The story of Grim, a supernatural voyage through the underworld and into one’s self, is as methodical as a gravedigger moving earth, adding its plot points one shovelful at a time. Volume 1 introduced the main characters, in particular Jessica Harrow, a Reaper whose main job is to ferry souls to the afterlife and who’s just discovered her father is literal Death. It also introduced the main conflict of the series, that of an afterlife uprising that threatens to upend life and death. Volume 2 widens the mythology of this universe, such as the drag queen muses who take their lifeline-cutting scissors to gender stereotypes. Volume 3 of writer Stephanie Phillips and illustrator Flaviano’s tale takes Jessica and fellow Reaper Eddie to literal Hell.
Having just escaped their confinement, Jessica and Eddie decide to rescue their friend Marcel, another fellow Reaper who was sentenced to eternal damnation for what he’s done in life. The Hell they journey into is nothing like Dante’s structured descent. Rather, all three get to experience their own personal hells, ones they may or may not be able to escape from. Meanwhile, a new villain has received a magical entity that will help her tear apart the barriers between the living and the dead.
This trip into the three friends’ personal hells makes up much of the book and provides most of its appeal. The fact that it is a personal hell lets Phillips peel back the layers of these characters and show the audience what makes them tick. Even as Phillips reveals each characters’ unique insecurities and personality flaws, they fit into their established roles: Jess, the stalwart heroine; Eddie, the wisecracking former rock star; and Marcel, the dour writer. The story of Annabel’s full ambitions offers this tale some extra meat, but perhaps not enough to make her motivations clear.
Phillips’ story also has the benefit of taking place within Flaviano’s striking visual style, injecting each character’s experience of hell with everything from surreal imagery to body horror (this along with panels that reveal Marcel’s backstory and the act that essentially got him damned). Flaviano includes items that mark this book as a dark fantasy/horror, like scythes glowing with magic and a kind of symbiotic growth that would give Marvel’s Venom pause.
Grim, Vol. 3 moves the overall story of the afterlife uprising along well enough, but the detour through hell is where the most interesting things happen, largely thanks to the relationship between Jessica and her friends. It seems like the eventual Volume 4 will perhaps be the climax of the series, but there may also be another side quest for the three friends to undertake. Nevertheless, I will most likely read Volume 4, if and when it’s produced.
Grim, Vol. 3 By Stephanie Phillips Art by Flaviano BOOM! Studios, 2024 ISBN: 9781608861460
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
The 1980s is considered by many to be a renaissance for movies featuring martial arts. Sure, there were heroes with bulging biceps, quotable one-liners, and very large guns, but there were also action stars who needed no real acting experience, just a black belt in a given martial art. Those movies might not have aged well, and some may even laugh at the unintentional comedy of martial artist/movie starts like Steven Seagal or Jean Claude Van Damme these days, but Eight Limbs, written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Giulia Lalli, might owe some of its narrative DNA to the martial arts movie formula. Rather than being a throwback, however, Phillips’ story updates the martial arts story for this century.
Joanna Carr was a Muay Thai champion until she lost her title in a brutal fight. She went into retirement to raise a family and open her own gym. Joanna seems content to raise her family to train other fighters until a longtime friend asks Joanna to take in troubled foster teen Mari. Joanna soon begins mentoring the girl, training her how to fight. When a misunderstanding drives Mari away, she soon gets involved with a dangerous underground fighting ring. Now, Joanna must step into the ring and fight to rescue her protégé.
Fans of martial arts movies might find the plot rather familiar: a fighter gives up on fighting only to be forced to step back into the ring when everything is on the line. Phillips, however, completely excludes the toxic masculinity and avoids the cliche of a climactic martial arts battle that leaves one or both combatants near death. The crux of this story is the steadily growing bond between Mari and Joanna and how that bond is tested. The martial art of Muay Thai is more a way to give Mari and Joanna the focus and discipline needed to overcome the problems they both face, rather than just another way to pummel a human body into hamburger.
Muay Thai is also known as the art of eight limbs, hence the book’s title. The Muay Thai fighter uses two fists and two feet like other martial arts, but the fighter can use brutal knee strikes and punishing elbow strikes on their opponents, and this fighting style is beautifully depicted by Lalli, showing everything from the fighter’s stance to a freeze frame of a kick connecting. The artwork isn’t quite the hyperkinetic action one would find in an anime, but its grounded depiction of one-on-one combat grounds the overall story.
