GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS MASUMI #1 Review

By Harrison Rawdin on Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

Do fans need to experience a GFT adventure set in the East? Read on to find out.

The official description from Zenescope:

The Grimm Universe’s latest hero rises!

Masumi has been known as the silent assassin for her lethal prowess with her samurai swords, each are possessed by the demons known as the Eight Deadly Sins. With everyone she loves dead or gone, Masumi travels to her home country of Japan in search of purpose… but there she will uncover a very dangerous underground sect of Yakuza, Japanese mafia, that is drawing its power from an ancient evil.

When it comes to this literary landscape, we’ve seen creative teams that know how to approach the familiar and give it just a dash of supernatural. The end result is a road that tackles a recognizable path while embracing elements that are outside its traditional wheelhouse. In short: get ready for a journey you might not be expecting.

Pat Shand, Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco work with script writer Joe Tyler to craft an intersection between the Japanese mafia and demons. Caught in the midst of this terrifying threat is the Yamamoto clan, the pedigree of our illustrious dual wielding heroine Masumi. One of the last surviving members of her house is faced with a situation where her fiancé is forced to bargain for their safety. Thankfully one of the illustrious heroes from Grimm Fairy Tales Unleashed stands ready to combat this considerable danger, with an engaging text to boot.

The illustrations done by Sergio Osuna deliver a display that fits the arc of the written word. And when the action kicks into high gear the talent knows exactly how to keep the festivities lively with just a hint of the chaotic. With that said during the slower scenes the style just didn’t mesh well but the colors handed in by Francesca Zambon kept the visuals flowing right along.

Grimm Fairy Tales presents Masumi #1 is a solid start to what could be a promising mini-series. It has some room for improvement but the team does enough right to have my attention. Recommended.