The past is the past and Bloody Bones is the future.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Pat Shand
Artwork: Christopher Johnson
What They Say:
Sela and her mentor Shang, along with their former enemy Belinda, have opened a school for a select group of Highborn and Falseblood teens with enhanced abilities. Their goal is to guide the teens who may one day be humanity’s only hope against evil from other realms.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
(This story includes events and characters presented in the Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Realms Knights One Shot special.)
Now that Maka has been captured, Shang must try to gather as much information from her as he can, before Bloody Bones can commence another attack. However, no matter what interrogation methods he has tried in the past two months since her incarceration, she is as defiant as ever. So, he has no other choice but to send her to her final reward and has the Realm Knights escort her off campus. However, as she is being taken away, the rest of the students met the newest ward of the school – Karen, the surviving sibling of the Gemini. She is extremely shy and does not know how to approach the rest of the kids, but is reassured that they will welcome her warmly.
But, as Karen begins to introduce herself to the others, a strange manifestation of her powers begins to cause them to question the sanity of the latest pupil. It is not until the next morning as the Knights bring Maka through the corridors that this twin of Gemini has another relapse which causes them to witness her latest ability: Karen has the ability to read another’s mind and relate their memories. Unfortunately for the prisoner, it is her past that is now being retold, and it is a grisly one which will bring to light the very nature of her alliance with Bloody Bones and the circumstances by which she now calls him Master. How will this information help Shang and the others is still undetermined, but it cannot be something which Maka is willing to freely give. She will need payment, but who is willing to give this pretender what she demands, no matter the cost?
In Summary:
Shand has done it again … he has made this another one of the must read issues of Grimm Fairy Tales series. With the way he crafted Bloody Bones and the mystery surrounding him, Shand has given the readers what they wanted since the introduction of the character – an origin story. Ever since he was released from the Convergence, his ghoulish persona has been haunting the nightmares of everyone at Arcane Acre, and I would hope if he did his job right, the dreams of the readers too. This version of the spectre has elevated a normally benign Bogeyman into someone who now gives us the chills whenever he appears; but now we find out that he is as well integrated into the human psyche as the hallucinations he inhabits makes him ever more brilliant! To be rid of one is to condemn the beings whose fears he feasts upon, a classic double bind logic puzzle. And now that he has been released unto the world, he can only grow stronger. You can almost hear him snicker when you speak his name.
And yet the artwork which Christopher Johnson gives us is at first a misleading introduction into this inception. His soft imagery which surrounds the characters is a bit perplexing considering the ground shaking circumstances which now surround the academy. However, the piercing determination reflected in the eyes of each person slowly builds up the tension, an uneasy tilt of the head, conveying so much emotion that these subtle nuances are all that are needed to portray what is soon to come. With each page the apprehension builds, Maka’s screams echo in the halls, until we have that stunning panel of Karen with a perplexed look wearing the deceiver’s glowing helm – announcing to all that something remarkable is about to happen, then switch to the confused expression as if she is about to break down. Marvelous.
But the magic doesn’t end there, as she begins to understand the situation, we swing back to that beautifully haunting image of Karen the Oracle: her eyes transfixed to the distance and we can almost hear her speaking in tongues. The softness begins to unravel as Maka’s own sanity unwinds into the past. Each frame is submerged in darkness as she tries to justify her actions and ultimately her betrayal. The pictures devolve as her sanity slips away, each one drifting into murky blackness, eclipsed in shadows, until she finally succumbs to her new Master. We are then snapped back to the present – a shock to we the reader as much as to Karen and Maka. And as we settle back to the present, we are forced to face the horror of the sibling’s power as she fights for her life. How can such delights be depicted on flimsy paper is a wonder but the integration is a joy to the eyes.
As we are awe struck by this remarkable story of Bloody Bones’ past, we cannot dismiss that it was Karen who made it all possible. How was such a little girl is able to deconstruct the defences of Maka when Shang could not leaves us to wonder how she will affect the future of Arcane Acre. It will be a pleasure to see how Shand and Johnson will gingerly escort us into this brave new world.
Grade: A+
Rating: 17+
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: February 10th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
