The old proverb of “beauty is only skin deep” gets the ole’ Grimm twist in this, the third issue of volume two.
Bea and Jess are college roommates. Bea is the studious plain Jane type with Jess being the blonde socialite, who swears of jocks following another bust up with her boyfriend. Despite their differences, which comes across as Jess taking a somewhat scornful attitude towards Bea, the two hatch a plan to win Jess a guy via the Internet. But when Bea is called upon to “chat” to the guy feelings develop which then manifest into discord when Jess breaks a promise to date the guy in question.
It sounds a little soap opera-y, which I guess it has to in order for us to care about the characters in question. Writer Luo Iovino tries hard to give the reader a realistic approach to this particular slice of college life, especially with the dialogue. Where Iovino kind of falls down is the sudden change of Bea, moving from plain Jane to mini skirt wearing hard ass. With the change being a focal point of the tale, I would have expected more exposition around it rather than the reason for the change seemingly happening off panel.
The art is supplied by Cristhian Crizam Zamora whose work I have seen previously in Swords of Sorrow: Black Sparrow
For me, Grimm Tales of Terror are a bit of a guilty pleasure. However, I am a tad disappointed with this book. The idea of having to fit in with your peer group or the need to change yourself or even recognizing what you have rather than what you don’t are all strong areas for character development, which are somehow lost in this tale. It may be that this particular story would have been better suited to a higher page count, such as a special, in order to make Bea’s frustrations clearer which then would lead to stronger ramifications.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Author Profile
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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
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