Grimm Fairy Tales #36 (Zenescope – Zornow / Dolce)
He couldn’t have her as his own, so he killed her. In fact he killed many of ‘her.’ Over and over and over, the swan killer has struck and he cannot be stopped. Events were set in motion years ago by Belinda, and now the psycho she helped create is loose and on the prowl. While stalking a new beautiful woman from afar, we learn of his past which will lead up to his next victim’s murder. She must die and he knows that he cannot stop himself – but maybe something else can! Do not miss this incredible sequel to ‘The Ugly Duckling’ which provides the ultimate twist ending you never saw coming!
Grimm Fairy Tales always amazes me. Because between the incredible eye-candy artwork and the fact that these are dark “fantasy” yarns, my default expectation is always simply erotic slasher horror. But Grimm Fairy Tales consistently goes miles beyond that! The writing is well above your basic “horror-chase” plot with a good mix of being Hitchcock-ishly intriguing, classically freightening and psychologically twisted.
This issue concludes “The Ugly Duckling” story, which is a haunting of a talented, creative young man who struggles with women who are never content with who they are. Being rejected at several key points in his life, he knows that all women want to pursue the shallow, empty dream of being a graceful swan… and he wants to cure them of their ailment. I’ll tell you what, Hannibal Lecter has nothing on this emo-designer.
This issue, coming out next week, also falls into a larger slow-moving arc of several of these modern version of story-books characters being “collected” into a magical tome. To what purpose and to what end, we don’t know yet, but I’m sure we will find out soon.
The short sum of it is that the writing is great and the art is yummy. This is great combination for this 15 yo + (Pullbox warning: not for the kiddies!!!) fun series on the “horrific” sides of classic fairy tales. If you can see that the twisted tales are up your alley and you enjoy a well-written horror story, then you are sadly out-of-of-the loop if you haven’t gotten your hands on Grimm Fairy Tales yet!
Issue Grade: B+
