Grimm Fairy Tales

A comic book series by Zenescope. Each issue is a frame story in which someone with a problem meets one of two women, Sela or her evil nemesis Belinda. They will be given a book containing an "original" fairy tale, much darker in tone than traditional fairy tales, that mirrors their situation. In the end, one of three things will happen: the person will see the error of their ways and change, the person will fail to see the error of their ways and fall victim to some unfortunate circumstances, or they will fail to see the error of their ways and supernatural forces from the story will act directly to punish them. The series is typically very over-the-top, although this does not stop it from being entertaining by any means.

The series has led to a number of spin-offs, including The Wonderland Trilogy and Neverland which drop the Frame story format and focus on one of the five worlds which make up the series 'verse, The Piper; a four issue long treatment of the Pied Piper, and Inferno, which continues the story of the Dante sisters. Besides connections in their own continuity, the series has also crossed over with 1001 Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad, and is currently heavily involved in The Dream Eater Saga Crisis Crossover.


 * An Aesop
 * Animorphism
 * Anthology Comic
 * Asshole Victim: More than a few, but the three jerks in the 'Three Little Pigs' win top honors for this one.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: More so when Belinda is involved. A good portion of the people she 'helps' ends this way, most notably seen in 'The Ugly Duckling' and of course, the 'The Monkey's Paw'.
 * Beauty Equals Goodness: Both used and subverted. Most people in the comic are attractive anyway.
 * Bittersweet Ending: The final issue of
 * Body Horror: The entire Wonderland storyline seems to LOVE this one, it's usually the end result of what the new 'resident' becomes...or at the VERY least, a newbie has to go through it just to become a new resident of Wonderland.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Belinda, as well as Timmy for a short time.
 * Death by Childbirth: Snow White's mother.
 * Downer Ending: In many stories, but most notably done in Blue Beard  and the Piped Piper, which ends up being a double whammy since it's done not only in the story, but in the story within a story as well:
 * Eldritch Abomination: The Jabberwocky, while punchable, appears to be this. One of his other names is even R'lyeh. While most of his creations are traditional Wonderland characters, those he  drop the pretense entirely. Not to mention his massive tentacled lair, which leaves Calie incapable of even describing it.
 * Enfant Terrible: Belinda tries to turn Timmy into one
 * Evil Matriarch
 * Evil Redhead: Belinda
 * Fan Disservice: In Grimm Fairy Tales presents: Return to Wonderland
 * Fan Service: Every cover includes a scantily-clad woman.
 * Full-Frontal Assault: Mercy fights a gang of assassins this way in issue #41.
 * Grimmification: The entire point.
 * Fractured Fairy Tale: Oh yes.
 * Fridge Horror: Done a few times, but most notably in The Robber Bridegroom when, and Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, when
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: The Demon was originally one of the weakest beings of his homeworld, before learning just how strong human worship can be.
 * Hot Mom: Almost all of the main female characters are mothers. Alice gave birth to Calie, Calie has a girl who is kidnapped which leads the events in Escape from Wonderland, major villain Belinda had a baby who was sacrificed by her father-in-law and this led to Belinda's completely turning evil, main heroine Sela had a baby that she is only now remembering, and Wendy from Neverland is the biological aunt and adoptive mother to John and Michael.
 * It Got Worse: The Wonderland Series, most notably in Beyond Wonderland.
 * Kiss of Death: Sleeping Beauty
 * Mistaken for Murderer: Blue Beard and the Wild Boy from 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'.
 * Oh Crap: Quite a few victims in both the main story and fairy tales give this face.
 * Remix Comic: The April Fools comics, which are 90% taken from other stories, but given parody dialogue. Generally they include at least one original page per story however, frequently as a big finale.
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Used in a few stories, but most notably in 'The Three Snake-Leaves'. In 'The Piper' snakes are outright referred to as "Not of God".
 * Satan Is Good: Not necessarily good per say, but loyal to God and seeking redemption. She simply does her job watching over the vilest of souls. The stories crossed Satan with The Demon who fits the reputation more then well enough.
 * Save the Villain: Calie is very intent on doing this in the final issue of Escape From Wonderland.
 * Space Whale Aesop: Several, particularly when magical forces directly intervene to punish the guilty, notably done in 'The Three Little Pigs'.
 * Stock Aesops / Family-Unfriendly Aesop: While the way of going about it is certainly never "family friendly," the majority of aesops are. However, there are a fair number of stories that seem to glorify revenge.
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love?: It's stated at the end of the Queen of Hearts one-shot that The Jabberwocky cannot understand love.
 * Wicked Stepmother
 * Your Soul Is Mine: Used in a few stories; including 'Cinderella', 'Puss In Boots', and heavily in 'The Piper'. Belinda, and in one case Sela, also occasionally partakes in this.