Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: NeverLand Hook #3
Publisher: Zenescope
Writer: Joe Brusha
Artists: Jim Rodgers & Rain Lagunsad (cover “A” by Stjepan Sejic)
At the beginning of this issue, we get to see Nathan in some hot water as he arrives in Neverland. He quickly fights his way through some of the realm’s undesirables, then he and his friend Ashunta make a hasty retreat to his village. Along the way, the two talk about the past and also about how things went awry after Nathan left. Ashunta tells him that things were OK for a while, but then things started to get crazy. A new ruler has found his way to the top of the mountain, and he’s a cold blooded killer. Many of the villagers have been slaughtered, and Nathan realizes that this new threat must be stopped. After a few hours, Nathan and the Princess set sail for the port nearest to this new ruler. Back in New York City, Wendy and Belle are telling their story to a detective in the hospital. They soon realize that Nathan may have been duped into going back to Neverland by this nefarious new ruler!
I don’t know how many adjectives I could use at this point for this book. It’s been nothing short of fantastic. Great story by Brusha, and that isn’t giving him enough credit. The mix of action and dialog was perfect, and even though I didn’t read any previous Neverland series before this one, I haven’t had any trouble following along. The only enigma for me is the identity of the new ruler of Neverland. I can’t wait for the next issue of this series, because the cliff hanger at the end of this issue was awesome!
I usually start out with the regular artist of the book and then say a few words about the cover artist, but this time I’m leading off with the one and only Stjepan Sejic. This guy has to be the best cover artist in the business right now. And that’s no disrespect to any other of the great talents at Zenescope (Debalfo, Ebas), or any other company. He is easily in my top ten favorite artists of all time. The interiors were also very good. Jim Rodgers and Rain Lagunsad were both credited with artistic duties, and whatever the combination was, it worked perfectly. The villains were scary, the heroes were, well, heroic, and the settings eye catching. Roll all this together and you get a great book from cover to cover (alternate cover below by Sean Chen). Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
