Review: Belle Deep Freeze One-Shot

Say what you like about Zenescope, and I do a number of times, you can’t knock their publishing model. They have monthly output, with high production values. True, at times, the quality of the art can be a tad hit or miss and some of the ideas of the Grimm Fairy book seems a tad lacklustre when compared to Pat Shand’s run. Still, they have carefully crafted a slew of heroines in which to hang their fairy tales.

Its Winter time and this time there is a definite need to be afraid. The cold north wind that blows through Philadelphia towards Anabelle DiMarco and with it the Winter Maiden and her grandfather, the latter disappointed that his granddaughter’s failure last Christmas. How will Bell survive her very own winter non-wonderland?

Dave Franchini, a Zenescope veteran, continues the Zenescope trend of using these one-shots as a setup for the next years stories, in this case its Belle the Beast Hunter. I have to admit that I am not overly taken with Belle. Having read a recent issue, I thought I would stick around for another crack. Plot wise it seems simple enough; bad guy got after the good guy who defeated his kin. Thing is, between the snow and the fighting and the cold, there is a real sense of dread in the air. This surprised me I must say. The Big Bad chews scenery at a fair clip as the battle rages as ferociously as Cowboys Eagle game at the Vet!

My biggest knock on Zenescope books is the inconsistent art. Thankfully, this time around the majority of the art is handled by Igor Vitorino. who does well on certain areas more than others. Take for example the Winter Maiden on page 6 and some of the Belle full body shots, all of which look great, though some of the smaller panels lack details. The fight scenes, of which there are plenty can seem quite chaotic. For some reason, Rodrigo Xavier is called upon to provide the pencils for pages 31 and 32; the styles look quite different,

though being at the end of the book, this style change doesn’t have much of an impact. Colors are provided by the tag team of Adriano Augusto and Maxflan Araujo, the latter something of a Zenescope specialist. Between them they keep the distinctive production values high. Speaking of high production values, Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios bring his “A” games once again.

A winter’s tale of sorts, ready for the holiday season with the gift of promising more of the same for Belle in the New Year! What more could you want?

Writing – 3.5 Stars

Art – 3.5 Stars

Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Dave Franchini
Art by; Igor Vitorino & Rodrigo Xavier
Colors by; Adriano Augusto & Maxflan Araujo
Letters by; Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios
Published by; Zenescope Entertainment Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network