Strange Comic Trends: Superheroines Get Impaled, Walk It Off

Posted on March 26, 2015 by

Warning, Spoilers Below for Realm War #7 and He-Man Eternity War #4

This is not a trend over one specific week exactly, but instead covers two months, though the end result of both comics occurred in this week (if the digital release of Realm War is considered to be this week.) It should be noted as well that there are spoilers here, particularly for He-Man. The interesting trend this time is a duo of unrelated female heroes that are locked in battle and are run through with a blade. Not run through as in a significant cut somewhere on their body, more like a stabbing movement with a blade that pierces both sides of the body, through the visceral mass. Presumably such a kill shot would hit many major organs as well and would likely result in a quick and painful death. This occurred to She-Ra in He-Man Eternity War #4 this week and in Realm War #7 in February to Britney although the resolution of her injury was shown this week. What is more interesting is that neither of these acts resulted in the death of the character, and instead was presumably shown more for the shock value.

It would be hard to remove either one of these characters from their active continuities. Although Grimm Fairy Tales has a fair assortment of female characters, Britney Waters is evidently one of the most popular. To remove She-Ra from He-Man would be even more notable as she is essentially one of only two main female characters in the entire series. In the case of Britney it was obviously even more for shock value as it was her werewolf metabolism which saved her, but although the blow to She-Ra looked just as bad, she was equally able to get away under her own power with the assistance of an old foe and presumably some magic, as her injury did indeed look to be quite fatal. What is even more interesting is that it happened to two female characters. While there is a move towards the modernization of female in media as able protagonists, their place as damsels in distress is still prevalent enough in culture. That this was done, at least in the case of She-Ra, is an easy way to prove the true evil of the villain. Regardless of the true motivation, the characters probably deserve better than to be treated as recipients of shock value attacks, especially after the degree of characterizations that has been built into them through some solid writing.

Three Grimm Fairy Tales Characters That Should Have Their Own Series

Posted on February 14, 2015 by

Zenescope’s flagship franchise, Grimm Fairy Tales, has one of the strangest track records when it comes to its main characters. There are very few comic companies that have their own shared universes (DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and IDW to a limited degree) but among them Zenescope is one where the majority of its main characters are female. Not surprisingly, the brand does very well with female readership, even if most of them are initially turned off by the often exploitative covers which are evidently in place to draw in unsuspecting male readers. While it is a relatively large publisher, it still struggles at times to produce its own ongoing series, instead often relying on sequences of mini-series. The only ongoing series for the company have been the main Grimm Fairy Tales series, Wonderland, Robyn Hood, and the now canceled Myths and Legends.

With such a rich background of characters, there are still lots of options to explore to introduce new characters, and new characters to highlight in their own series, but which characters deserve their own series the most? Here are three options.

Britney Waters/Little Red Riding Hood

It came as a bit of a surprise when Robyn Hood was given her own series over Britney Waters, who is after all the first cover girl in the series, with series lead Sela not even appearing until the second issue. What has a tendency to work at Zenescope are the properties which are the furthest away from the magical land of Myst, that realm so often muddying or confusing the main storyline from its own focus. Britney is a character who interacts most often with the other main characters, but also one for whom Myst is less of a connection, she has ties there, but they do not define her like they do for the other characters. Instead there are a lot of popular characters in popular fiction at the moment that have a supernatural aspect to them, and Britney’s werewolf like powers fit well within those. After every other major female lead has had a series focus on them, it is probably Britney’s turn for the spotlight to see if she can handle her own ongoing.

Akili

The stories of the Jungle Book as told by the Zenescope writers was one of the most surprising series that the company has published. Instead of focusing on the adventures of the characters, it explores some deeper themes, and interacts its characters in a playful but meaningful way. The series have mostly focused on Mowgli, as the presumed agent that will eventually free Kipling Island from its propensity for war. Supporting her are two other major human characters of the island, Bomani and Akili. While Bomani acts as somewhat of an antagonist to Mowgli, Akili is more of an ally, and her sensitivities to the smaller creatures of the island are also an interesting theme which could be explored. The series writer, Mark Miller, has said that this third installation is likely the end, and it raises the question if the main characters will be thrust into the Grimm Fairy Tales Universe as all other characters are. Either way, it might be time to let Akili have some of spotlight.

Trickster

Little is even known about this character that has shown up in only one issue thus far, in the White Queen miniseries. While the character is far from developed, there are at least some factors which could make the character appealing to readers at least in a design way. Part of what has made the Wonderland series popular is that the design of the characters tends towards the zany at times, counterparts in design to Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn is herself an enigma, though while able to express major violence and lack of empathy, on her own she is a crazy intersection of much of the DC Universe, kind of like what Ambush Bug was like at another time. Although it is unlikely that the Trickster could carry her own series, a miniseries to fill out her background and to show her true motivations would be interesting, especially as she could almost be billed as Grimm Fairy Tales’ Harley.

