Okay, I admit it. The reason why I picked up Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales was because of the cover art. But I didn't limit my purchase to Volume 1. I was impressed enough to buy the box collection containing the first 6 volumes.
(There are now 10 volumes--and counting--along with spin-offs).
Despite cover and gallery art like this...
...the stories are not riske parodies of the classic tales compiled by The Brothers Grimm. Yes, the women are beautifully drawn, but each story is darker and truer to the original, than many may have heard nowadays as children, or seen in a Disney animated movie.
This first volume contains the following stories, originally published as individual comics:
and
...which I don't think any amount of "Disney Magic" can clean up.
Each story is connected to today's world, thanks to the intervention of Sela Mathers into the lives of people faced with similar dilemmas, as those in the fairy tales. (Apparently, Sela becomes something of a superhero in later volumes).
The book is available, new and used, on Amazon.com. There are eleven reviews, most of which are 4 and 5 star ratings. Most of the complaints deal with quality control issues, especially from weak bindings. (I don't have a problem with mine--yet). Others didn't think some of the artwork was up to par. Meanwhile, the four 2 and 3 star raters felt the stories fell flat or were unimaginative.
Since I admire good artwork and any un-sanitized version of a fairy tale, I give this book a 5-star rating. The sexy cover art should be a reminder, that these aren't the versions you read to your children at bed time...
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