Just Another Zenescope Monday: September 8, 2014

Welcome to another installment of JAZM, or Just Another Zenescope Monday. You can find all previous episodes here on Comic Booked. This week, we have a couple of issues to review. And share this article on Twitter using #JAZM. Why? Because everyone should be reading this!

Just to catch you up, the whole Grimm Universe has been turned on its collective ear as the Dark Queen combined the powers of the realms, with artifacts imbued with that power, into a massive spell that joined all the realms into one, overlapping different areas of the Earth with everything from Myst, Inferno, and all the rest of the magical worlds. In our last installment, I recounted the events of GFT #101, set one year in the future. Now, this may be one of the most frustrating mechanics in all of comic book creation, but now they can tell another story for us. Meanwhile, we have some reviews this week.

Reviews

Grimm Tales of Terror #2 – Our mysterious redhead with the black word balloons makes her return in the second installment of Zenescope’s attempt to get back to their horror roots. This first issue was a lot of fun, and this second issue offers another cautionary tale of avarice and greed. This story tells the tale of a treasure hunter in the Amazon looking for the lair of the Spider Queen and some statue. He disappeared during the quest and now his sons have been called together to follow in their father’s footsteps. The greedy collector only wants the statue, but both sons want to find their father. The tale quickly takes a dangerous turn as they all head to the Amazon and find the cave. But what they find,, and how they all end up, is a fitting end for their greed. Very cool and creepy stuff. I really like the twists in these stories, even if the ending is a bit cliched. The art is great and it is worth checking out if you are a fan of horror. My Rating: 3.5/5

Grimm Fairy Tales presents Masumi #2 (of 5) – After being released from the nightmare realm and basically saving the world along with the other Realm Knights, Masumi has now returned to her home of Japan to find her last descendant has fall short of her expectations. While her clan was to be the last line of defense against the demons, Mei laughs that old tradition off as just legend and wivess tales and not the reality of things. Of course, it does not take long spending some time with her “cousin” Masumi that she sees there is a truth to the legends that she has to accept. Masumi takes the fight to the Yakuza and has to fight some nasty dragon demons joined to humans. With the Legion Blades, and the demon Legion whispering in her ear the whole time, she able to fight her way through the demons and destroy their vessels. In order to ensure that they are not used again, Masumi sends the remains of the demons with Mei and Hiroto, her fiancee, as they board a train on their first leg of their journey to America. Unfortunately, Ryujin, the henchman for the leader of the Yakuza, has a little surprise for them. He was told to send a message not just to the Yamamoto clan, but to the world. This is an interesting series, because it adds in that flavor of Asian culture that has not been present in the other realms or other series. I like it so far and I love this cover by Harvey Tolibao and Ivan Nunes. My Rating: 4/5

Realm War #2 (of 12) – Since Grimm Fairy Tales #100 ended with the combining of all realms overlapping areas of the Earth, the Realm War has ramped up. Sela and the remnants of the Realm Knights are spread across the world trying to fight the Dark Horde. At the same time, they hunt for the possible last hope for all of existence, Doctor Vaughn, a scientist who created a machine that weakens Highborns. Of course, the Dark Queen has sent her Horde in search of him as well. Meanwhile, the pyramid that the Dark Queen had a pyramid constructed in the middle of Las Vegas and has been reintroducing the people to the bloodthirstiness of the gods of old. Thousands of people have been sacrificed so that the Dark Queen can bathe in their blood. She is busy collecting trophies to adorn her throne. When this event was touted a a real change to the landscape of the Zenescope Universe, they weren’t kidding. The people who have died in the last two months are just astounding. I am worried there won’t be anyone left that I recognize. Except we know that Sela survives. And she has been charged with leading the remaining Realm Knights, restoring the legacy that was tarnished by Hibocorp, and stopping the Dark Horde. Venus, as usual, is trying to play a side game of her own, and with a mysterious partner. Sela and her team have a secret weapon that can detect Highborns and, with Baba Yaga’s help, they are able to pinpoint Red’s location and meet up with her. The big secret in this issue? Well, I can’t tell you, but I can say that this is something unexpected by prophesied. Think on that and then go pick up Realm War #2 and read it for yourself. This is a series not to be missed. My Rating: 5/5

Three comics with so much story. Wow. Realm War is a great series so far. I just want to jump to the end and see it all come together, but the journey is the adventure, right? For you, be sure you are checking out my column every week and picking up any of these great comics that strike your fancy. See you next week!