Jess’ excursion to the world of the living yields grave consequences when her boss imposes some intense penalties. However, it will take more than that to keep Jess from breaking the rules, especially with the mystery of why she alone can travel between worlds motivating her. Grim #3 is written by Stephanie Phillips, drawn by Flaviano, colored by Rico Renzi and lettered by Tom Napolitano for BOOM Studios.
What would it take for you to offer your soul up as an offering in return for something in death? I know some who consider it something they’ve already done. I’m much more protective of my own, even though I don’t believe in any kind of afterlife. These women in ancient Mesopotamia seemed eager for the exchange. In fact, when their deity appears before them with claws, hooves, and batlike wings, promising a great reward in a battle transcending good and evil, they don’t even seem to bat an eye. Is there anything you’d be willing to commit your soul being painfully ripped from your body in service of, the way Flaviano and Renzi depict them disintegrating?
Reaper boss Adira addresses crowds of souls in the space between life and death as The End rips through them declaring her war lost. He’s on a mission for Jessica Harrow, and he’s NOT tempted by Adira’s offer of a deal. To be honest, having seen what happened earlier to those women, I don’t blame him.
Speaking of Jessica, she and her buddies are trapped in … nowhere. And we know opening her file only opened more questions than answers. Just as fellow reapers Marcel and Eddie are affirming they’re there for her no matter what, the … nothing opens up and The End falls through with SCORES of others. The letters here by Napolitano stand out in a way that really make me feel the quaking of the void around them. Adira’s right-hand man Vincenzo surprises everyone by helping save Jessica and crew, and he explains he works for Death above Adira. Death, who has been MIA for a while now. Death, whose quarters he takes them to and Death, whose scythe Jessica can mysteriously activate.
Renzi has been doing some fascinating things with color in this series. The muted palette nails the tone of each realm we’ve visited so far. Each of the scenes we’ve seen, from Jessica gathering Bryan, to the corporate world of reapers, to the death cult of Sumer. I feel like it would be naive to believe there is nothing connecting the bright gold of the hourglass Vincenzo uses to distract The End and the same bright gold that brought Death’s scythe to life in Jessica’s hands. The End has caught up with them though, and as Vincenzo sacrifices himself to let Jessica, Marcel and Eddie go, he tasks them with finding Death to undo whatever Adira has set in motion.
Now I know this can’t be the end of whatever the creature who has got to be Adira started back in 500 BCE. And I had to dig into some research because the last time I read anything having to do with the Sumerians was back in high school when we covered The Epic of Gilgamesh. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much. It just so happens to be that Ereshkigal is the queen of the dead and Death’s mom. She was pretty protective of the fount of life and was responsible for keeping the dead in her realm and preventing the living from finding out about what the afterlife’s really about. That seems awfully interesting considering Jessica’s known to slide between the two and her death record was really her birth.
Cat Purcell is a Career Services Librarian, cosplayer, artist, and massive coffee consumer.
