GRIMM: Book One

Artist John Kenn Mortensen returns to the Fantagraphics catalogue like a lich haunting the living with his mastery over the dark arts. Meanwhile, authors Kenneth Bogh Andersen and Benni Bodker split yarn-spinning duties to reanimate perennials like ''Hansel and Gretel'' and obscure threads like ''Fitcher''s Bird'' alike. These interpretations aren''t out to turn the classic tales on their head; instead, they dig into the eldritch roots of these fables, hearkening to a superstitious and dangerous time. When brigands and plague were as much a threat as bewitching fairies and ferocious beasties. Permeating throughout are Mortensen''s exquisitely eerie renderings, distilling a dread that hovers just overhead, like a tree full of hanged men in a primeval forest. Intrepid and fearful, shrewd and greedy alike are disfigured, devoured, bedevilled. Only the toughest will come out the other end stronger for it. These are fairy tales for those who would rather trade in happily-ever-after for the uneasy relief that (un)settles upon waking from a nightmare; for those who don''t listen when they''re told to follow the beaten path; who don''t care to leave breadcrumbs as they go. Seek out GRIMM, but don''t get lost on the way.