Unleashed #2 (Grimm Fairy Tales #85)

Having been resurrected from the dead, Belinda joins forces with Sela and the other Hunters in order to put a stop the Being and his evil schemes.  Still unsure of Belinda’s true intentions, Sela accepts her help and calls upon a reluctant guardian to aid their quest to find the Being.  Grimm Fairy Tales #85 continues the Unleashed saga, forming unlikely alliances in order to stop the greatest evil they’ve ever known.

Like with the Dream Eater Saga, Unleashed spills over into other Zenescope titles so that it’s not just contained within its own side-story.  This storyline is definitely going to have consequences and having issues from the main Zenescope titles tie-in to the event shows how much these other books are going to be affected.  So, it looks like Belinda is back, but not quite as bad as she was before.  In fact she’s offered to help Sela in order to make amends for all that she had done before.  Perhaps it was Belinda’s self-sacrifice that redeemed her, or maybe something else entirely.  Now, with the aid of a former enemy and the support of her re-united team of hunters, Sela sets out for the floating fortress down in Antarctica, hoping to bring them all one step closer to finding the Being.  The Hunters are about to engage in a battle that will determine whether or not they have what it takes to bring down this new evil that’s spreading across the world.

I gotta say, the thing I liked most about this issue was Belinda.  Throughout the Grimm Fairy Tales series and all of its offshoots, we’ve gotten see different aspects of Belinda’s past and present and it doesn’t exactly hold up well in her favor.  Deceit, betrayal and revenge have been the names of her game for so very long that it took a sudden act of self-sacrifice to finally show her the light.  This is one complex character in that getting herself killed is the only way to give her some sense of regret for her previous actions.  Evidence suggests that in no way should Sela trust Belinda in any way, but as we’re now seeing in this issue, Belinda is truly trying to make amends.  I see Belinda in the same light as I do Anakin Skywalker or even Vegeta (if memory serves me right).  All of them suddenly saw the folly of their ways through the actions of one much worse than themselves and in turn, threw themselves into the line of fire and defended the one they had been fighting.  Sure, there are a lot of deaths on their hands, but their now going to use their strengths for the greater good in order to make up for they had done.  Which is why I’ve grown more fond of Belinda.  The bravery she had shown through her death and even more so through her humility towards Sela really let me believe in this character.  So, good on you Pat for giving this reformed villain a second chance.

As it goes with a lot of the Zenescope books I review, there wasn’t anything in this issue that I didn’t approve of.  It’s a special double-sized issue, full of magic, monsters and mayhem with quite a bit of death thrown in for good measure.  The art was pretty tight and the story really pushed the event forward.  Plus Belinda has returned and the world could always use more redheads.

With her former adversary and her team of otherworldly fighters in place, Sela is ready to take on Samira’s fortress.  Being such a loose-cannon in the past, it’s hard to really tell where Belinda’s loyalties lie, but perhaps it’s finally time for her to shine.  Sela and Belinda, what a combo those two will make.  So, for a good read and more insight into what’s to become of everyone during Unleashed, go out and grab this book because once it’s gone, it won’t return like Belinda has.  For more info on where to pick up this issue, visit the Zenescope website, or the Zenescope Facebook page.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are 100% those of the individual reviewer.