by: RJ Young

GRIMM FAIRY TALES: A girl in red takes a walk through the forest and encounters a werewolf. Cinderella sells her soul to a demon Godmother in exchange for revenge against her evil stepmother and sisters. Sally the Miller’s daughter must save her daughter from a baby snatching troll named Rumpelstiltskin. Snow White joins forces with carnivorous woodland dwarves to protect her from a dark sorceress Queen. Welcome to the world of Grimm Fairy Tales, where monsters are always lurking.

Created by Joe Tyler and Ralph Tedesco in 2005, “Grimm Fairy Tales” is a dark re-imagining of the timeless childhood tales immortalized by the Brothers Grimm, before Disney made them so sweet and innocent. The Brothers were trying to preserve the oral traditions of their culture by writing down the fables and folklore of Germany. Their collected works have become an iconic part of Western culture.

“Grimm Fairy Tales” gives us twisted versions of beloved fairy tales which tend to end violently and tragically, usually with the protagonist being mauled by some monstrous creature. Much as Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm intended so long ago, these stories are meant to teach a life lesson.

Each issue has a modern day framing story, told by the mysterious Dr. Sela Mathers, who gives tough love to people by showing them fairy tales which corresponds to the flawed behavior of the person reading. These depressing tales of doomed people are meant to show the reading person what the dire consequences will be if they don’t change their ways. At one point, Sela becomes angry and frustrated that people never seem to heed her warnings and she starts acting more as a judge than a helper. Sela is later replaced for a time by her more sinister rival Belinda, who has the same abilities but Sela eventually returns. Sela’s origin is detailed in issue # 37.

A popular spin-off series was the 2007 mini-series “Return to Wonderland”, where Lewis Carroll’s bizarre story is given a nightmarish makeover. In 2008 came “Tales from Wonderland” a prequel to “Return to Wonderland”. Another spin-off was “Grimm Fairy Tales: the Piper”, which came out in 2008.

“Grimm Fairy Tales” has sometimes been called the comic equivalent of “Tales from the Darkside” but it also has a touch of “the Twilight Zone” since each story has a moral.

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