What is the immense danger that will change The Four Realms? Where did it all start? Well, at least part of that can be answered after the jump.
GRIMM FAIRY TALES: THE DREAM EATER SAGA #0
Story: Raven Gregory, Joe Brusha, and Ralph Tedesco
Writer: Raven Gregory
Pencils: Anthony Spay
Colors: Falk
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Cover A: Mike Debalfo and Nei Ruffino
Cover B: Christopher Cote
Editor: Ralph Tedesco
Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Price: $1.99
Previously in The Dream Eater Saga: Nothing, this is the story of why it all happens.
FOUR HORSEMEN
We start in an ancient in the realm of Myst. The story tells us of people, gifted with second sight, that have written all of history that is and all that will be. Each of these stories is recorded and kept in a vast library of “Fairy Tales”. So, this is actually a cool little build up and explanation. It also leads into our MacGuffin (or maybe Chekov’s Gun, we’ll see) The Book of the Lost.
With the setup out of the way we get into the story. A little girl, presumably one of the people with the second sight, is in the library retrieving the book. As she gets it her mother, calling her Baba, snags her and tells her she is not old enough, though they still bring the book with, which is just odd (and stupid as we find out shortly). They get back and while Baba’s mother is telling Baba a bedtime story their village is attacked. Flash outside and we get a group of riders that very much look like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who are of course searching for the book. Fel Yaga, as “War” calls her tears a page out of the book and gives it to her daughter then hides her under the bed. She is then killed by “War” as he takes the book from her.
The Horsemen then run as Thane’s forces (yeah, I’m not sure who that is either) are coming and apparently they can’t handle them all. Baba Yaga meets the good guys (they’re good because they say they are) and gives them partial blame for her mother’s death because they were too late. After the “good guys” leave, she uses the one page her mother gave her to absorb the souls of all the dead in her village (seriously, why did they bring the book with them?) and swear vengeance upon all that had wronged her.
QUIET LITTLE VILLAGE
Spay does a mostly superb job. The scenery looks great. The Horsemen are scary. The “good” Lion man (Thane?) is intimidating without looking evil. My only complaint was Fel Yaga. She looks weird and out of place in almost every panel. Now, the over-sexified look of her is workable, I understand that is part of the style for the line, but there were only two panels that she looked right in. Everywhere else she was at odd angles or just not right. Again, everything else is fantastic, but I got distracted almost every time she was on panel.
BOTTOM LINE: NECESSARY
The story was a little weak, not bad just could have had more, and the characters didn’t quite fit, but the lead in and lead out were very good. However, my favorite part of the book is after the story concludes. We are given information about the Four Realms, their history, and many of the (probably) main players in the story. For this alone, if you haven’t read much or any of the Grimm line previously, this book is worth picking up. Thanks to the fantastic lead in and the extra info, this book manages a decent 3 out of 5 stars.
[rating:3/5]