In GRIMM TALES OF TERROR QUARTERLY: GAME NIGHT, available from Zenescope Entertainment on July 21st, 2021, Sam Christian spent his life building a wealthy company based on party games. The High School bullies who picked on Sam in his youth will get a chance to play his game for a piece of the treasure… or die trying.
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The Details
- Written By: Kevin Townsley
- Art By: Rodrigo Xavier, Marcelo Salaza, Vicente Cifuentes
- Colors By: Grostieta, Vinicius Andrade, Maxflan Araujo
- Letters By: Kurt Hathaway
- Cover Art By: Igor Vitorino, Ivan nunes
- Cover Price: $8.99
- Release Date: July 21, 2021
Was It Good?
It was just okay.
This quarterly story is the comic book equivalent of 90’s slasher film ala Final Destination where the hapless jerks are picked off one by one through supernatural means. If those types of horror entertainment are your cup of tea, then this comic is the must-get issue from Zenescope.
That said, where films like Final Destination build up a fan base with heart-pounding music and inventive kills, this comic feels a little antiseptic. Partially due to its slow pacing and partially due to its lack of drama around the kills themselves. The kills happen, and they’re somewhat inventive, but there’s a lot of talking to get there. They happen so quickly, you barely get time to be shocked by them before moving on to the next scene.
That’s not to say this is a bad comic. It’s not. That is to say the payoff for each kill doesn’t meet the expectation of the lengthy, clunky buildups. Imagine going to an amusement park with a roller coaster, standing in line for two hours for your turn at a ride, and once you get on board, the ride is over in thirty seconds. More anticipation and waiting than reward.
It would have served this comic better to trim several pages worth of conversation and character arguments, and get right to it. When the kills do happen, they’re nauseating and terrifying, and who doesn’t love seeing a pack of bullies get what’s coming to them.
The art looks great. The kills (when you eventually get there) are inventive. But this comic is too much filler and not enough killer.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Sam Christian was the target of a pack of bullies all through High School that made his life a living Hell. Through his torment, he developed ideas for all types of games that he would eventually parlay into a super successful game company.
One night, Sam sends out invitations to his now-adult tormentors with a proposal to play a game. The last one to remain through the game gets One Million Dollars. Bullies are commonly a selfish and greedy lot, and we learn Sam’s tormentors haven’t changed much since HighSchool.
When they start playing the game involving picking cards and completing the challenges, they find that even when you succeed, you lose.
Final Thoughts
GRIMM TALES OF TERROR QUARTERLY: GAME NIGHT sets up plays on the theme of a successful adult getting back at the bullies who tormented him in school. While the setup and the kills are largely inventive, there are too many tedious lulls in the action to hold a reader’s attention.
Score: 6/10
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