GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #70, from Zenescope Entertainment on March 29th, 2023, sends out heroes hurtling into the void of dark madness when Carmen and Diego search for a way out, and Skye must save her friends from the Faceless Woman.
The Details
- Written by: Dave Franchini
- Art by: Babisu Kourtis
- Colors by: Jorge Cortes
- Letters by: Taylor Esposito
- Cover art by: Mike Krome (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: March 29, 2023
Is It Good?
Yes, this is fine. Continuing Zenescope’s Year of Lovecraft, Dave Franchini sends the parts of the Shang Gang in different directions to save their friends and stop more acolytes of the Old Ones from sowing seeds of destruction. There’s a lot going on in this issue. Some of it feels important. Other portions do not, but Franchini pulls them together in the end.
When last we left the Shang Gang, the Dark One was resurrected by Baba Yaga in preparation for the Old Ones’ return. Carmen and Diego were killed (not really), and the villains portal’d away to continue their unholy preparations. Now, Carmen and Diego work together to escape the void while Skye and her friends do some research to figure out the villains’ next move, meeting a new villain for their efforts.
Therein, lies the good and the bad of this issue. You don’t know who you’re supposed to pay attention to as the big bad villain. All roads lead to the eventual return of the Old Ones, but there are at least five separate villains enacting their own piece of the plan within this and other Zenescope titles.
Are we supposed to be paying attention to the Faceless Woman? Nyarlathotep? The Dark One? Baba Yaga? The Dagon Priestess from the Phoenix Files? Someone or something else?
These villains are all formidable in their own way, but they all appear to be doing something completely different from each other without any apparent connection other than they’re preparing for the Old Ones’ return. What’s the plan? Is there a plan? You get the feeling Franchini is laying the groundwork for a massive showdown in the future, but after teasing and hinting about a massive Lovecraftian threat for over nine months, the connective tissue hasn’t established any connections.
Whether you feel the story is connecting or not may be a matter of perspective. The art, however, is a separate matter.
Babisu Kourtis’s art is okay but not great, and sometimes not good. The inks are rough to the point of sloppiness in several spots, and Cortes’s coloring isn’t hiding any of the flaws in the inks. In fact, there are a few spots where the coloring application is so smudgy, it makes the art a little bit worse. To be fair, the pencils are solid and the overall panel compositions are good. It’s in the details and polish where the art falls short.
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]
Check out our GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #69 review to find out what happened to Carmen and Diego.
We begin with Carmen and Diego waking up as they float through a pitch-black void. They soon discover monsters occupy the void, and every other person or beast is captured and eaten. Carmen comes up with a risky plan for escape.
Elsewhere, Skye and the Shang Gang visit the library in Tamora’s grandmother’s house, looking for a lead as to where the villains will strike next based on Skye’s vision. They find the building Skye saw in their last fight, and Skye heads to Rhode Island with Sam and Winter to check it out.
We conclude the issue with a dangerous woman From Beyond, an unusual piggyback ride, and a former human.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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GRIMM FAIRY TALES (VOL. 2) #70 gives you plenty of bang for your buck with witches, Lovecraftian monsters, black voids of insanity, and a growing threat to life as we know it. That said, the story increasingly lacks focus, particularly with the villains, and the art quality falls short.
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