GFT Retrospective #76: Grimm Fairy Tales #58

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a. The Natural Ticketmaster

Natural can mean many things, Ticketholders!

It can refer to flavors and colors derived from non-chemical sources, aesthetic beauty achieved without the aid of cosmetics, being born "cut out for" doing a certain task..., or full nudity.

I won't tell you which of those meanings apply to me at this moment, but I will tell you that the remaining five issues in Volume Ten are referred to as the Mother Nature arc.

Pretty much all polytheistic and pagan cultures had or have a Mother Nature or Mother Earth figure in their pantheon, so it's better for my sanity to just link the Wikipedia page rather than go through everything here like I would if I was covering a simple fairy tale adaptation.

I'm trying and failing to make this call to action as natural as possible, so please remember to Become A Ticketholder if you haven't already, comment any other uses of natural you can think of at the bottom of this post, help out my ad revenue as you read so I can continue to afford clothes, and follow me on Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest Grimm news on my organically sourced content.

GFT #58

Following a short flashback to Bolder's time as Delphina's assistant (wherein he is painting a picture of the two of them, and she goes to a nearby river to pick lucites - which I assume are some kind of fictional bioluminescent flower in Myst because in the real world, it's just see-through plastic - and she freaks out at the sight of a mysterious, naturally dressed woman with green hair), the action picks up right where it left off.

The phrase that comes to mind to describe the art style is "pop art meets hyper-expressive ClipArt." It has thick, sharp lines and simple color variety, which sounds like an insult but it draws out the close-up details while giving emotion to the characters' faces, even when they lose detail in group shots and action panels. I also noticed that there's a lot of contrast between linear rigidity and circular flow (the swirling clouds above the castle facade of Tallus, water rippling against riverbanks, wavy hair and log cabin architecture, etc.). It can be kind of cartoonish and retro, but that also plays into Zenescope's original image of throwback pulp sex appeal with fairy tale inspirations.

Getting back to the action, Sela, Blake, and Bolder, along with the survivors of Orcus' previous village attack, are in the midst of fighting off his army of dinosaur-riding orcs. Overwhelmed, they rely on Sela's growing magic (and Morrigan's cursed forcefield bracer she's still wearing because she hasn't found a way to take it off yet) to nuke the army with an AOE lightning strike while Bolder digs a trench for everyone else to hide in. It works, but unfortunately, the resulting blue mushroom cloud serves as a big Google Maps marker for both Orcus and the King of Tallus (and the mysterious, optionally clothed woman with green hair who does his landscaping in the backyard) to say, "here is where the interesting people are; come get them!"

Since they're right outside the walls of Tallus, our group are allowed entrance and speak with the green-haired woman, Druanna, who is both an oracle like Delphina and the aforementioned Mother Nature figure of the arc's unofficial title. Based on the connection to Delphina, I'd say Druanna is most likely inspired by the Greek titan mother, Gaia, but her name is also probably a reference to the druid Earth goddess Danu.

Whatever the case, Druanna reveals that Bolder's pickaxe (shown since his debut to be able to manipulate earth in various ways) was forged in Oz, that Blake's goals are lost in his words (not that he's lying, exactly; just that he hides his true feelings in flowery speech. I can't immediately recall what he wants beyond restoring the Council Of the Realms, or if it is ever revealed or resolved), and that Bolder is such a big softie that Sela can't handle his praise, let alone people being so grateful for her help that they would devote their lives to hunting down chocolate for her. Oh, and amidst all of the fights and long-distance travel we've been shown for many an issue without it ever being in frame, a cart carrying Erik's preserved body just shows up out of hammerspace like it's Optimus Prime's trailer or something because Sela has to ask Druanna how to get his soul back from Limbo.

But Druanna can't automatically fix everyone's problems because the plot says it isn't windy enough (yes, I'm serious) and she needs time to think while our heroes can build credibility in Tallus and the writers can stall long enough for Orcus and Gruel to turn Tallus against them just as the issue ends.

I sort of remember what this will ultimately lead to when the Dream Eater Saga and half of Myths & Legends are behind us, and the issue flows well enough. Even the sort-of-goofy art style has a purpose and appeal to it. But at its natural barest, Grimm Fairy Tales #58 is sexy, meathead filler that relies on the old, GFT #49/Hard Choices brand of contrived stall tactics as a setup for what feels like another "all is lost" moment.

But all is not lost, so please remember to Become A Ticketholder if you haven't already, comment any other uses of natural you can think of at the bottom of this post, help out my ad revenue as you read so I can continue to afford clothes, and follow me on Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest Grimm news on my organically sourced content. Mother Nature will thank you.

Ticketmaster,

Out.