GFT Retrospective #107: Giant-Size 2012
a.k.a. The Ticketmaster.
It feels so good, yet so awkward, to be getting back into the regular groove after so long away from the Grimm Fairy Tales Retrospective. Having spent August with giant monsters, ancient time periods, alternate fantasy worlds, and superhuman warriors, it's been almost like an epic Quest of the mind to get here, but also like I've never gone anywhere at all; like an act of convoluted procrastination because subconsciously, I dread revisiting what I remember as among my favorite Zenescope stories, for fear that I may not experience it as fondly as I received it the first time around.
But fears of this kind are rarely well-founded, and I'm back here, so I might as well eat that horse!
GFT Giant-Size #3
(2012): Quest
This special issue doesn't technically have a title, but as it was collected later in the Age Of Darkness Volume with that title, featuring a multi-issue story with a similar premise and character lineup, I often refer to the 2012 Giant-Size as Quest, even in this very Retrospective series. It will get confusing as we get closer to that Volume and event, but that's a problem for Future Me, so Quest it is!
As you can see in the above image, convention season has most likely gone by the time of this issue's publication (perfect for the timing of my own publication, in early September 2025), as there aren't any sexy variants or limited edition comic shop covers; just the normal two-to-three cover selection with one New York ComicCon cover thrown in for the shiggles of it. The non-convention covers are pretty plot-relevant and the art team has a few familiar names, as well as a surprising, "new" name in webtoonist and Top Cow artist Linda Šejić (Stjepan's wife), who does the coloring on the selected cover.
I always have high hopes of quality writing when I see Pat Shand's name in the credits, so I can feel those stupid fears melting away already. But if I must get pedantic immediately, the "The Story So Far" blurb has an inaccuracy I feel compelled to address. It says that Bolder and Blake began their Quest to re-form the Council Of the Realms following the events of Hard Choices. Now, while they may have been motivated by the slaughter of the Council in that milestone issue, Bolder was not properly introduced until The Fairy And the Dwarf, Blake and Bolder didn't meet until Diamonds And Toads, and the duo didn't officially get sent on their Quest until Druanna paired them up in Grimm Fairy Tales #62. That's a twelve-issue inaccuracy, not counting all of the time they weren't focused on while Sela helped cage the Dream Eater, fought her way out of Limbo, and went on a misguided, one-woman ass-kicking spree to reverse-kidnap her missing daughter.
But I digress, and it's time to dive into some Shandian writing, accompanied by the thick-lined, blocky interior stylings of Adam Cleveland and colorist Juancho Velez!
The story begins with the bickering duo in a village of fairy worshippers, where they have heard rumors of items that may contain traces of Provenance energy that can help them traverse the Realms Of Power in search of new guardians to join the Council. At a temple guarded by a chimera, they encounter Aisling, a red-headed princess-turned-bandit whose sharp tongue meshes well with Blake and Bolder's established banter.
Unfortunately, as they head west, it becomes clear that they are being followed by a mysterious figure in a red cloak. And to top that off, Orcus is having them followed as well, in hopes that said fairy magic can be used to resurrect his beloved enchantress.
With a desire-sensing tiara and a portal-opening necklace in hand, the trio's first stop is the Limbo of Myst, where they escape from Jack the Giant Killer and the Bad Girls with Druanna in tow and expository assurances that we will never see Prince Erik again.
Their next stop is Neverland, where we're greeted with the surreal visual of Belle and Tiger Lilly being...friends? Yeah, apparently that's what happened when Pan got yanked out of Neverland, drowned, turned into a time-traveling hobo vampire, and eaten by a cosmic gluttony monster. His followers (the mercenary group from the first Neverland miniseries) don't seem to realize that, though, and they are quickly dispatched before Belle and Tiger Lilly (like Druanna before them) decline their appointment to the Council because of more pressing matters of local defense.
Next, the trio head to Wonderland, where they cross swords and exchange words with their fourth Realm Knight candidate...the Red Queen! It was exciting to see her again, even if only for a few pages, but like with the previous Council candidates, selfish reasons and social uncertainty prevent her from accepting.
Which leaves Oz; a Realm we have only seen referenced a few times but have yet to visit on-page...until now. And it's a land of bloody carnage, all wrought by a single man: the Council candidate from Oz, The Warlord. He can't be bargained with, he can't be reasoned with, he doesn't know pain or fear, and he absolutely will not stop.... So with their mission all but failed, Blake, Bolder, and Aisling return to Myst, where they fight off Orcus and his army at the expense of the necklace. Now unable to traverse the Realms Of Power again, they head to Tallus and regale Druanna with their tale of failure, only to be approached by The Innocent, who appoints the four of them as the new Council Of the Realms until those whom they encountered on their Quest have seen to more local matters. Also, for those who didn't catch the hooded figure's hint of a tan bustier in this early panel...
Belinda is alive! Somehow! I'm sure we'll learn what happened later. And that isn't sarcasm.
The writing this issue is as sharp as I remember, which is an ironically fitting statement because I've been stuck looking for a way to elaborate on it and distracting myself with YouTube shorts, Vampire Survivors, and yard work for two days.
It was fun seeing "where are they now" snippets of characters we haven't seen for awhile and getting a bleak look at the present/future of Zenescope's unexplored Realm of Oz, and Future Knowledge once again puts new context on Belinda's presence here. The common thread of selfishness in times of insanity and adversity has a depressing timelessness about it as well, and gives the story (which I still like because of Shand's quippy, character-rich writing—something that would be derided as "Marvel humor" or "James Gunn humor" by modern cynics and grifters even though its earmarks predate the MCU and Gunn's involvement therein by decades) a feeling of "the real Council was the us we met along the way" pointlessness (which feels all the moreso because of the next two-plus concurrently apocalyptic events taking precedence over following through on any lingering story threads in any meaningful way, like doing something with the Warlord Of Oz, uniting Blake, Bolder, and Aisling with Elden and the Winter Witch, exploring Druanna's missing daughter, having Erik amount to anything—not that he's worth a damn—having Pinocchio amount to anything—not that he's worth a damn, either—revisiting the Council candidates, acknowledging that the Red Knight exists, doing more with Sinbad, revisiting Samantha's father, and anything else I forgot because Zenescope dropped a lot of plots and characters over the years).
Next week, I put it all together for an even more Giant-Sized edition of Zenescope - Omnibusted, wrap up another Anime for the Spotlight, and see what else the whims of fate have in store for me in terms of content load, so Stay Tuned and please remember to Become A Ticketholder
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Ticketmaster,
Out.
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