Saturday, February 21, 2009

Cheesecake Art with Serious Narrative: Grimm Fairy Tales #34 and #35


So, if you are trying to repackage classic stories for a modern audience, what ingredients do you add? How do you make great stories from the past irresistible to today's readers? The folks at Zenescope clearly know the best possible answer to this question: boobies! If you've ever caught a glimpse of the covers to Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales series, you know they can deliver beautiful women and great cheesecake art, what you may not know is that there is some pretty nifty storytelling going on underneath those eye-catching covers.

Grimm Fairy Tales # 34 and 35, written by Dan Wickline with art from Marcio Abreu and Axel Machain, have a ton of clever plotting packed between the covers. These issues each tell two complete stories, while also working together to create a larger epic. In an era where many comics no longer provide a satisfying chunk of story in one issue, this dense narrative makes a nice change, and gives you a little more bang for your comic-buying buck.

Issue #34 brings some new twists to the tale of Puss in Boots, as the kitty of the title becomes an ancient Egyptian statue. Of course, this mysterious, booted, piece of pottery is no mere artistic relic. It is an evil, powerful, totem that offers its owners wealth, youth, and power, but at a terrible cost. As the story begins, adorable young Stephanie is unexpectedly asked to hold on to Auntie Claire's creepy old statue for a few days. A mysterious, red-haired stranger tells Stephanie about the statue's value, and its dark past. It isn't long before Steph starts getting some dangerous ideas about what to do with this evil knick-knack, but Aunt Claire may be more than she seems...

This issue does tell a complete story, but #35 offers up a sequel in which we discover the ultimate fate of Claire and her devilish statue, while also giving us an intriguing update of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Whether or not Wilde's classic novel counts as a fairy tale is possibly in question, but the story fits perfectly into the Grimm world Zenescope has created with this series. When a rock super-star starts to realize that his friends are aging while he stays eternally 25, he begins to wonder what is up with his wife's creepy statue, and the painting she has proudly hanging in their home. And why is that painting starting to resemble a much older man?

The cheesecake may be what catches your eye, but Grimm Fairy Tales # 34 and #35 may surprise you if you look past the covers and check out the stories within. Try these books out now, while they are guaranteed Books of the Week at Four Color Fantasies! You'll enjoy some great comics while also helping to support the lovely ladies of Zenescope. Let's face it, they must have some terrible chiropractic bills to pay.

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