BELLE: WAR OF THE GIANTS, from Zenescope Entertainment on April 6th, 2022, follows Belle as she takes a wrong turn. Her trip to Tartarus to rescue her mother’s soul drops her in the middle of a Giant War in Limbo.
The Details
- Written By: Dave Franchini
- Art By: Rodrigo Xavier
- Colors by: Juan Manuel Rodriguez
- Letters By: Taylor Esposito, Carlos M. Mangual, Elizabeth Sharland
- Cover Art By: Al Barrionuevo
- Cover Price: $5.99
- Release Date: April 6, 2022
Wait! Don’t Forget To Sign Up For The Comical Opinions Newsletter.
It’s 100% FREE. Sign up NOW!
Was It Good?
There’s an old saying that goes something like this – When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
BELLE: WAR OF THE GIANTS is lemonade made from the slightly sour lemon of last week’s Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends Quarterly – JACK & JILL. The Jack & Jill one-shot wasn’t terrible by any means but the main critique we had was that there wasn’t enough meat from the children’s rhyme to fill out the Quarterly’s size and the overly-complicated resolution hurt the ending.
Well, Zenescope knows how to move up and move on, and Franchini produces a fresh story that blends the Jack & Jill introduction with a continuation of Belle’s recent conflict that wound up sending her mother to Tartarus (i.e. Hell). This is the second issue this week from Zenescope to take two separate storylines and seamlessly blend them together, and this issue demonstrates (again) why Zenescope handles an interconnected universe magnitudes better than Marvel or DC.
If you read last week’s Jack & Jill story, the premise is almost a direct continuation. Belle breaks through a barrier into what she thinks is Tartarus but dins up in Limbo in the company of Alicia and Jill as they make ready to wage war against Jack and Ercume. Where Franchini shines is in putting together a compelling story filled with character development and action without the reader needing to have a deep understanding of the previous adventures. Franchini catches you up with admittedly large amounts of thought captions and dialog, but the conversations are natural and don’t feel like they drag on too long before breaking them up with changes of scenery.
When it’s time for the characters to leap into action, Xavier and Rodriguez give the action plenty of artistic energy and impact. There’s a pleasant mix of swordplay and magic blasts to give each battle something unique to hold your attention. The issue looks better than it reads, and it reads great, so this is a high-quality issue on every level.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a nightmare for Belle as she envisions her mother being dragged off to Tartarus (i.e. Hell) after she was forced to kill her. Now, Belle makes a plan to enter Tartarus via a legendary doorway in Iceland to rescue her mother’s soul and find closure. Mel is against the idea but agrees to let Belle run this mission solo.
After climbing an icy mountain and fighting undead guardians, Belle crashes through the doorway only to find she’s not in Tartarus (or Iceland) but in Limbo. There she encounters Alicia and Jill, two enemies who’ve formed an uneasy alliance to depose Ercume as the current queen of Limbo. Alicia wants her throne back and Jill wants her mother’s soul back.
Alicia promises to send Belle back to Earth and show her the way to Tartarus if she’ll help overthrow Ercume. We follow the trio through their adventure with soul bombs, an awkward father/daughter reunion, and a finale that leaves more than one character with a grudge.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
BELLE: WAR OF THE GIANTS furthers Belle’s adventures into uncharted areas while taking last week’s middling Jack & Jill introduction and improving on it. Franchini impresses by filling in a tremendous amount of backstory naturally and seamlessly blending two titles into an original adventure. The issue is elevated by fantastic visuals from the art team.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com