Article by Sean Wilkinson,
A Mercy Dante Fan.
After reading
The Goose And the Golden Egg the first time (back when I was obsessively reading every
Zenescope thing in accordance to the
Grimm Fairy Tales Wikipedia page, and I bulldozed through the crap to get to the good stuff as fast as possible with no real regard for what the flaws and continuity were), I had a countdown in my head of how much more I would have to endure before getting to this specific issue (and the miniseries that would follow). And now, from a
Retrospective viewpoint, I think my anticipation was a bit unfounded. I still think Mercy is a cool, sexy character, and her revenge-driven origin is one of the best in independent fiction. But the subject matter at issue in this...issue is not to be glorified, and Sela Mathers' involvement in the story at this point in her character arc doesn't do her hero status or the already questionable subject matter any favors. But I'm getting ahead of myself again, so remember to like, comment, subscribe, and follow me on
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Facebook for the latest news and updates on my content, and let's get into the review before I get any further into the review.
GFT #41: Dante’s Inferno (Prelude)Now, we get back to something awesome. Not in terms of subject matter—I can’t think of any sane person who would describe child murder and suicide as “awesome”—but in terms of character development and structural originality in a Grimm Fairy Tales issue. Plus, just look at that cover art!
Back in
Grimm Fairy Tales #29: King Midas, we learned that Belinda not only bestowed King Midas with the golden curse that ultimately killed him and his daughter, but that she was responsible for turning David Franks into the hitman who killed Mercy Dante’s parents. As a result, Mercy would grow up to be an assassin herself, bent on revenge against David Franks and aided, in part and unbeknownst to her, by Belinda. Mercy’s revenge came at the end of the issue when she kidnapped and then murdered David’s daughter, Trisha, in front of him. The
Dante’s Inferno (Prelude) issue picks up seven months later, with Mercy still a hit for hire, haunted by the ghost of Trisha Franks and flirting with her suicidal tendencies in between indulging in more homicidal activities. But before she has a chance to self-destruct, Mercy is forced to fend off a series of attempts on her life, orchestrated by her contractor on behalf of…can you guess? That’s right, it’s her again! And guess who’s there to use her words to magically fix life? That’s right, it’s Sela again! I know I said something earlier about the issue being original, and this predictable turn of events doesn’t really illustrate that very well. But it is otherwise among the Zenescope team’s best work, with clearly defined action, a solid art style, witty writing, good pacing, and in the absence of a fairy tale reading (that’s the structural originality I was talking about), there is plenty of page time to make this an issue about character development and relationships. All that notwithstanding, Sela sending Mercy back in time and convincing her to commit suicide is not only completely out of character, it’s wrong on multiple levels as a concept. I get that Sela came back to life with a new perspective on the world and her powers (which might explain why none of her charges has
deja vu or has felt like they’ve been sucked into the book for some time now), and a more aggressive, active approach to her calling, and that because of all this, she’s been written into some kind of personal feud with Death. But still, why would the hero of any story convince anyone to commit suicide? For the answer to that, you’ll have to wait for the next
Zenescope - Omnibusted (after the Volume Seven edition, so about two more weeks).
Tomorrow, I begin my
TBT 2023 push of the
Adaptations miniseries of reviews with
Carnage (on
Tumblr,
Reddit, and
Facebook), and Friday, I spoil the twist of why Drax and Ron Weasley decide to
Knock At the Cabin. And in next week's
GFT Retrospective, I'll make references to Amazon, Keanu Reeves, and David Dastmalchian.
 |
| "Oooh; droopy-breasted witches are tight!" |
Regardless of whether or not you agree with that sentiment (I watched the
John Wick Pitch Meeting recently, so blame that, I guess), please remember to like, comment, subscribe, and follow me on
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Awkwardmaster,
Out!
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