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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

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.

Review: Realm War #8

Posted on March 26, 2015 by

If one had any questions as to whether the main universe of the Grimm Fairy Tales universe is overly complicated then this single issue would answer that. The entire world is embroiled in darkness as the Dark Queen has managed to merge the realms and is in the process of consolidating her power. Following on the events of the previous issue, Sela is still looking for a weapon which she can use against the Dark Queen, but it would have been a lot easier if she had not been ambushed while doing so at Area 51.

In order to try to make sense of this issue there are Greek gods, characters inspired by fairy tales, characters inspired by legends, characters inspired by fantasy and original characters that have similar qualities to those already mentioned. Also to keep track, there is a triple cross in this story, in which a character is deceived and then deceived again and then the original deceiver get deceived. It seems at times that the writers of this series don’t really understand the need for any kind of restraint, and instead just keep piling on the plot twists and the new characters that act for reasons which are not fully developed.

The lack of a single compelling narrative is where this series falls down. The main series of Grimm Fairy Tales can at times contain stories that are well conceived and well told, but it would seem that with the company wide crossover in mind that the sum is far less than its parts. There are even compelling characters in play here but they get relegated to secondary roles. One can only hope that after the events of Realm War that the main series goes back to the drawing board and tries for something more restrained.

Story: Joe Brusha Art: Sami Kivela
Story: 4.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 4.0 Recommendation: Pass

Preview: Realm War Volume 1 Trade Paperback

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Brett

Realm War Volume 1 Trade Paperback

Written by Joe Brusha
Art by Sami Kivela
Colors by Maxflan Araujo
Letters by Jim Campbell
Art Direction & Trade Design by Christoper Cote
Edited by Nicole Glade

Following the epic and shocking events of Grimm Fairy Tales #100, the Age of Darkness has descended upon the Grimm Universe!

The Dark Queen successfully merged Earth with the surrounding realms of Wonderland, Neverland, Oz, and Myst. She now rules over a frighteningly apocalyptic new world.

As thousands of innocents are being killed and enslaved daily, what is left of the Realm Knights fights a losing battle against the Dark Horde. But there is still one person left alive who has the chance to stop the Dark Queen and put an end to her reign… her name is Sela Mathers.

This trade paperback collects Issues 1 through 6 of Zenescope Entertainment’s 12-issue Grimm Fairy Tales: Realm War series.

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.

Preview: Realm War #7 (of 12)

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Brett

Realm War #7 (of 12)

Written by Joe Brusha
Art by Sami Kivela
Colors by Maxflan Araujo
Letters by Christy Sawyer
Edited by Nicole Glade
Price $3.99
Release Date: 2/11/15

The four realms have fallen and the Age of Darkness has arrived. The Dark Queen begins her reign after merging the realms with Earth. The survivors must band together in order to defeat her and restore order. With several Realm Knights dead and the Grimm Universe thrown into chaos, can Sela and her remaining team stand against her and her army?

PREVIOUSLY:

Though Sela wanted to stay and fight alongside Shang against the Dark Queen’s attack, she made the choice to leave in the hopes of acquiring a weapon powerful enough to end her mortal enemy. But the possible loss of her mentor leaves Sela shaken. Meanwhile, the Dark One continues setting up his betrayal of the Dark Queen. With Venus secured as his second in command, he knows he must strike soon.

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