The Creators – Stephanie Phillips – Writer, Flaviano – Artist, Rico Renzi – Colours, Tom Napolitano – Letters

The Players – Jessica Harrow, Bryan Michael Andrews

The Story – Jessica Harrow is a reaper. Bryan Andrews is dead. She has come to collect. He does not want to go.

The Take – Written by Stephanie Phillips and expertly drawn by Flaviano, Grim is a story about those who ferry the dead to the other side, so to speak. There is more than one reaper and those that are reapers used to be like every other soul they take across, souls like Bryan who were once alive. The difference between the two is that Bryan knows how he died while Jessica does not. All she knows is that she has a job to do and Bryan is going to make that as hard as he possibly can for her. Things take a turn when Jessica, who has completed her job, realizes that Bryan, who is desperate, has stolen her scythe and that is when things turn ugly. Flaviano does a fantastic job with his pencils and the book is beautiful to look at. There is a slight animated tinge to it all that makes it really attractive to the eye and when Jessica goes full reaper, the man proves he is up to the task of making this the horror title that it is. At first, it seems like Phillips will go in one direction with the plot, making it into some sort of Fugitive meets horror title but then it takes a turn during the last couple of pages in the book and becomes something else, leaving it all on a cliff-hanger and a good one at that. It immediately leaves the reader wanting more and making them wonder just where it is all headed, especially as they are introduced to Jessica’s boss, who is not Death but some sort of middle-woman as it were. There is obviously something about Jessica’s past that they do not want her to remember and that too adds a bit of mystery to it all making it an even more attractive read. Altogether, this was a great first issue, one that is well worth the time and effort to get into.

Worth It? – Yes.