This book is made for those with a martial arts mindset, but it’s less about Mortal Kombat-style fatalities and more about the spiritual side of martial arts, how martial arts help people discover who they are, what they’re capable of, and especially what is important in life. Joanna might not be doing feats that made Seagal and Van Damme famous, but one could argue that she is a more evolved form of martial artist for this more emotionally and socially aware time.
Eight Limbs By Stephanie Phillips Art by Giulia Lalli Humanoids Life Drawn, 2023 ISBN: 9781643375861
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Death is a natural part of life, and in fiction, death (or at least the personification of death) will often have a starring role. Sometimes, death isn’t just one person but an enterprise dedicated to getting souls to their final resting place, and that is the case in the universe of Grim, Vol. 1 and Vol 2. Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Flaviano, Grim is a journey through an imaginative, visually vibrant afterlife on a road paved with well-worn tropes.
At the dark heart of Grim is a reaper named Jessica Harrow. Most reapers are culled from humans who have died, but Jessica does not actually remember how she died or even what her life was before she became a reaper. As she begins to delve into her past, she soon finds herself hunted by her fellow reapers, but her reward is not going to be a peaceful journey to the great beyond.
Readers of dark fantasy and of the “chosen one” trope will find Jessica’s storyline familiar. She is apparently the only one who is capable of fixing what is broken in the natural order because of who or what she is. Vol. 1 has the moment when what Jessica thought she knew is upended, while Vol. 2 showcases her trying to stay one step ahead of the reapers pursuing her. While this basic element of the story is nothing new, Phillips does present some ideas that give it a fresh and vibrant coat of paint. Those familiar with Joseph Campbell and his hero’s journey might recognize Jessica’s companions and fellow reapers. Sardonic rocker Eddie provides the comic relief, while Marcel, the obvious straight man, serves as the group’s stalwart, brooding rock. What really stands out, however, is how Phillips reinterprets some notable entities like the Fates, making them colorful drag queens instead of cloaked hags..
They travel through a world that is beautifully rendered by Flaviano. The afterlife Jessica and her friends move through is full of shadowy stone arches and austere Gothic spires, scenery that is both alien and familiar. Even the scythes, the reaper’s traditional weapon, is given a visual upgrade that makes it look like it’s part of an ‘90s action figure’s accessories. Even the very pedestrian city of Las Vegas is bright and vibrant, a depiction befitting a city that is known for being a brightly colored jewel in a desert.
Grim doesn’t necessarily tell a new story, but it tells its very familiar story well. Fans of this book might have already enjoyed works by Patricia Briggs and Sarah J. Maas, or even YA fiction like that of Suzanne Collins. Its depiction of the afterlife puts it in dark fantasy territory, but Grim overall has the bones of a fantasy adventure.
Grim Vol. 1 and 2 By Stephanie Phillips Art by Flaviano BOOM! Studios, 2023 Vol. 1 ISBN: 9781684158829 Vol. 2 ISBN: 9781684159055
Publisher Age Rating: 16 years and up NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
The story of Grim, a supernatural voyage through the underworld and into one’s self, is as methodical as a gravedigger moving earth, adding its plot points one shovelful at a time. Volume 1 introduced the main characters, in particular Jessica Harrow, a Reaper whose main job is to ferry souls to the afterlife and who’s just discovered her father is literal Death. It also introduced the main conflict of the series, that of an afterlife uprising that threatens to upend life and death. Volume 2 widens the mythology of this universe, such as the drag queen muses who take their lifeline-cutting scissors to gender stereotypes. Volume 3 of writer Stephanie Phillips and illustrator Flaviano’s tale takes Jessica and fellow Reaper Eddie to literal Hell.
biceps, quotable one-liners, and very large guns, but there were also action stars who needed no real acting experience, just a black belt in a given martial art. Those movies might not have aged well, and some may even laugh at the unintentional comedy of martial artist/movie starts like Steven Seagal or Jean Claude Van Damme these days, but Eight Limbs, written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Giulia Lalli, might owe some of its narrative DNA to the martial arts movie formula. Rather than being a throwback, however, Phillips’ story updates the martial arts story for this century.
