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Grimm Fairy Tales Omnibus, Volume 1
Experience the uniquely twisted fairy tales from the minds of Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco! Follow the heroine Sela as she uses the classic tales of old to lead modern day men and women to the right choices while combating the lure of evil. This title collects the issues numbered 1-50 of the hit independent series.
1600 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2012
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154 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 2, 2014
I'm a sucker for fractured fairy tales, and I love this whole retelling (which is similar-ish to the Fables series).
However, it's very obvious to me that it's written and drawn by men, as the ladies--who comprise about 90% of the majority of the series--are always as scantily-clad as possible. I mean, I love a good pair of boobs as much as the next person, but really? If you were going to be equal opportunity nudity, I would be more inclined to think you were doing it for a reason other than hot, naked girls. But I love everything else about these.
However, it's very obvious to me that it's written and drawn by men, as the ladies--who comprise about 90% of the majority of the series--are always as scantily-clad as possible. I mean, I love a good pair of boobs as much as the next person, but really? If you were going to be equal opportunity nudity, I would be more inclined to think you were doing it for a reason other than hot, naked girls. But I love everything else about these.
July 5, 2020
Review to follow
September 14, 2017
I have to admit this was surprisingly good. From the covers I just assumed this was a bunch of scantily clad women in compromising situations. And I guess it sorta was, but there was much more story than I expected. Each chapter is a modern retelling of a classic fairy tale (always with a scantily clad female) but there's also a much larger story being told throughout.
This is a massive book but the story flowed well and it was overall a quick read.
The art runs hot and cold but is usually at least okay, and the story was much stronger than you'd have any right to expect really. If you've been on the fence about this one give it a shot because you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
This is a massive book but the story flowed well and it was overall a quick read.
The art runs hot and cold but is usually at least okay, and the story was much stronger than you'd have any right to expect really. If you've been on the fence about this one give it a shot because you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
May 21, 2014
Other than the usually complaint of wanting this as a hardcover (Seriously all these creaks and groans are making me nervous.) If your like me you know Zenescope comics are pricey. This helps you get caught up on 1-50 of the Zenescope Grimm fairy tale issues. Plenty of action and twists to our favorite fairy tales. And the story gets even hotter after the tales.
December 14, 2022
The book I am reviewing is Grimm Fairy Tales Omnibus, Volume 1 By: Joe Brusha.
The main ideas of the book (from what I gather) are. People who learn from others in their situation will grow from it. People who do not will be fated to follow the path they failed to learn from. Growth doesn't always mean becoming a better person. Finally, life is not so cut and dry as a Fairy tail, even a grimm one. Bad things happen to good people and bad people find success.
As for my personal thoughts on the book, it was pretty good, nothing too groundbreaking. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it’s an omnibus; a collection of many smaller volumes in one, certain chapters from the larger series may be missing, which will be off-putting to readers who value strict continuity. However the primary draw the book has for me is in the graphic novel format. The story also becomes more linear in later chapters making it feel like a better story rather than a collection, although this really puts emphasis on times when the continuity is broken such as at the end of one chapter two people are like “let's go do this and that” and the very next page, one is standing over the others grave.
I believe the writer's objective was to write an engaging story about the journey of the protagonist, then again that's most stories, the interesting role of this protagonist is that she is one who goes around trying to improve the lives of those on the path of ruination. At this point of the story in this first volume I feel the main message was more centered on the people being helped rather than the helper. The story finds great success in making a compelling collection of stories around this idea in the first volume. The only problem (if you could consider it that) is the focal point changes near the end of this volume, with the story becoming more of a good vs evil storyline in later chapters continuing into the next volume, more focused on the main character's personal journey. Overall, the book is quite enjoyable to read (up until you need to write an analytical book review on it) and this is quite telling of it, as it’s better enjoyed when mindlessly reading. The enjoyment for me is found mainly in the visuals used as each chapter has a different art style. As for the question of “would I recommend it to others?”. It's 50/50 for if I would recommend it. If the person is like me who reads it the first time only looking at the pictures, then a second time reading you can see a lot of value in the story and the visuals, on the other hand half the charm of books like this, ist that they are never “recommended” to you, but rather, you just happen to find it at a thrift store and buy later volumes if you liked it. I feel the intended audience is those aforementioned graphic novel buffs / thrift store enjoyers with more emphasis towards those who have some idea of the original grimm fairy tales. It's definitely meant for a more mature audience due to the graphic nature of some scenes. Due to the scarcity of this book’s niche, and the fact I have never heard anyone mention it nor seen it in any social media outlet it’s fair to say it doesn't reach further than its intended audience. The obvious comparison to other sources would be the aforementioned homage to the tales in Grimms’ Fairy Tales (by the brothers Grimm) with many of the standalone chapters featuring the given protagonist reading a tale from a the magic book, with varying degrees of parody and self insertion, to better work with the individual's situation. The level of this parody varies with some staying nearly identical to the origin material (such as Jack and the beanstalk) to others being a bit more modified (goldilocks and the 3 bears) with the final kind being modified in some way to better suit the overarching plotline (the magicians assistant). There are other tales that are included other than ones from the brothers Grimm such as The Portrait of Dorian Grey and The Devil's brother.
In conclusion this book is a bit of a slow starter; for one because it’s the kind of gem one has to find first, then again due to the slow start of the story. But when it goes through a change in theme and story structure it becomes a good bit more enjoyable, as the later storylines feel more linear and epic, this could be just because I prefer the “epic” type story rather than the somewhat interconnected short stories, akin to how one might prefer homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, rather than a collection of separate greek mythlets. But above all, the visual aspect is the part of the book I like the most, then again I just prefer pictures to words as a general rule of thumb; but personal biases be damned, the art is good. So my stance on this book is that it’s just alright until the story picks up, then it becomes prime reading material; earning it a rating of 4 stars.
