GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #52 – Review

GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #52, available from Zenescope Entertainment on September 29th, 2021, shows Skye Mathers what life is like in an alternate universe where cyber-implants, nanotech, and armed robots are the weapons of choice.

The Details

• Written By: Dave Franchini
• Art By: Babisu Kourtis
• Colors By: Jorge Cortes
• Letters By: Taylor Esposito
• Cover Art By: Sean Chen, Ivan Nunes
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: September 29, 2021

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Was It Good?

I’ve crowed that Zenescope (and a few other publishers like Dynamite) have the right idea when it comes to tackling the Multiverse concept. This issue not only DOESN’T change my mind but it proves that praise is earned.

The multiverse concept works when you focus on an anchor, Skye Mathers in this case, and drop her in strange-yet-familiar settings to overcome whatever challenge gets thrown her way. Changing the locale breaks up the monotony (if you can call it that) of hopping between well-known realms, and you get the fun of peppering in alternate takes of known characters ala Robyn Hood and Van Helsing.

Franchini plays it perfectly by doing exactly all of the above with a simple premise. Let’s drop Skye on a Dystopian CyberPunk version of Earth, and let’s see what happens. You get all the fun tech, airship battles, a little bit of hacking, robots, lasers, and anything else you could imagine.

A comic is meant to entertain, and that’s what you get here — a purely entertaining story.

The art from Kourtis and the team doesn’t disappoint. We constantly put a blanket description of “typical Zenescope house style” on this title, and while it’s not very original, it’s accurate. The lines are sharp, the colors are bold, and the action is energetic. The additional plus for the art is Kourtis’ imaginative ship and android designs. These are completely new creations for this alt-Realm and they’re just close enough to our Earth’s tech to be recognizable but just far away enough to not look like anything we’ve seen before. Nice work!

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Before you jump through a dimensional rift, read our GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #51 review to find out how Skye got here.

We begin with Sam and Allexa waking up from getting zapped by the Dark Princess. Instead of being vaporized, they discover they were teleported to an alternate version of Wonderland. It’s unclear if their trip was intentional or a random event, but they have little time to puzzle it out before they’re attacked by a giant, carnivorous tree.

Cut to cyber-Earth. Skye is thrown into a jail cell for breaching a law related to unauthorized dimensional jumps. The less-than-sympathetic voice in the next cell over belongs to alt-Robyn Hood. Neither delinquent trusts each other, but Robyn (in her typical gruff way) brings Skye along during a jailbreak orchestrated by alt-Van Helsing.

The three heroes flee in cyber-copter when they get cornered by cybernetic forces emerging from the nearby buildings. Suddenly, the airships are picked off with the help of the Queen of Hearts. It seems Skye wasn’t the only person zapped to cyber-Earth.

We conclude the issue with a recounting of the spreading oppression infecting cyber-Earth, a plan to take the whole system down, and the revelation that the person at the seat of power has a familiar and toothy grin.

Final Thoughts

GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #52 is simple, pure, action/adventure fun. The creators zero in on exactly what makes multiverse-hopping adventures so interesting and pepper in all the imagination and Easter Eggs you could hope for. The action is tight and energetic, and the cliffhanger ensures the battle’s just begun.

Score: 9/10