Something happened while we were all distracted by company wide crossover after company wide crossover: the fine folks at Zenescope have created the little indie company that could. The flagship of their business continues to be the long running (for an indie book) and less than subtle Grimm Fairy Tales, modern versions of classic stories, told with a horror twist and a healthy helping of T&A.

Robin Summers used to be an ugly duckling. In high school she had a big nose, glasses, and bad teeth. The popular kids all made fun of her, as popular kids are wont to do. She only had one friend in the entire world, a geeky boy named Ted. But that was before Robin met the new substitute teacher, a red haired beauty named Belinda, who gave Robin a magic potion that would change her life.

You can probably guess what happens next. Robin becomes hot over night and the next day all the popular kids are lining up for her. She decides to use her new appearance to get a little revenge at – where else? – the prom. And she forgets all about her good friend, Ted.

This is a fairly by the numbers story combined with some decent art. There’s a twist at the end that plays into the “be careful what you wish for” philosophy, but isn’t all that surprising. The artwork is similar to the style that Ron Frenz is using these days on Spider-Girl, with a little Jon Bogdanove thrown in for good measure. Like the story, though, it’s rather unremarkable, although it does manage to keep the T&A to a minimum. I’m not positive that’s a good thing, though.

Grimm Fairy Tales is an interesting series, one rife with potential, and, regardless of the overall mediocrity of this issue, I think Zenescope is doing a great job with it. Most mainstream comics are ignoring the horror genre and don’t necessarily indulge in blatant cheese cake. It’s nice to see some options out there for those who are looking for something different.

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