Review: Realm War #7

Posted on February 9, 2015 by

Zenescope has a strange property on its hand with Realm War. Company-wide crossovers are familiar enough to comic fans but they are usually restricted to the Big Two, and not to the independents. Part of the appeal of the crossovers is to get fans to read a lot of books that they would normally never touch, and thus to boost sales and to gain exposure for other properties. While comic fans are mixed in their appreciation of this common stunt, it is nonetheless one which is built somewhat on the idea of a large shared universe. Zenescope has tried large crossovers before, most recently with the ongoing Age of Darkness, for which Realm War forms the central narrative of the crossover. What Zenescope is mostly missing though is the shared universe. It has had success with its flagship series Grimm Fairy Tales, and a spin-off from that called Myths and Legends (since canceled.) The only other ongoing series are Robyn Hood and Wonderland, neither too close to the main story lines of Grimm Fairy Tales, but both still tied in. Realm War thus acts as the driving force for a crossover of three series, a scope which is small in comparison to the other companies.

The short version of Age of Darkness is that there is a Dark Queen that has taken control of the Earth and merged the different realms, or at least parts thereof, into one. Real War tells the story of those fighting back against the forces of the Dark Queen, and it is a story that is often lacking in focus. One of the main criticisms of Grimm Fairy Tales is that it draws upon too much from myth, legends, fairy tales and so on, and ends up with too little. Failing to realize that less can be more makes the series hard to follow at times, and even likable characters get lost within. Notably here, Britney Waters, the poster girl for Grimm Fairy Tales (having appeared on the first cover of the main series) is rendered inert by being forced into the story, which is decent on action but fairly weak on plot.

When considered in a meta-sense, of those that analyze comics both inside of the medium and for their place in pop culture, this series is full of unnecessary cliches which don’t advance the story beyond basic levels. Fans will know what these are, that there are things in comics which are never permanent, and they show up here, but so too do other cliches like an unbeatable hero, or a fight against all odds. It feels at times with thee story line of Age of Darkness that the writers are assembling it as if it were a paint-by-numbers, but losing the picture in the end.

Story: Joe Brusha Art: Sami Kivela
Story: 5.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 5.0 Recommendation: Pass

Zenescope provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review.

Review: Realm War #5

Posted on December 4, 2014 by

Judging solely by the cover, one might think that this issue has a chance. After all it features Britney Waters, the Red Riding Hood inspired werewolf who is one of the better standalone characters in the Grimm Fairy Tales Universe. While she is in fact in this issue, there is little else for this issue to offer. As a jumping on point for Realm War, this issue is probably as good as anywhere, but as Realm War seems to be so poorly plotted, I am not sure if there is really a good place to get on. In this issue Sela and her allies are subject to an airborne attack, to which Baba Yaga presumably sacrifices herself, and then for the remainder of the story there is postering and deliberation, from both sides. Both the heroes and the villains it seems can’t figure out who their allies really are, and this burns through most of the remainder of the issue after the initial action.

One of the consistencies in recent issues of almost every Grimm Fairy Tales series is the tie-in to all the other realms, between Oz, Myst, Wonderland and Neverland. All too often though the connection is a bit too forced, and that is the case here. The multiverse of Grimm Fairy Tales was never fully developed before being put into being, and the scars of this are still visible as for instance the land of Myst remains a sort of free-for-all land of “anything goes” when it comes to plot or character development. So too is it consistent across all the series that stories contain a lot of interesting concepts that are missed for the bigger plotlines. For instance the Goblin Queen, one of the more intriguing but also undeveloped characters in the Grimm Fairy Tales universe, is sent to rule over Neverland. Such a story is one which would be interesting to see, but as before, such opportunities seem to be wasted.

This is what this issue boil down to. With so much talk and so little action or implementation of interesting concepts, this story doesn’t really go anywhere. Generally while I give a free pass to most artists as long as it doesn’t interfere with the story, that is not the case here either, as the flat coloring makes everything seem very two-dimensional, not a good thing when the characters are already two-dimensional enough as it is. It ends up being disappointing, as all the pieces to succeed are here, just they are mostly wasted, leaving both the characters and the readers without a solid direction to go in.

Story: Joe Brusha Art: Sami Kivela
Story: 5.5 Art: 5.5 Overall: 5.5 Recommendation: Pass

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