Zenescope Announces April Solicits

Editor's Note: Just when you thought you knew where to put your pennies...we bring you April as well!

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT FOR APRIL




GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: UNLEASHED #0

Story by Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, and Raven Gregory, written by Pat Shand, art by Nei Ruffino, covers by Anthony Spay, Giuseppe Cafaro.

The four realms have been witness to great evil over the centuries- The Dark One, The Dream Eater and Helios to name a few. But none have threatened existence as we know it as much as THE BEING. Who or what is he? What does he want and how do the answers tie into the origins of Sela Mathers and the four hunters who banished a legion of monsters centuries ago? The prelude to Zenescope's Grimm event of the year begins now!


GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: UNLEASHED #1

Written by Pat Shand, art by TBD, cover by Ivan Nunes, Jamie Tyndall, Stjepan Sejic.

Belinda returns in this amazing double-issue that kicks off the biggest Grimm Event to date! The Being's end game is set in motion as a portal is opened leading into the shadow realm - a realm where a legion of monsters has been trapped for centuries... until now. Heroes must join forces with four time-lost monster hunters to stand against a threat whose power may be unlimited. But they're about to get some help in the form of a powerful ally in Belinda! A shadow has fallen over the Grimm Universe and nothing will ever be the same!




GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: VAMPIRES: THE ETERNAL #1

Wrtten by Pat Shand, art by TBD, covers by Anthony Spay, Giuseppe Cafaro, Nei Ruffino

This tie-in to Zenescope's brand new Unleashed series is a must-have as vampires invade the Grimm Universe. When Samira, Queen of the Vampires, returns to Earth after more than a century of banishment, she's hellbent on killing all who will not bow before her. But the beautiful and bad-ass Helsing, daughter of the famed vampire hunter himself, might be the one woman who can take Samira down.





GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: REALM KNIGHTS

Written by Pat Shand, Joe Brusha, art by TBD, covers by Alfredo Reyes, Harvey Tolibao, Pasquale Qualano.

Powerful Highborns who had remained hidden for so long have come out in the open and many of them do not have the best intentions for human kind. The Dark One and his Horde want control of the realms of power, starting with the nexus, and there are even more sinister threats still hiding in the shadows. How can humans hope to survive against beings of such incredible power? The Realm Knights are the only answer. These Knights are a powerful team of Highborns who've made it their life's mission to protect Earth and all the realms of power. This is their story!




GRIMM FAIRY TALES #84

Written by Troy Brownfield, art by TBD, covers by Alfredo Reyes, Pasquale Qualano.

Jack Frost Part 2 of 2 - Bullies have preyed on the weaker students of the campus for years. But not anymore. Jack Frost has arrived, serving cold revenge and leaving terror in his wake. Can Sela save her students before this new supernatural threat grows beyond her control? The key to stopping him could lie in the recesses of Frost's horrible past, but Sela needs to live long enough to find it.




GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: WONDERLAND #10

Written by Raven Gregory, art by Sheldon Goh, covers by Mike Krome, Marat Mychaels.

What if Alice had never journey to Wonderland? Once upon a time there was a little girl named Alice who was sacrificed to a realm of madness and insanity. But what if that sacrificed had never happened? When a familiar face from the future journeys back in order to prevent that fateful day from happening results in chaos and turmoil that may very well rip the reality of two worlds to shreds. Featuring the long awaited Cheshire Cat reborn!






GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: MADNESS OF WONDERLAND #3

Written by Dan Wickline, art by TBD, covers by Paolo Pant, Eric J.

As detective Legrasse begins to close in on the killer's trail, secrets from her past come back to her haunt her with revelations that could very well destroy her sanity. Meanwhile, the story of Lovecraft's journal continues as Lovercraft finds himself held hostage by Jacob Hall as they descend below the surface toward an icy grave that holds the remains of creatures from another realm -- creatures whose disturbed slumber could mean the end of us all.


GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: THE JUNGLE BOOK: LAST OF THE SPECIES #3

Written by Mark L. Miller, art by Jorge Mercado, cover by Ivan Nunes, Jimbo Salgado.

The jungle adventure continues as Mowglii and Tobaqui find out that they are not alone in the caves under Kipling Island while Baloo and his group continue to search the jungle high and low for their missing friends. Meanwhile, the conflict between Dewan and Bomani escalates to a deadlier new level. The action/adventure series that has critics and fans alike raving about continues!





FLY: THE FALL TP

Written by Raven Gregory, art by Robert Gill, Pipin Tobing, covers by Ale Garza.

The "Best comic of 2011" as voted by Wizard World, Pop Culture Addict, Comic Buzz, Talking Comics, and Geekadelphia returns in a brand new volume. What if there was a drug that gave you the power to Fly? How far would you go to possess it? As Eddie Patron struggles with the guilt of Danielle's death he finds comfort in his girlfriend, Mary. But little does he know he is not the only one who has been keeping secrets. Meanwhile, Francis is fi nally ready to face the individual responsible for the murder of his family and only one of them will be leaving alive. Set in a world where the super heroes aren't really heroes at all... how far would you go to FLY? Collects FLY: The Fall 1-5.


GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS: GODSTORM TP

Written by Pat Shand, art by Jason Johnson, cover by Eric Basaldua.

Gods and gangsters clash in this action-packed, critically acclaimed series from Zenescope, collected here for the fi rst time! The lines have been drawn in the battle between the Greek gods, and all of humanity is at stake. From Pat Shand (writer of Robyn Hood) and superstar artist Jason Johnson, this series sets the stage for the events that will change the face of the Grimm Universe forever. Collects Godstorm #0-4.

Fly: The Fall #4

What really sent the Hero over the edge is finally revealed.  Francis is closing in on his parents' murderer and it just so happens that Eddie is in his way.  Now that Francis knows Mary’s connection to the Hero, his friendship with Eddie will truly be put to the test.  The thrilling story of Fly: The Fall continues as Eddie learns just how much Fly has affected everyone he’s ever cared about.

The Hero has been beaten.  Francis is on the warpath, now that he knows he has a chance of avenging his parents.  Unfortunately, that warpath leads him right to Eddie, who just so happens to be involved with the Hero’s daughter, Mary.  Francis just doesn’t care who he hurts anymore, as long as he’s able to hurt the Hero as much as possible.  There’s a big revelation in this issue that makes everything fall into place, which can only mean great things for the finale of this series.

As per usual the writing is outstanding.  The whole cast is pretty much at their breaking points and yet the calmest one of all is the one with the most to lose.  The past and present of the Fly drug are now coming to a head and seamlessly ties both volumes together.  I honestly never would have guessed the connection between Mary and the Hero before and now, after reading this issue, it all makes so much sense.  The thing that really gets me about this issue and the series as a whole is that I’m just so emotionally invested into these characters.  I think I mentioned something similar to this in the previous Fly review, but for those of you just tuning in, let me elaborate a bit. 

Comics rarely make me feel anything for the characters within them.  For the most part it’s just a cool story with a lot of fighting in it.  For this series, however, even though it’s not my creation, I can’t help but feel a bit protective of some of the people within the story.  I just want things to start going right for Eddie.  He just gets used and abused by practically everyone he meets and you can’t help but feel sorry for the guy.  With Francis, it’s terrible what happened to his parents, but I just feel like smacking the guy sometimes, just to get him to wake up for this blind rage.  There’s a lot riding on the actions of these two as the issue comes to a close and amps up for the inevitable clash between the former friends.  Bravo Raven, you’ve got me on the edge of my seat for the next one.

Like with the rest of the series, I have no complaints whatsoever about this issue.  If anything I could use this space to gush some more over how much I like it, but then it would just get redundant and no one likes redundancy.  So, take my word for it, this is not an issue to be missed.  The final showdown is at hand.

