GRIMM TALES OF TERROR ANNUAL: GODDESS OF DEATH – Review

GRIMM TALES OF TERROR ANNUAL: GODDESS OF DEATH, available from Zenescope Entertainment on November 17th, 2021, recounts the great war between Life and Death that establishes Keres as the greatest Reaper of all the Realms.

The Details

• Written By: Pat Shand
• Art By: Eman Casallos, Ismael Canales, Juan Francisco Mota
• Colors By: Maxflan Araujo, Edwin Estrada, Jorge Cortes
• Letters By: Taylor Esposito
• Cover Art By: Geebo Vigonte (cover A)
• Cover Price: $7.99
• Release Date: November 17, 2021

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Was It Good?

GRIMM TALES OF TERROR ANNUAL: GODDESS OF DEATH is surprising. The Tales of Terror issues from Zenescope generally fall into the pure horror category ala Tales from the Crypt with Keres acting as the omniscient/omnipotent judge, jury, and executioner over the evil acts of humanity. This quarterly is a surprising departure from that model with a Keres-centric story where she must fight for her life and Life itself.

I like the opportunity to explore existing characters in a new light. The fascination stems from taking a character, revealing a part of their story you didn’t know to make their history fuller, and then placing that character in a completely different situation to watch how handle they challenge. When you add some character growth/evolution within the story, it’s a sweet cherry on top.

There’s a whole lot of good writing in this issue from Shand. The story feels epic, in every sense of the word. The stakes are high, the conflict is massive, and you get a genuine sense that a change in the status quo is at hand for the known characters.

Special credit goes to Shand for the dialog. When you’re dealing with powerful figures holding sway over all the Realms, it would have been easy to tip into over-the-top dialog that quickly turns corny. For big characters with big personalities, Shand keeps the dialog impactful and in-check to give every word balloon the weight it deserves.

That said, the one, minor down point is the sheer volume of characters to keep track of. Periodically, you might find yourself pausing to consider a referenced name and think “Which one was that again? Was that one of the demon lords or one of the reapers?” Just the demon kings alone have twelve characters to keep track of, and at times, it gets to be a bit difficult to remember who was who.

The art is, of course, excellent in this quarterly. The sheer volume of characters is a slight down point in terms of keeping track in the story, but it’s a plus for the art team as they get to show off some imagination by coming up with unique designs for a small army of characters. Special credit goes to the group of colorists on this book as the visuals are outstanding.

What’s It About?

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

We begin with the history of Madam Morana, the original goddess of Death. Over many millennia, her powers grew to such an extent that she had became more powerful than Keepers, the group of hooded figures responsible for the creation of the universe where the Realms exist. In a desperate act, the Keepers worked to together to remove and dispel Morana’s power and cast her into a pit of Hell, frozen in the form of a brimstone statue.

Morana’s powers over life and death were distributed among the newly selected Reapers, mortals selected to guide Life and Death in each Realm. Keres was selected to act as the Reaper for the Nexus of the Realms, Earth.

Twelve kings of Hell gather after many millennia more to discuss how they’re restricted from doing as they please, and they decide to act together rather than as rivals. Combined, the kings don’t have enough power to overcome a single Reaper, but one of the kings offers an idea – resurrect and ally with Morana to destroy the Reapers and reclaim dominion over existence.

What follows is a devious plan that resurrects a weakened Morana, a plan to reclaim her power from the Reapers, and a war that shifts the balance of power across all Realms.

Final Thoughts

GRIMM TALES OF TERROR ANNUAL: GODDESS OF DEATH is a legitimately epic tale about the kings of Hell banding together to resurrect the original, all-powerful goddess of Death. The story is grand in scale and scope, the dialog is pitch perfect, and the art doesn’t pull any punches in terms of imagination or creativity. There’s a lot to take in due to the sheer volume of characters, but the narrative flows at a steady pace and the status-quo-altering conclusion more than makes up for any mild confusion.

Score: 8.5/10

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