REVIEW: Grimm Fairy Tales: Death One Shot

Story Joe Brusha & Ralph Tedesco, written by Ralph Tedesco, art by Gregbo Watson, published by Zenoscope

So Keres is a Grim Reaper who goes a bit vigilante the other Reapers punish her for ‘upsetting the balance’ by having her live the last few minutes of peoples lives until she understands that she can’t interfere with the natural order. I wish they would introduce a similar scheme for welfare officers.

I thought this might just be another ‘bad girl bearing all book’ but Keres’s fair boobage isn’t the only thing that stands out in this comic. There’s very little centerfold posing, automatically making this a classier book than something like Lady Death.

The writing moves well, this is a 42 page one shot and it never feels bogged down. This passes the Beckdale test as well, Joe and Ralph are telling a story here not writing for Playboy. There’s an interesting world here with different versions of Death for different realities, with plenty scope to explore this set up in any future issues.

The art moves well, each death scene is suitably horrid. Keres herself could pose for some questionable websites but she never drawn as if she actually is. There’s a very healthy variety of anatomy, facial expressions and designs so when the two main supernatural beings, Keres and Abaddon, turn up with physiques that would make Putin scuttle his rowing machine it just means if you’re going to be an anthropomorphic personification of the mortality of mortals you may as well look good doing it.

A surprisingly good comic about a character refining herself and changing the world she works in.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]