In GRIMM UNIVERSE PRESENTS QUARTERLY: DARKWATCHERS FEATURING GRETEL, available from Zenescope Entertainment on February 17th, 2021, Gretel and Calabar are on the hunt for a weather witch when they encounter a threat darker than Gretel has ever faced. When Calabar is mortally wounded, her search for a healer takes her beyond the Veil where the Darkwatchers are waiting.
The Details
- Written By: Brian Hawkins
- Art By: Donny Hadiwidjaja, Allan Otero, Eman Casallos
- Colors By: Maxflan Araujo, Jorge Cortes, Walter Pereyra
- Letters By: Kurt Hathaway
- Cover Art By: Edgar Salazar, Ivan Nunes
- Cover Price: $8.99
- Release Date: February 17, 2021
Was It Good?
Yes. This is a beefy quarterly at 74 pages and it’s worth the cover price. What we have here is a complete and excellent introduction to the Gretel character in a modern world. The combination of guns and magic makes Gretel and Calabar an odd couple that sounds like they don’t mix, but they make for a great tag team of physical and mystical force.
What’s also remarkable is the small army of creators involved in the creation of this quarterly that manages to keep the high-quality art consistent for the entire read.
If you’d like to see the art for yourself, check out our exclusive GRIMM UNIVERSE PRESENTS QUARTERLY: DARKWATCHERS FEATURING GRETEL preview here.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
We meet Gretel and Calabar hiking the Santa Lucia mountains in search of a weather witch who’s responsible for the nearby forest fires. When they find the witch, Gretel does most of the heavy hitting with magical power to combat the witch.
Hawkins efficiently combines caption narration and Gretel’s fighting actions to help us get to know this character, particularly with her struggle to fight without giving in to her inner darkness.
Gretel defeats the weather witch, but Calabar is critically injured during the fight. The duo slowly make their way down the mountain to source of power Gretel can feel, hoping there is a healer in the area. During the labored journey, Gretel talks to Calabar to keep her awake.
Hawkins wisely uses their slow walk-and talk to give readers a flashback to the early days of Gretel and Calabar’s working relationship. There’s a real sense of respect between them, both professional and personal.
The head for a small village where an old woman offers to help heal Calabar with conjuring medicine. Gretel agrees but pays a price she didn’t anticipate.
Part of the cure involves Gretel drinking an elixir that taps into her darker nature, luring a dark figure from the woods to them. Calabar awakes, fully healed, and helps to fight off the dark figure. The old woman explains the nearby cave holds a Darkwatcher, a creature trapped in the Veil between life and death, that feeds on the darkness in all life, particularly witches.
The old woman has been helping the Darkwatcher acquire darkness in exchange for being left alone, but her latest attempt with Gretel will be her last. She agrees to help Gretel and Calabar find the Darkwatcher to destroy it, if possible.
The old woman guides the duo to a mountainside cave, and they enter to find the Darkwatcher’s slave hordes waiting for them. A pitched battle follows, and the old woman is taken to the Veil in the chaos. Gretel follows but she may have been the intended Darkwatcher’s prize all along.
Without spoiling the ending, the finale leaves everyone involved changed permanently.
Final Thoughts
GRIMM UNIVERSE PRESENTS QUARTERLY: DARKWATCHERS FEATURING GRETEL, available from Zenescope Entertainment on February 17th, 2021, is an excellent on-ramp to get to know the Gretel character in the best way possible, development through her actions and purpose. Surprisingly, the art remains consistent despite the duties changing hands multiple times, and that’s a real testament to the creative team’s efforts.
Score: 8.5/10
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