Comic Review: Grimm Fairy Tales: Bad Girls #3 / Writer: Joey Esposito / Art: Eduardo Garcia, Salvador Velasquez, Anthony Spay / Publisher: Zenescope / Release Date: Out Now
Full disclosure: If I had been in a comic shop, I would have walked right past Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales: Bad Girls without a second glance. The art is typical of the publisher’s style (tiny waists, large breasts, barely there clothing) and the cover of the series’ second issue features an impressive amount of butt cleavage. After reading Grimm Fairy Tales: Bad Girls #3, I realize now that it would have been my loss.
As the mini-series builds upon the events of Grimm Fairy Tales #81, Bad Girls takes place within a richly layered world that’s easy to jump into even if you’re unfamiliar with GFT. Though one might think that the bulk of the action would surround the highborn Bad Girls of the series title, writer Joey Esposito sticks close to his bespectacled heroine, Sela, and her partners, Samantha and Nathan.
The trio continue in their search of the elusive Mandersoon, a being powerful enough to counter the attacks of the Goblin Queen’s horde. Their quest leads them to a remote monastery where the monks of the Michi No are guarding the Mandersoon egg. Sela and friends join forces with Red (and her pet wolves), whose training with the Michi No has left her uniquely equipped to deal with the Mandersoon. The Bad Girls plot and scheme, as Bad Girls are wont to do, though their one dimensional villainy isn’t half as interesting as the pickles Red and Samantha find themselves in.
Stylistically, Bad Girls is consistent with the Zenescope brand, and any criticism of the art is based largely on taste. While it isn’t necessarily a style this reviewer would gravitate towards, the art is objectively proficient though one does wonder if the team of Eduardo Garcia, Salvador Velasquez, and Anthony Spay are being paid per up-skirt shot. The art’s only real shortcomings, other than a flexible interpretation of female anatomy, are a lack of details in some of the backgrounds and a homogenous assortment of faces. Jeff Balke, Jason Embury, Wesley Wong, and Mike Stefan shared colouring duties and while their work is adequate throughout, the backgrounds similarly tend to fall short.
Ultimately, it’s Esposito’s clever dialogue and skillful pacing that elevate Bad Girls from mere cheesecake to a comic worth reading. Come for the cleavage, stay for the story, and remember not to judge a book by its cover.
