Review: Cinderella: Age of Darkness (2 of 3)

Title: Cinderella: Age of Darkness (2 of 3)
Publisher: Zenescope
Creative Team: Joe Brusha and Pat Shand (story), Pat Shand (writer), Ryan Best (artist), Thiago Dal Bello (colorist), Micah Myers (letterer), Nicole Glade (editor)

Picking up where he left off on this twisted version of Cinderella, Zenescope scribe Pat Shand continues his story. Cindy is off on her quest to assassinate Hades, the last surviving God, while the Dark Queen has plans of her own. How Cindy plans to find Hades, while the aforementioned god is mounting his own attack is anybody’s guess.

Well, unless you read the book that is…

The Story

Cindy is back and she’s one ‘boss ass bitch’ as she continues her hunt. How Pat Shand is able to fit this much story in 22 pages is really one of the under-rated attributes of this book. Shand has 3 issues to tell his story and he continues to maximize his efforts. It moves quickly, while retaining everything important you need to know. It’s fast paced action and dialogue play well together to help drive the plot and develop the characters. Cindy is still charming as all hell and Hades deadpans his way from one kill to the next.

The Art

The art team has a slight change this time around with Thiago Del Bello replacing Renato Guerra as the colorist. I’m not seeing a dramatic change and it’s nothing you’d really notice without me pointing it out. That’s not a discredit to either colorist as much as it’s a compliment to consistency. Although there is much more red used in this issue, if you catch my drift. Ryan Best’s pencils and layouts have been a real joy. The angles used in his sequences keep you engaged and accentuate the action to keep pace with Shand’s storytelling.

Favorite NON-Spoiler(ish) Line:

"Perhaps, when the time comes, I’ll snap her neck rather than skin her. You know, as a sign of gratitude."

Summary

The second of three issues in Zenescope’s “Cinderella: Age of Darkness” mini-series picks right up where the first one left off. The pacing is great and switching scenes between Cindy and Hades isn’t nearly as confusing as some creative teams make it. Shand and Best have a great chemistry and the results are gushing onto the page. The characters are enjoyable and even though you only know the characters for a brief time in this series, you can feel the tension and understand the importance of the stakes at hand. Another excellent offering by Zenescope!