Labor Day is one of those holidays that involves cookouts and family get togethers. People are off work and kids are off school and government employees don’t work. Nah, too easy to make a government employee joke here. Anyway, today is also Monday so that means another dose of JAZM, Just Another Zenescope Monday. Time to celebrate the worker!
I am still catching up on releases from August, but this should bring us up to speed with everything that has been released so far. Next week, be prepared from more current reviews and maybe even some previews. Until then, read it, share it, comment on it, and love it.
Reviews
Robyn Hood #1 – The new ongoing series launched and I will run through the first issue for you. Some great stuff, Pat Shand brings us an awesome story continuing after the wrap up in Nottingham. Our story kicks off as Robyn and her merry gang are in New York trying to make a new life for themselves. Marian and Robyn run a private investigation business that specializes in the not-so-normal. For the first mission, we actually see Robyn on a fairly mundane mission, outing some scumbag politician by posing as an escort and snapping some racy photos to make the rounds in social media. After that, things settle into the expected weirdness when they are hired by the head of a local coven of witches to solve a mystery involving mystic candy. Turns out that someone called The Priest is targeting the coven to collect souls for some kind of ritual. And, of course, he wants Marian. Good stuff so far, although a little different than the stories we have seen so far. The artwork is what we expect from Larry Watts, great lines and detail. Interesting story and I look forward to the next issue. My Rating: 3.5/5
Masumi #1 – The beginning of a 4-issue series about Zenescope’s female assassin. Masumi Yamamoto was trapped in the nightmarish realm, released after 200 years. Now she is in Japan, trying to find some mystical artifact. The holder of that artifact? It just happens to be her cousin who thinks that Masumi is there to attend her wedding. As Masumi meets Mei and her fiancee, she asks about Mei’s training. Mei states that she thought they were just crazy stories. Turns out that she should have been training to take over the fight against the dark creatures. Kids these days. As the fiancee hurries away from the ladies, Masumi has a bad feeling and follows him. Good thing she did. He takes a gilded box to a group of suited men in a warehouse who summon a demon. After a battle, Masumi retrieves the box and hears the story from the fiancee of how the yakuza had contacted him and were collecting these mystical heirlooms as gifts for the demons they were partnering with. Interesting stuff. My Rating: 4/5
Inferno: Rings of Hell #1 – First in a three-issue series following the events of Grimm Fairy Tales #100 and continuing the Age of Darkness. This series will focus on the Dark Queen’s revenge against her daughter, Lucifer, and Mercy Dante. For those of you who are just joining this disaster all ready in progress, you should jump over and check out my review of Grimm Fairy Tales #100 to see what all the hubbub is about, bub. Suffice it to say the world is pretty messed up right now, since all realms are now combined onto one, overlaying Earth with all the others. Lucifer and Dante are in the middle of it, fighting for their lives. The Dark Horde continues ravaging the world, and Lucifer rallies her troops to fight back. Things look pretty bad for our (sort of) heroes. Bottom line is that all of this has been to capture both Mercy and Lucine, or Lucifer, in order to punish them for their rebellion. Their punishment? Banishment to the nine Rings of Hell. Of course, if they survive, they can return to Earth, just not the location that Lucifer once ruled, the Inferno. Pretty interesting story and we will probably get to see some cool monsters and demons. My Rating: 4/5
Grimm Fairy Tales present Wonderland #26 – With Violet free of the grip of Wonderland, Callie is now the White Queen and sane ruler of this realm of imagination. Callie spends time with her daughter on Earth as much as she can, and then returns to her duties as queen in order to keep the peace in Wonderland. As this new storyline begins, Callie journeys to the White Rabbit’s home to meet the people and help them understand what is going on in the fallout of the Clash of Queens.Callie, Cheshire, and Rabbit make the journey only to find that something the jungle has been preying on the poor people and that a little girl is missing. As they move through the foliage, many things catch their eyes, but this creature, the Savage, is feared among all the local denizens. Leave it to the new queen to try to solve this problem, but the first creature they meet is terrifying enough. Back on Earth, two local boys pass an old abandoned house and see someone moving inside. they call the cops, but they thought they saw a girl who was hurt. One of the kids goes in, see blood all over, and tries to find the person they saw. Let’s just say that something finds him instead. Interesting and makes me wonder what this thing will be and how it will play into the continuing series. My Rating: 4/5
Grimm Fairy Tales #101 – For those of you who thought we would see more of the fallout from #100, too bad! This issue picks up one year after the events of the Realm War storyline. In the intro, we see that somehow Sela Mathers was able to rebalance the universe, so big spoiler alert for anyone who didn’t want to know how Realm War turns out. Sela, Shang, and Belinda have teamed up to help Highborn teens find their place in the world. I like the way this book is really a good jumping on point for new readers. Skye, Sela’s daughter, narrates a brief history of things, laying out the geography of the nexus. Katniss and Xena, umm, I mean, Sela and Skye, make short work of some remnants of the Dark Horde. They head back to Arcane Acre, their home base, to talk about the next mission. Shang shows up with a fresh crop of soon-to-be-Realm Knights, teen Highborns and Falsebloods that are in need of some serious training. The group includes at least one familiar name, Violet Liddle. After getting the new recruits settled down, Sela leaves Shang to tend them so that she can pay the council in Myst a visit. Of course, with the Realms mended and Sela no longer the Guardian of the Nexus, her new role could be even more demanding. Oh, and the new Highborns get into trouble when it is revealed that young Ali had something of great value that is now in the wrong hands. Great stuff and it will be cool to see how this story evolves as the realms have changed in that last year. My Rating: 4.5/5
That’s it for this week. If you have missed any of my previous JAZM, please click here and catch up. Check back next week and see some more great comics from the folks at Zenescope Entertainment.
as always, some of the best covers in the industry.