GRIMM FAIRY TALES – MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY: BLOOD PHARAOH – Review

In GRIMM FAIRY TALES – MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY: BLOOD PHARAOH, available from Zenescope Entertainment on December 1st, 2021, a group of university research students have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study a pair of recently recovered ancient tablets. What they don’t realize is the ancient evil their work will awaken.

The Details

• Written By: Jenna Lyn Wright
• Art By: Carlos Eduardo Cunha, Dario Tallarico
• Colors By: Robby Bevard, Ceci de la Cruz, Michael Bartolo
• Letters By: Taylor Esposito, Rieanna Bates, Torrianna Wilkinson
• Cover Art By: Igor Vitorino (cover A)
• Cover Price: $8.99
• Release Date: December 1, 2021

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Was It Good?

It was okay. GRIMM FAIRY TALES – MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY: BLOOD PHARAOH takes a tried and true concept of skeptical researches messing around with something they shouldn’t and paying a dear price for ignoring the warning signs. It’s not an original concept in the world of horror/fantasy, and as far as ancient Egypt stories involving curses and mummies, this quarterly follows a fairly standard plot. That said, this quarterly does one thing very well, and one thing not very well at all.

What this quarterly does very well is set up a new villain in the Grimm Universe (or is it Multiverse?) with a compelling backstory, a formidable powerset, and no backdoors to label the villain as “misunderstood” or “relatable.” Rudamon aka Blood Pharaoh is ruthless, merciless, and just plain bad to the bone. Should established Zenescope heroes such as Van Helsing cross paths with Rudamon, they’re going to be in for a bad time. The key is the future potential, so while the story may be stock and standard, the seeds for more imaginative stories are there.

What this quarterly doesn’t do very well is give the characters natural, organic dialog. To call the dialog clunky would be a very generous understatement. Admittedly, there are at least seven different characters to set up before you get to the action, so it’s understandable that some of the dialog needs to dump an unnatural amount of information to let you know who these researchers are and what motivates them. It’s understandable but that doesn’t make it any less of a chore to read in spots. Thankfully, once the character setups are finished at about page 14, the rest of the issue flows smoothly.

The writing has it’s ups and downs, but there’s no complaints about the art. As you can see from the credits above, there’s a small army of creators working on the visuals. Sometimes that leads to an inconsistent visual experience, but not so here. The character designs look great. There’s a grounded realism to the settings and backgrounds. And the magical scenes are eye catching.

What’s It About?

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

We begin with an INTERPOL raid on a safe house holding stolen, ancient relics. During the raid, the thieves are killed and some blood is splashed on a pair of tablets. And what have learned about splashing blood on ancient, mystical artifacts, boys and girls? Right. Whatever power is inside wakes up.

Later, a research professor informs his students he’s been granted access to the recovered tablets for academic study. During the initial study, one of the students accidentally cuts her finger, dripping blood on the tablet and opening herself up to possession from the malignant force it contains.

As the week wears on, strange occurrences, mimicking the 10 Deadly Plagues of Egypt, manifest around campus. As each “plague’ completes, the students notice one line disappears from the tablets. Eventually, we learn the student who was possessed is the reincarnation of the priestess who originally helped Rudamon acquire his power, and she’s called forth the the plagues to unseal the tablets and resurrect Rudamon.

We conclude the issue with a flashback to a god-versus-god battle and an up close look at the price for undue skepticism.

Final Thoughts

GRIMM FAIRY TALES – MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY: BLOOD PHARAOH follows a fairly standard Mummy-style plot but excels at creating a villain with gobs of future potential for the Grimm Universe. The plot makes sense and hits all the right beats, but the clunky dialog in the first section of the book is ponderous. That said, the art is great and the ending leaves the door open for plenty of storytelling potential.

Score: 7.5/10

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