REVIEW: Grimm Tales of Terror #13

Written by Joe Brusha
Art by Ferran Sellares
Covers by Pasquale Qualano, Tina Valentino and Eric J
Publisher: Zenescope
Release Date: 07/29/2015

“So a man walks into a bar”¦”¦”“

Zenescope books have a certain allure, with covers featuring a bevy of beautiful women. Now this may mean that some people are worried about picking up books that have such images, worrying about what buying “that sort of book”“ says about them. But in many cases, the cover is not indicative of the art or images inside. What you have to understand is that the cover is there to entice you in, to tempt you with its wares.

This issue of Tales of Terror, featuring said temptress, is the last in this volume and tries to deliver the big shock. For the most part it does. Written by Joe Brusha, the plot is pretty standard, though there is a flair to the script that gives it a recognisable feel rather than a “seen this a million times”“ kind of vibe. That is no mean feat as, annoyingly, the inside cover blurb tells you what the story is which in my mind, dilutes the set-up a little. Where Brusha does excel, is the portents of doom that follows the lead character.

The art is by Ferran Sellares whose style is a tad similar to J. Scott Campbell. This isn“t necessarily a bad thing, but the difference does show when Sellares has to draw something other than curvy women. This isn“t really a problem for this story, as there is a required need, artistically and for the story elements, to be met and met they are. With this being Zenescope, there are a number of variant covers available. I personally like the EC Comics homages, but I am old school.

With this having a twist in the tale, I don“t want to give too much away. I enjoyed the book to a point. There are two conclusions in there with one of them coming across somewhat slapstick which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I can see why there had to be a conclusion, but if feels anti-climactic in comparison to the set-up”“. If you have been reading this book from the start, you will no doubt enjoy this issue, if it“s your first time, the single issue format may entice you to try the other books in series.

Oh, and by the way, the punch line from the joke at the top ”“ “ow”“!

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

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