Grimm Fairy Tales 2022 Horror Pinup Special Review
The Grimm Fairy Tales series has been running since 2005, taking classic fairytales and characters and modernising them, twisting them into darker versions of themselves. Classic fantasy worlds such as Wonderland and Oz are featured alongside re-imagined characters like Red Riding Hood, Cinderella among others.
This pinup special features a bevy of Grimm characters cosplaying as characters from other horror properties such as Hellraiser. A short new tale sets the scene, with the rest of the issue dedicated to the pinups running to twenty eight in total.
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The Details:
Artwork by David Nakayama
- Writer: Dave Franchini
- Artwork: Erik Tamayo
- Colors: Grostieta
- Letterer: Taylor Esposito
- Featured Artists: David Nakayama, Vinz El Tabanas, Riveiro, Paul Green, Alfredo Reyes, Marissa Pope, Noah Salonga, Jamie Tyndall, Leo Matos, Mike Krome, Paolo Pantalena, Hedwin Zaldivar, Elias Chatzoudis, Eric Basaldua, Sun Khamunaki
- Published by Zenescope Entertainment
Grimm Fairy Tales 2022 Horror Pinup Special Story:
Given that this issue is primarily a Pinup special, there is just the one short story at the beginning. We open in a swampy graveyard in New Orleans at midnight, where a voodoo priest is about to sacrifice a captive woman on an altar. Watching from above is Mary ‘Mystere’ Medina, a gifted teenager with the power to raise the dead, which she does to halt the priest’s sacrilegious actions.
The priests would-be victim thanks Mystere for saving her life, but it turns out that Mystere also desires her sacrifice for her own cause. She takes the woman’s life force and breathes it into her red necklace, presumably joining a collection of souls that Mystery calls the Congregation. Less a full story and more a taster of the rich mythology that the Grimm Fairy Tales series has been building for the last eighteen years or so.
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Grimm Fairy Tales 2022 Horror Pinup Special Art:
Artwork by Noah Salonga • Colors by Grostieta
The art is the real reason for this comic existing. With only the initial short story, the special consists of twenty-eight pinup pages by the range of comic book artists listed above. The pinups kickoff with Keres in a Wednesday Adams cosplay by David Nakamaya, with Wednesday’s funereal dress shrunk down to skimpy proportions. Mystere shows up as Sweeney Todd, brandishing a cutthroat razor and Todd’s distinctive hair – jet black with a mild streak of white.
Masumi emerges from a lake in a bikini and an alligator hood for her Lake Placid cosplay, a slightly more obscure reference. Charlotte Le Fanu is Michael Myers, with a much more form- fitting pair of overalls than the Haddonfield killer ever wore. Keres is a female Edgar Allan Poe, complete with raven on her shoulder and a feather quill in her hand. Skye Mathers rocks a Halloween inspired Snow White look, with a small jack o lantern instead of a poisoned apple to bite on.
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The highlights for me include Angelica Blackstone as Pinhead, looking like a combination of Doug Bradley’s original look and the new Jamie Clayton iteration. Another one is Keres in a Xenomorph getup, complete with the conical head and jagged tail. Cailie Liddle is The Mummy but with far less bandages than has been seen in the past. Liesel Van Helsing is Edward Scissorhands, set against a backdrop of a Burtonesque factory with cogs and robots. Avril Williams is a green-skinned Bride of Frankenstein and given its a pinup special is wearing only the straps holding her into her gurney.
It’s hard to write a conclusive review for this comic as one’s mileage may vary on the idea of the sexy pinup style of the issue. It does little for me, having not read many of the Grimm universe comics and thus being unfamiliar with the characters, but the artwork is great and conjures that spooky – fun Halloween feeling that is indicative of the season.
Artwork by Vinz El Tabanas
Check out Grimm Fairy Tales 2022 Horror Pinup Special
Grimm Fairy Tales 2022 Horror Pinup Special was released on October 19, 2022 by Zenescope Entertainment.
