GRIMM UNIVERSE PRESENTS QUARTERLY: 2021 HOLIDAY SPECIAL, available from Zenescope Entertainment on December 8th, 2021, gives readers three tales of torment when Krampus comes to Sin City to give naughty boys and girls what they deserve.
The Details
- Written By: Jenna Lyn Wright
- Art By: Eduardo Garcia, Juan Francisco Mota, Ricardo Osnaya, Dario Carasco
- Colors By: Kurt Hathaway
- Cover Art By: Igor Vitorino (cover A)
- Cover Price: $8.99
- Release Date: December 8, 2021
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Was It Good?
There’s a lot to like in this triple-sized special for horror fans to sink their teeth into. The art’s excellent, the premise of each short is creative, and you get a lot of story packed into one over-sized special. It’s not all perfect (read through to the next section for specifics), but this is possibly Jenna Lyn Wright’s strongest outing with Zenescope so far.
Normally, we’d take up more time in this section to deconstruct what worked or didn’t, but the down points and highs are very specific to individual stories, so we’ll cover them in the next section. In general, this is a recommended pick from Zenescope.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with our narrator observing a couple get out of a rideshare in front of a Vegas casino. The narrator indirectly identifies himself as Krampus, and he’s come to Sin City to put some coal in a few stockings… figuratively speaking. Using Krampus as the connective tissue for a modern horror anthology set in Vegas is certainly original, and the through line ties the horror shorts to each other and to Christmas in a unique way. That said, this special has precious little Krampus in it except for the narration and a few pages at the very end. It would have helped make the ties to the holidays stronger if Krampus were more integral to each short.
Mile High Death Club
An unscrupulous business man has his private flight canceled and is forced to fly commercial. Before too long, he notices passengers are disappearing and a few of the attendants are acting strangely. When he goes to investigate, he finds everyone on board is headed for a truly final destination.
I like this story for the creative monster, the implication that everyone on board has sins they must pay for, and the cathartic feeling of watching a bad guy get what he deserves. The down point of the story is its pacing as it takes ten pages for the events to start happening. Up to that point, it’s all conversations and scenes of people opening and closing doors or walking down hallways. This short could have definitely used some trimming.
Finders Bleeders
An unscrupulous airport supervisor (are you seeing a pattern here?) has a habit of treating his employees poorly and ransacking the contents of “lost” luggage whenever he gets the chance. When the latest haul contains a coffin with a solid gold cross on the lid, his greed ultimately unleashes an evil that becomes his undoing.
Good, solid vampire story. Once you see the coffin, you can tell what’s going to happen from a mile away, but the story execution and art is no less effective. And, the reveal about the coffin’s origins puts a fun little twist on the boss’s last moments. That said, the minor down point is the predictability of the outcome and the requirement to suspend a heck of a lot of disbelief. Who wouldn’t be suspicious of a big coffin that looks like something out of a classic horror film?
The Amazing Dante
The couple dropped off at the casino in the prologue, Dante and Crystal, are here to show off Dante’s magic act in the hope that Crystal’s father, owner of the casino, will hire Dante as a performer. Unfortunately for Dante, he’s a terrible magician. Unfortunately for Crystal and her parents, Dante uses black magic to confirm he doesn’t take “no” for an answer.
Of the three shorts, this one is the most original. The monster designs are interesting, Dante puts on his greatest (and last) show ever, and the narrative paints a compelling allegory about ambition at any cost. There’s really no down point to this short, making it the best of the three.
Final Thoughts
GRIMM UNIVERSE PRESENTS QUARTERLY: 2021 HOLIDAY SPECIAL assembles three horror shorts set in Las Vegas where Krampus has come to spread his own brand of Christmas cheer. The shorts are largely original, and the art is solid throughout. However, the lack of Krampus’s presence in each story doesn’t quite give off a Holiday feel for what’s supposed to be a Holiday Special, resulting in a scary but generic horror anthology.
Score: 7.5/10
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