Do you know what your children are doing online … or do you really think they are safe?
Creative Staff:
Writer: Troy Brownfield
Artwork: Edu Menna
Colors: Robby Bevard
Letters: Fabio Amelia
What They Say:
The App
Welcome to the Fairy Princess app! Cute and totally harmless, right? That’s what everyone seems to think. But when one clever investigative reporter begins looking into a missing persons case, he suspects a connection between vanishing girls and a sinister presence behind the sweet electronic face. And since this is Tales of Terror, it’s not smart to bet on sweetness.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When investigative reporter Ted Bennett gets a call from his friend asking for help, they agree to meet a local diner. Although the ex-cop is now a private investigator, due to his checkered past, he cannot approach the department for assistance. So, being the only person he can confide in, they discuss the details of his current case – a set of kidnappings involving young girls. While his companion knows his missing some clues, he just can’t make any headway, and would like Bennett to take a look into it with a set of fresh eyes. The police were of no help and the children’s backgrounds show no crossover of ever being involved in the same activities or even knowing each other. The journalist agrees to follow up on the cold leads and they agree to meet again if he turns up anything new.
After returning to the office and having his intern Pep do some fact checking, Ted leaves to interview the parents again to see if he can uncover anything his friend might have missed. The first girl named Regina Ray is in the sixth grade liked to play tennis, being in the gardening club but mostly kept to herself. Jada Boyd is the other child and was someone who loved science and reading plus occupying herself on a tablet. Neither girl knew the other but the one thing they had in common was a preoccupation with an app called Fairy Princess. Being an old fashion guy himself, Bennett had no idea what this was until his assistant installed it on his phone; this seemingly innocuous program allowed its user to have a conversation with a new imaginary friend, but it seemed too coincidental. Both victims used this application a few hours before being reported missing, so how are they connected? With this being only the apparent link between the two, Bennett had no choice than to do some more digging. How can this harmless thing have anything to do with these missing children, there was only one way to find out.
In Summary:
It is every guardians’ worst nightmare of hearing that a child has gone missing, and to have it displayed within Grimm Tales of Terror, we all know that this story will not end well. But when we add the maniacal musings of Troy Brownfield and set him loose on this disaster, then what may have become a simple kidnapping has now transformed into something all the more sinister. While he opens the story as an average investigation, the twists and turns quickly distort into something else when the Fairy Princess app is introduced; to contort something as innocent as a chat function into a method to lure children is both ingenious and diabolical, but at the same time is just another evolution of this cowardly crime. What ever happened to that cliché of tempting an innocent with candy or to brazenly grab them off the street and now this? It is truly frightening that these criminals are becoming this tech savvy, but at the same time, parents always warn their kids to watch out for strangers, but then they cannot keep them safe in the confines of home. Brownfield makes this story worth reading, if not for the horror factor, then as a lesson to never let your children out of your sight, even when you think they are safe. A noteworthy sign of the times and a fearsome tale to say the least, who could ask for anything more?
But to make this narrative even more innocent, artist Edu Menna manages to create an innocuous environment with characters who seem almost stolid in their temperament. The colors of Robby Bevard make us feel comfortable with earthy tones which blend the illustrations into a calm atmosphere, almost as if this entire story takes place in the suburbs, an area unexposed to the horrors of big city crime. Every panel moves the narrative along, smoothly and steadily, progressing at a slow pace so as if not to disturb the tranquility, each person is concerned, but at the same time, they don’t want to wish for the worst. However, once we reach the turning point, the villain is at once noticeable for they are the only honestly smiling, hiding what Bennett wants behind a thin vein of pleasantness, not wanting to tip their hand. It is only then once he falls into the trap do we see the true strength behind Menna’s illustrations and Bevard’s palette, one disguising the malevolent mentality of one truly twisted individual. The sum of their work shifts gears, reflecting the coldness of the kidnapper, images shifting to eerie silhouettes with blackened crimson, all illuminated by flickering candlelight. It is this final metamorphosis which captures the perversity of the crime and as such, the underlying honesty of the story.
Brownfield, Menna, and Bevard have turned what could have been a simple story into one truly worthy of the title Grimm Tales of Terror. We all live in a world of technology and trust it to protect us in times of need, but to have it perverted in such a way is what makes such a violation sincerely chilling. These predators will always find a way to catch children unawares, and perhaps this tale can become a cautionary warning, however, the lingering terror still lies just a computer screen away, and that is what makes this issue all the more monstrous.
Grade: A+
Rating: M (Mature)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: September 7th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
