This past week was a huge week for Zenescope, so this week, Just Another Zenescope Monday celebrates Grimm Fairy Tales #100. There have been quite a few milestones lately for this company that started 10 years ago, but none more important than hitting the 100th issue of their flagship title.
Grimm Fairy Tales #100 – As the “Age of Darkness” storyline comes to a close, things look pretty Grimm for our heroine, Sela Mathers. She is chained up in the dungeon of the Dark Queen about to be executed. The Dark Queen, being an evil villain and so sure of herself, leaves the Dark One, Malec, to finish the job.
The beginning of this issue gives us a glimpse behind one of the great protectors of the realms, Thane. As a child, he met a Realm Knight and vowed to become one to help protect the kingdom. Now that he is a Realm Knight, with all that has happened, he fears he will not be strong enough to stop what is coming…
The Dark Queen hands the sword to Malec and says “End this chapter and begin anew” just as the Warlord of Oz returns with the Veridian Scepter of Oz, which he retrieved from the future land of Oz, thus delivering the last piece to the puzzle that the Dark Queen has been striving to complete. Now, she has one item from each realm, imbued with the powers of those realms, and she plans on doing some not so nice things with them.
Malec moves to kill Sela, seeming disappointed that this woman who was such a worthy opponent is reduced to a bleeding lump on the floor and so easily dispatched. What’s left of the soldiers of HiboCorp are searching for Sela and have pinpointed her location. Gideon, Shang, Red, and Payne all teleport outside of the dark castle while another old friend pops in for a visit. Appearing in the dungeon just in time to deflect the death blow, Baba Yaga is one angry witch as she tears into Malec. But, before she can kill him, the Dark Queen teleports him away.
The final ritual has begun. The Realm Knights take out the Warlord and enter the chamber, but they are confronted with a Blood Knight. For those of you who got to read the FCBD issue of Grimm Fairy Tales, you got to see how nasty these things can be, and also that the Dark Queen was raising an army of them. The Realm Knights don’t seem to stand a chance.
In the end, as the Realm Knights face certain death at the hands, or fiery bellies, of the Blood Knights, the Dark Queen completes her ritual. Harnessing the powers of the artifacts, she combines all the realms into one. The final product is truly something to behold. The artwork, as ever, is very impressive in this issue, especially the massive scenes of the ritual, the realms coming together, and the aftermath. You have to see it to really appreciate it.
What will happen now? Realms Fall begins this week. Look for a full review of all of this week’s comics from Zenescope on the next Just Another Zenescope Monday and be sure to catch up on any that you missed, right here.
congrats to everyone at zenescope for such an impressive and important milestone! here’s to the next 100!