GFT Retrospective #222: Grimm Universe #4 - The Dark One
a.k.a. The Retrospectre.
After the publication debacle I gave you last week from being stone-tired and not having internet for almost a week, I jumped on content consumption this weekend and as of Sunday evening, I've already watched Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (and obviously read the comic I'll be talking about here, because only grifters give their opinions without having experienced the foundational materials of their arguments, right?).
Grimm Universe #4
featuring The Dark One
If you recall the first issue of The Summoning, this issue is an elaboration on Malec's opening flashback there, now narrated by Shang (who is alive again but we haven't seen him yet, because Shang will Shang).
In the Mystic Kingdom of Valdor (which, spoilers, but as we've seen in the Goblin Queen issue of this series, the Robyn Hood trilogy, and Volumes Nine and Ten of Grimm Fairy Tales, it does not bode well to be a kingdom in the Realm Of Myst), an aging king defies tradition by sparing his firstborn son from being sacrificed to a nearby, hard-to-pronounce volcano (so it will provide them with fertile land and erupt onto the neighboring kingdom instead). The son grows up to be Malec, and the story kind of turns into a morality flip on The Lion King (which is Star Wars) for a bit, complete with the king telling Malec about the ugly burden of status quo leadership and a scarred ruler usurping the throne by killing the king and sending Malec away to die where he meets two sidekicks and returns home for revenge to reclaim his birthright amidst a fiery confrontation.
I liked how gradual and clearly informed Malec's turn to the Dark (One) Side was, with longtime Zenescope cover artist Anthony Spay writing an initially sympathetic narrative journey of revenge and corruption, from birth and survival to the inciting incident for his path to darkness and the Napoleon-esque, patchwork of interests and moralities that made the pre-Dark Horde what it would become, to the events we saw at the beginning of The Summoning, but with more context as to the identity of the baby Malec intended to sacrifice before his death.
As for that extra context, this issue gives us some "small world" prequel bullshit where, after the new king sells Malec into slavery, the first two people our "hero"-cum-vessel of evil exchanges words with are Draco and Shang. Yeah; it's not just a case of "small world" bullshit, it's also a case of "the heroes and villain used to be friends until their differing views on revolution and war changed things" bullshit, like Star Wars, or Transformers One, or Mufasa, or I Know What You Did Last Summer, or....
So, one of the things that was kind of retconned between The Summoning and Grimm Universe #4 is the fate of the baby. Here, we see that Shang defied physics through the ambiguity of comic book paneling, and saved the child. We technically don't see the child die in the lava in The Summoning, either, but there was enough exposition and suggestive context there that you could assume it died and not be wrong, but also not feel deceived by the "happier" retelling here. There's also the question and potential of who the child grew up to be, with Thomas, Robert "Rip" "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, and Nutcracker Prince Erik all being likely possibilities. And given that we've already read a shorter version of this story in a previous arc (and with fewer prequel contrivances), this one point of speculation is the most interesting thing that the issue has to offer besides the competency of its narrative.
The rest plays out the same, with Corruption and Hate creating what they fear because the Keepers suck, something, something, Lego motorcycle vacuum cleaner, nothing makes sense. Like, yeah, the volcano is allegedly an evil nature goddess, but there's also centuries of pure, virgin soul energy built up in there, and Malec at that point was arguably a balanced soul (well-meaning, but twisted by his peers and tragedy and the bias of his upbringing). So without Keeper interference (which, they're duty-bound not to do anyway, according to The Innocent), it's likely that the thing they feared would have never come to be. Keep deez nutz, idiots!
Sorry for the dated meme, folks! And sorry to those who think I called them idiots. I didn't, but I'm apologizing anyway. My readers are incredible, awesome, and definitely, most likely, not idiots, because you can read in 2026. Thank you all for your continued support.
Speaking of stories we've read before, though, the Grimm Universe Trade Paperback has the zero issue of The Dream Eater Saga reprinted as bonus material because it has The Dark One in it for at most three pages out of eleven. But if you remember, he contributed a lot to the greater Zenescope narrative in those three pages.
There is a fifth issue of Grimm Universe, but we won't get to that until the Unleashed event, so Stay Tuned for that eventually, and for a Godzilla review with time travel. And please continue to support me and what I do by Becoming A Ticketholder if you haven't already, leave a comment at the bottom of this post and any others you have opinions about, help out my ad revenue as you read so Hate and Corruption don't keep ruining the good in the world, and follow me on BlueSky, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my content.
50
Retrospectre,
Out.
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