Grimm Fairy Tales: Inferno

Grimm Fairy Tales

by Ralph Tedesco, Gabriel Rearte (Artist)

Grace is lost and restless in a big city where her nightmares seem all-too real. Suffering from a form of amnesia, she only feels empty and confused. Her therapist overmedicates, her boss sexually harasses her, and her boyfriend beats her. The world is quickly closing in around Grace... but when she learns the truth of her past she might just find the power within to redeem her life and battle her demons, no matter how real they might be!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Fairy Tales, Action

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2010

Reviews

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by my first Zenescope book …

I am not a regular reader of Zenescope Entertainment’s line of books -- a bit too heavy on the ‘cheesecake’ for my general taste – but I was pretty happy to score a six book bundle of their trade paperbacks at my local Ollie’s bargain store (where you ‘Get Good Stuff Cheap!’). The first book in my bundle was Tedesco and Rearte’s Grimm Fairly Tales: Inferno and while my expectations may have been low as I ripped open the cellophane pack, this was pretty darn good!

Zenescope’s bread-and-butter is reimaging classic fairy tales, myths and legends (and, some would argue, adding an ample helping of cartoon cleavage, half shirts, and yoga pants to the stories) but to his credit, Tedesco minimizes the lingerie and gives us a pretty clever conceit for ‘bad girl’ heroine Grace/Mercy Dante. The nod is obviously to Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem The Divine Comedy and the reinvention works surprisingly well as Tedesco serves up a pretty nice plot twist for why Ms. Dante’s life stinks like a gas station toilet. Rearte’s art is reminiscent of Howard Chaykin – and I love me some Chaykin! – heavy on the “good girl” pin-up poses and a nice fit for this type of thing. Admittedly, there are some places where the flow between panels could have used some polish, but as a whole the tale is a fun little mash-up that homages the Alighieri’s original work without soullessly copying it verbatim.

The other thing this book has going for it is its snazzy design and packaging. In addition to the Inferno arc – nicely broken into chapters according to the original issues -- there’s also a nice gallery of the series’ original covers and variants and, as a bonus, two reprinted stories from the Grimm Fairy Tales magazine that introduced Ms. Dante. Oddly, these two tales actually prequel the main story, but I was oddly pleased that they came as back-ups; it’s origin material which a lot of super-hero books tend to bury in the back in favor of a stronger, action-packed lead. And, while it’s also clear that Ms. Dante’s adventures tie into a much larger tale unfolding across Zenescope’s comic book universe (with sexy cartoon librarian Selma Mather playing cosmic puppeteer), Tedesco connects Inferno into that “big picture” without burying it there. It's good comic booking when you can deliver a pretty nice, straightforwardly accessible, self-contained story, while still dropping hints that there's a lot more story out there for the new reader to cut his (or her) teeth on.

So … so far, this is off to a surprisingly good start! As I said, I have a few more books in this bundle so I’m kind of anxious to see if the others maintain the same quality. Obviously this isn’t Watchmen, but color me intrigued (and entertained) with what Zenescope is doing so far.

[Gabriel Fequiere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that I really and truly enjoy Zenescope's series Grimm Fairy Tales and and all the various spinoffs (Neverland, Piper, etc). Unless something major happens I will continue to follow this series. My one and only gripe with it is the unnecessary and gratuitous sexuality and objectification of women within the pages. It truly has no place within the story. Now I am by no means a prude but they don't even try to give it purpose. They are no better than the creators over at the bigger publishers (Marvel, DC). This is why this series will never reach the greatness that is Bill Willingham's Fables. Nothing is done without purpose. And he knows that his story is so good that he doesn't need clichéd tropes like massive mammaries and barely there clothing.

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I officially can't stand this book. It's just so messed up! It took about 1/4 of the book for me to stop. Goodbye, I'm reading a Baby Blues comic.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some interesting possibilities for the story from the outset, but it seems like it's settling in as just another War in Heaven fanfic a la Paradise Lost, Dante's Inferno (makes sense), or Sandman (for something contemporary in the comics world). The art is below average and the layouts are confusion although I do appreciate that they're at least trying to do something there.

[Jourdain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tells the story of mercy dante who saves the one guy from the three little pigs from being in hell. She does it for Sela.

[David Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second chances

Inferno is a story of redemption. A girl watched her parents be killed. She grows up with the purpose of making the killer pay. She finally does this by killing his daughter only to be haunted by this decision. When she is given a chance to change that event, she does. But this is only the beginning of her redemption.

This is a wild tale filled with some amazing art. There is a lot of violent action. One really nice thing is they include the two background stories that led to this series. But for some reason, those backup stories were included twice. Not a problem, but just a touch strange.

[Robert Bussie · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Confucius, "While seeking revenge, dig two graves". This is the plot for Mercy Dante.

The morality of the story is that Mercy is not a hero nor does she want to be, but given a second chance she does the right thing.

The story is really good; the coloring is excellent; the drawings are fine and the inking is subpar. The inking looks like sketch work instead of a final product. It is very rough and in stark contrast with the beautiful coloring.

[Jonas Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy the Grimm series from Xenoscope, but this collection felt more rushed than others with a quick plot and great artwork. Left me wanting more developmentally so I can at least pull a good story to go back to.

[Đenis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moc rýchle , uvítal by som detailnejšie úseky kruhov pekla. Krátka kapitola o treste Lucinde a Mercy, ktorý dostali po pokorení od temnej kráľovny.
3 kruhy pekla z 5.

[Tony Theberge · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally this was going to be Dante's Inferno, but the name got changed to just Inferno. The book contains the stories King Midas and Dante's Inferno Prologue at the end, both which lead up to the current book. The story itself is a little complicated, as Grace is not Grace, but Mercy. She thinks she's alive, but she's actually dead and in the first level of hell.


Sela needs Mercy to do something for her, retrieve someone from lower in hell, and Mercy agrees to do just that. Mercy does that and better, but pays a price.

Another very dark story, but another very well done and very interesting story.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full review on HorrorTalk: http://www.horrortalk.com/comic-revie...

[Fatii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this version of hell, Mercy is a great character, I like how they are giving more backstory to Sela quest and how this fits in.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story was OK but I really didn't care for the art in this mini-series