Keep your friends close … and your enemies closer.
Creative Staff:
Writers: Zach Calig
Artwork: Diego Galindo
What They Say:
In modern day 2015, a group of unsuspecting women are attacked and killed in New England. The men responsible call themselves the New Crusaders and they are determined to find a young woman named Avril Williams, a descendant of one of the most powerful witches of all time. It’s a race against time as Baba Yaga returns in one of the most intense and exciting Grimm Universe titles of the year!
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Baba Yaga has managed to strike a deal with the witches’ mortal enemy, the New Crusaders, but can they be trusted … or can she be trusted? As long as they will help and return Avril, that’s all that matters. However, which alliance will topple first: her friendship with Liza’s coven or this new one with the Covenant? Not that she cares either way for neither one will last long. But, can one amongst them become the truest friend to accomplish her goals in her time of need?
As the time for the mission draws near, Dartanian’s misgivings are ever materialising all the more real. Everything that he has been taught is slowly proving to become false. The ones he once called companions are themselves turning into fanatics, blinded by the teachings of their leader, the Wizard. What happened to the path he once cherished to be true, all falling apart the longer he witnesses the suffering of this Chosen One. How can this girl named Avril be the ultimate evil when she is suffering more than he while they both watch their prospective worlds collapse around them. Which truth is the real one?
The witches of Cedar Swamp and their leader Liza versus the New Crusaders and the Wizard – who will prevail? The battle concerns the Prophecy and Avril, but the casualties mount as both sides fight for the same thing. Dartanian is now caught in the middle and begins to see the treachery bubbling over within each camp. No one can be trusted except himself and what he now believes to be the right thing to do. How can he alone succeed in securing this single witch against two forces bent on capturing her for their own selfish gains? Can Baba Yaga be the key to thwarting the machinations of these armies? But, even with her magic, how will they gain the higher ground after being so thoroughly ground underfoot?
In Summary:
The battle lines have been drawn and it is not a pretty picture. Writer Zach Calig has created the classic struggle of two versus overwhelming odds and yet, it somehow seems to work. An enjoyable underdog story in which Baba Yaga and Dartanian must fight their respective allies to free a single girl. They both know if either side can secure Avril, it will spell the end of the other and quite possibly that of humanity too. No pressure, it’s David and Goliath and you are armed with only a sling shot while can annihilate you if you make one misstep. How can you not root for this mismatched team when what they are fighting is evil on top of evil?
And of course once again, Diego Galindo has done a magnificent job of depicting the range of emotions that encompasses this issue. I love how it opens with Dartanian observing Avril’s breakdown, knowing that she is the cause for the upcoming battle. You can see that fledgling soldier’s doubts have finally materialised and as they do, the spiral is physically shown as the issue unfolds – he has to witness the only world he’s ever know collapse around him. This eternal battle that he has just joined is cause for his wasted life. The death all around him due to the false assumption through one person’s actions, the whole group is branded as the same. Then the handshake at the end: two people who are supposed to be enemies now are forced to ally against their own worlds. It cements the events of the story together beautifully.
With only two more issues left, this book has set up what will surely become an epic battle. But how can this motley pair hope to survive, let alone overcome what seem to be impossible odds? Guess we’ll just have to wait until next month to find out!
Grade: A
Rating: 17+
Released By Zenescope
Release Date: September 23rd, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
