Grimm Fairy Tales #97 Review

Only three issues left before #100! Should fans be excited or worried? Read on to find out.

The official description from Zenescope:

The Tooth Fairy

She’s one of the prettiest and sweetest dentists who’ll ever clean your teeth… By day. But by night, the Tooth Fairy is an entity found in children’s nightmares. And the Dark Queen has an important job for her. The Grimm Universe introduces a brand new character that will keep you away from the dentist!

The Age of Darkness continues as the stakes get more serious with every tie-in and passing page. The entire fabric on this connected continuity is on the verge of some very bad things, while this creative team introduces us to a new player that will no doubt make a formidable enemy or ally later on.

With a story by Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco this latest outing is a treat, but what makes the whole machine go is the sturdy script by Shane McKenzie. And when it gets underway we see the machinations of the Dark Queen, from neglected children to the Tooth Fairy that seeks to protect them. There’s a lot going on but the single most interesting element is the twist at the end. Even so thanks to smart dialogue and clever timing the whole journey feels fresh enough to never distract from its already assured cliffhanger. The whole thing is compelling but undeniably predictable.

The illustrations in this comic should be described as exquisite. Antonio Bifulco takes a pencil to each panel and works them with a barrage of lines and detail that perfectly inform this supernaturally charged world. The talent does an excellent job jumping from tender moments to monstrous encounters, and when you add in the colors handed in by Pradeep Sherawat you’re left with a body of work that’s going to please even the most discerning eye.

Grimm Fairy Tales #97 is a showcase for what works in this line-up. The idea that the creators behind it can take a benign folk legend and warp it into something that’s downright terrifying is nothing less than outstanding. Recommended.