Fly: The Fall has yet to disappoint me.  Now that we know everyone’s past and how they’re all connected, that just leaves the epic showdown to finish it all off.  So much enjoyment went into reading this issue and one thing I can clearly see now is that Eddie pretty much got screwed over (do you know how many beatings he’s taken throughout both volumes?)  A strong recommendation from me to soar on over to your comic shop and snag this issue.  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 those of the individual reviewer.

Fly: The Fall #s 1-3

The serum works, Danielle has been stopped.

While Eddie grieves over the loss of Danielle, Francis is more determined than ever to perfect his Fly formula.  Now that he know that not only can he give the power, but also take it away, Francis seeks out the mysterious man who murdered his parents.  But, how did Danielle become so far gone and was there a way to save her?  Read the sequel to the hit series Fly and find out just where it all went wrong.

Ok, so if you haven’t read the first volume of Fly, go do that now.  Don’t worry I’ll wait…actually I gotta keep this review going, but for those of you who did, congratulations you’ve just become, like twenty percent cooler.  Fly is just one of those rare series that I myself can just really get into.  With this newest installment in the Fly series, we pick up after the events of the first volume.  Getting confirmation that the serum works, at the tragic loss of Danielle, Francis is now out for vengeance.  The unknown man that killed his parents is still out there and now that Francis has a way to even the odds, he’s on the hunt.  Meanwhile, Eddie is just trying to cope with the fact that Danielle is now gone.  This series in general is such a great story of just how bad addiction can get.  There’s so much positive that I have to say that it’s going to be hard to get everything out, but I’m going to try.

                

So, like I said before, issue one begins where volume one ended.  Eddie is so shaken up by what he had to do, that he’s just in no position to tell much of a story.  That’s why it’s great to get a glimpse of Eddie and Danielle’s past, seeing little hints of the addiction starting to set in.  I love getting that little insight into what we, as an audience, already know is to come.  However, it’s just sad to see how good they were together and, again, just knowing how it’s all going to go down.  That’s some real writing talent there when you feel like you just want to help the two of them just from that short flashback. 

Issue two gives us even more of Eddie and Danielle’s past.  The same feelings from the first issue, well up again as I read through this new flashback.  Things are just getting progressively worse for the two of them and you can clearly see the addiction setting into Danielle.  You really just don’t want anything to happen to these two.  Like I’ve said, I can’t give these books enough praise.  Another great thing about this issue is we get to see what lengths Francis is willing to go to for payback, showing yet another aspect of what this drug can do to people.  You can see that Francis is getting just as dangerous and corrupted by Fly as Danielle was, which doesn’t bode well for his enemies.

The third issue continues the flashbacks and even has flashbacks within those flashbacks.  Danielle has gone off the deep end at this point and all Eddie wants to do is get her help and off the drug, but like all addictions, it’s easier said than done.  Francis continues his beat down of the Hero and we learn that Eddie and the Hero are connected in a big way.  This is all just culminating into something awesome and spectacular that my words alone just don’t do these books justice.

 As much as I absolutely love the series I did have one qualm with it.  Yet again it’s with the inconsistency with the art style.  When I first pick up an issue and see a certain artist doing the interiors, I like to know that that’s who will be on pencils for the rest of the series. The same goes for the coloring style.  It might be the same penciller, but the tone and depth of the colors just aren’t the same throughout.  This might just be a problem I have, I mean, the artwork looks great throughout, but I just like consistency.

There you have it, a stellar start to an amazing sequel.  Both volumes are just such a good allegory as to the destructive nature of drugs and addiction, both physically and mentally and amped up by super powers.  There’s always a price to pay and it all it takes is that first hit.  Ok, time to stop fanboying.  These issues are most definitely a read for anyone still unsure.  Hurry and pick yours up before they fly off the shelves!  For more info on where to find these issues, visit the Zenescope website or the Zenescope Facebook page.

Geek-o-Rama received copies of these books for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.