Grimm Fairy Tales Retrospective #5: Blood, Marriage, And the First Legacy

Welcome back, Ticketholders, to the Grimm Fairy Tales Volume One Retrospective!

The final issue of the first trade paperback (abbreviated in the comic book culture as TPB) in the series is GFT #6: The Robber Bridegroom. I was not familiar with this particular fairy tale either time I read the issue, so I couldn't speak to how true the comics stayed to their source material in this case.

After some research, however, I can say definitively that there is little connection or faithfulness to either the Brothers' Grimm or the Joseph Jacobs (titled Mr. Fox) version. 

The comic book adaptation is another on-the-nose issue for Zenescope, with two sisters named Michelle and Tara fighting over a young man named John. Sela intervenes in the sisterly squabble with a “helpful” story about two sisters named Misha and Tendra who end up fighting over a “prince” named Ivan (because Ivan is a variation of John, get it?) and lose their lives because of it.

Though the plots and characters differ greatly between the originals and Zenescope's adaptation, the adaptation provides a backstory of sorts for the young woman who is murdered in the Brothers' Grimm version (the one common plot element carried over to the comic book), which is a little Easter egg I enjoyed discovering.

Of course, things in the fairy tale play out to their bloody GFT twist resolution. After reading Sela's book, the dazed sisters wonder where she “Batman-ed” off to before deciding to choose their sisterhood over John. Again, the framing characters look identical to their fairy tale counterparts, with the exception of period dress.
I wondered in this instance if John got sucked into the story as well, even though he was not the focus character, or if Ivan was just part of the fairy tale world. I also wonder, based on what at this point is “future knowledge,” if all of the trial archetype characters (Chad from Red Riding Hood, Eric and Jimmy from Rumpelstiltskin, Haley and the drug dealer from Sleeping Beauty, and even Sela herself from Cinderella and Hansel & Gretel) work for the Evil Agency (discussed in a SPOILER from a previous post) in some capacity.
A highly derivative filler issue, but given my lack of knowledge of the Robber Bridegroom fable, I nevertheless found the writing fresh. And given some research, I was able to appreciate the creative direction of the writing even more.

At the end of the first several Grimm Fairy Tales paperbacks, Zenescope includes special short stories that serve to expand the "Grimm Universe" in some way, either by hinting at future events or providing additional insight into past events or character development. The short stories from the first six trade volumes were collected in the Grimm Fairy Tales Short Story Collection, beginning with the following story, "Legacy." The recent "Volume 2" relaunch of Grimm Fairy Tales also begins with an issue called Legacy, but that’s something for another day. For now, check this out.

GFT Short Story #1: Legacy

In this first short story, Sela has just finished a lecture on morality and fairy tales, and strikes up a conversation with a student named Megan. Megan notices Sela’s book and asks where it came from, prompting Sela into a flashback.
It is revealed that when she was young (an indeterminate length of time ago), Sela had a brother named Thomas. The two come upon a house in the woods and Sela enters, encountering an old woman who gives her the book, saying that she is also passing on a legacy, a calling, to guide certain people away from “dire consequences.”
Sela later wakes up to find that the world has changed drastically and that Thomas is an old man, though Sela has not aged at all.
Back in the present, Sela tells Megan that she will share her story when Megan is ready, and that one of her other students is sick and in need of a reality check. I cannot immediately recall if Thomas or Megan are ever mentioned again, nor who the sick student might be, but whatever the consequence, this story was another nice easter egg to read and ponder.

That's it for Volume One of Volume One, folks! Stay tuned as next time, I serve up some sweet rhymes in New Piece Offerings, a reboot of a column I last polished off during the Countdown to Hallows' Eve event of 2015 and began anew last week.