The main ideas of the book (from what I gather) are. People who learn from others in their situation will grow from it. People who do not will be fated to follow the path they failed to learn from. Growth doesn't always mean becoming a better person. Finally, life is not so cut and dry as a Fairy tail, even a grimm one. Bad things happen to good people and bad people find success.
As for my personal thoughts on the book, it was pretty good, nothing too groundbreaking. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it’s an omnibus; a collection of many smaller volumes in one, certain chapters from the larger series may be missing, which will be off-putting to readers who value strict continuity. However the primary draw the book has for me is in the graphic novel format. The story also becomes more linear in later chapters making it feel like a better story rather than a collection, although this really puts emphasis on times when the continuity is broken such as at the end of one chapter two people are like “let's go do this and that” and the very next page, one is standing over the others grave.
I believe the writer's objective was to write an engaging story about the journey of the protagonist, then again that's most stories, the interesting role of this protagonist is that she is one who goes around trying to improve the lives of those on the path of ruination. At this point of the story in this first volume I feel the main message was more centered on the people being helped rather than the helper. The story finds great success in making a compelling collection of stories around this idea in the first volume. The only problem (if you could consider it that) is the focal point changes near the end of this volume, with the story becoming more of a good vs evil storyline in later chapters continuing into the next volume, more focused on the main character's personal journey. Overall, the book is quite enjoyable to read (up until you need to write an analytical book review on it) and this is quite telling of it, as it’s better enjoyed when mindlessly reading. The enjoyment for me is found mainly in the visuals used as each chapter has a different art style. As for the question of “would I recommend it to others?”. It's 50/50 for if I would recommend it. If the person is like me who reads it the first time only looking at the pictures, then a second time reading you can see a lot of value in the story and the visuals, on the other hand half the charm of books like this, ist that they are never “recommended” to you, but rather, you just happen to find it at a thrift store and buy later volumes if you liked it. I feel the intended audience is those aforementioned graphic novel buffs / thrift store enjoyers with more emphasis towards those who have some idea of the original grimm fairy tales. It's definitely meant for a more mature audience due to the graphic nature of some scenes. Due to the scarcity of this book’s niche, and the fact I have never heard anyone mention it nor seen it in any social media outlet it’s fair to say it doesn't reach further than its intended audience. The obvious comparison to other sources would be the aforementioned homage to the tales in Grimms’ Fairy Tales (by the brothers Grimm) with many of the standalone chapters featuring the given protagonist reading a tale from a the magic book, with varying degrees of parody and self insertion, to better work with the individual's situation. The level of this parody varies with some staying nearly identical to the origin material (such as Jack and the beanstalk) to others being a bit more modified (goldilocks and the 3 bears) with the final kind being modified in some way to better suit the overarching plotline (the magicians assistant). There are other tales that are included other than ones from the brothers Grimm such as The Portrait of Dorian Grey and The Devil's brother.
In conclusion this book is a bit of a slow starter; for one because it’s the kind of gem one has to find first, then again due to the slow start of the story. But when it goes through a change in theme and story structure it becomes a good bit more enjoyable, as the later storylines feel more linear and epic, this could be just because I prefer the “epic” type story rather than the somewhat interconnected short stories, akin to how one might prefer homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, rather than a collection of separate greek mythlets. But above all, the visual aspect is the part of the book I like the most, then again I just prefer pictures to words as a general rule of thumb; but personal biases be damned, the art is good. So my stance on this book is that it’s just alright until the story picks up, then it becomes prime reading material; earning it a rating of 4 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2018
LOVED this! Grimm Fairy Tales and Zenescope are my favorite comics besides DC. The love the reimagining of the stories we partially know, since the stories are based off of the ORIGINALLY Grimm stories, not the Disney sugar-coated stories. Safe to say I WILL be reading the 2nd volume and more of their stuff (besides the Oz book I've already read).
April 17, 2018
Awesome and modernized retellings of old fairy tales, with an even greater behind the scenes story to go along!
November 2, 2018
I like how they put art and new aged styles in the fairy tales. wonderful art and some great ideas to get females introduced into comics.
Read
December 27, 2014Okay, let's get one thing out of the way first - I know next to nothing about comic books. I read the occasional Archie comic and I like Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. There are a couple webcomics I read, but no actual comic books. I didn't even realize this was a comic. It had a weird picture on my library website that was really small and not the cover and I couldn't figure out what it was so I ordered it because I was logged in already.
You know, as you do. Read the rest on my blog.
You know, as you do. Read the rest on my blog.
November 3, 2014
A long, long, long time ago I got into Zenescope Comics.
Imagine my surprise when there was an Omnibus!!!
So of course I immediately ordered it and that was how I got my hands on this shiny gem.
I cannot wait for the second omnibus (collecting issues 51-97) to get released!
Zenescope Comics has gained a fan for life. (way way I mean WAY earlier before I wrote this review)
Imagine my surprise when there was an Omnibus!!!
So of course I immediately ordered it and that was how I got my hands on this shiny gem.
I cannot wait for the second omnibus (collecting issues 51-97) to get released!
Zenescope Comics has gained a fan for life. (way way I mean WAY earlier before I wrote this review)
December 31, 2016
Terrifying and awesome at the same time!! I must read the next one!!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews