Joe Brusha

Ralph Tedesco

The Age of Darkness descends upon the Grimm Universe and Sela Mathers is on a collision course with the most threatening evil she will ever face! The Dark Queen has risen again and leads the Dark Horde into war against those sworn to defend Earth. Can Sela find a way to protect what she holds most dear even when all efforts to save humanity seem futile? This epic first installment of the Age of Darkness saga collects Grimm Fairy Tales issues #94 - 98 and the Dark Queen: Age of Darkness one-shot. "One of the best comics to come out this year." -- Geekality "Nothing less than outstanding." -- Unleash the Fanboy

Age of Darkness Volume 1

Jessica Nottingham

So, when I requested this I had no idea that this is actually a compendium that's leading up to a new set of comics in this series. I mistakenly assumed that Volume 1 meant the beginning of the whole story. Therefore, this review is going to be short, and mainly about what I actually understood as a reader coming into the series late.
 
First off, I love the art style but I'm not a huge fan of the character depictions. The characters are extremely stereotypical in the way they're drawn. Male characters are handsome, and generally well toned. Female characters have tiny waists, gigantic breasts, and lovely faces. I absolutely understand that a lot of comics and graphic novels are drawn this way. For this reader though, it's a turn off. Despite the crisp, gorgeously rendered panels, I just couldn't fully immerse myself in the story.
 
Which is a shame, because the actual story line is fascinating. Imagine a world populated by not just Grimm's Fairy Tale characters, but characters from all areas of fiction. Mythical beings interspersed with characters from Greek mythology. Add in a few original characters, like the Dark Queen herself, and you have a series that's compulsively readable. I kind of want to go back to the beginning, but apparently this volume is the first that actually brings all of these worlds together. Before this, there are separate story arcs and it seems I'd have to read multiple series to catch up. So, we shall see. In the meantime, I'll give this particular graphic novel three stars for entertaining me.

Age of Darkness Volume 1

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