"Gretel" by Ben Meares is a dark and gripping reimagining of the classic fairytale, transforming the well-known story into a suspenseful and haunting narrative. Meares expertly blends elements of horror, fantasy, and psychological thriller, creating a fresh and compelling take on the tale of Hansel and Gretel.

Set years after the siblings' infamous encounter with the witch, the story follows Gretel as she navigates a world filled with malevolent forces and hidden dangers. Meares' writing is both evocative and immersive, drawing readers into a richly atmospheric setting that is as eerie as it is captivating. The tension is palpable throughout the novel, with each twist and turn adding to the sense of dread and anticipation.

Gretel emerges as a strong and complex heroine, grappling with the traumatic memories of her past while confronting new and terrifying threats. Meares delves deep into her psyche, exploring themes of fear, resilience, and the struggle for survival. The character development is nuanced and realistic, making Gretel's journey both relatable and inspiring.

The supporting characters, including a mix of familiar faces and new additions, are well-crafted and add depth to the story. Their interactions with Gretel reveal different facets of her personality and help to build a rich, multi-layered narrative. The dialogue is sharp and authentic, enhancing the overall sense of realism and immersion.

Meares' descriptive prose vividly brings to life the dark forests, ominous creatures, and magical elements that populate Gretel's world. The novel's pacing is well-balanced, with moments of intense action interspersed with quieter, introspective scenes that allow for character development and plot progression.

"Gretel" is a must-read for fans of dark fantasy and fairytale retellings. Ben Meares has crafted a chilling and thought-provoking story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. This novel is a testament to the enduring power of classic tales, reimagined through the lens of modern horror and psychological depth.

I was super stoked to see Gretel enter the Grimm universe and hoped that Zenescope would make her (as per their usual) a strong heroine; but maybe with a bit of a sweet side?

While Gretel is hot, as almost all of Zenescope's gal tend to be, and the artists employed on these books did a fabulous job; the story itself is a bit meh. I liked the idea of Gretel's backstory, but hated the timeline used. Did we really need WWII used as a platform for guilt and sympathy? It felt a bit cheap. Without this piece of Gretel's origin story I might have rated it higher; but I was just a bit put-off with how they used WWII, the concentration camp trains, and Nazi regime it in the end.
That said, overall Gretel has a decent origin story. I liked the explanation of what happened to her brother and how she became a witch/witch-hunter. Even the vendetta/revenge story was fine and ultimately ended up being a good overall plot for these 6 comics that make up Gretel's introduction to the reader and the Grimm universe.

A hot chick (which is mandatory with Grimm gals), cool magic, okay origin, and decent plot just aren't really enough anymore. With comics like Something is Killing the Children, Monstress, and the latest Red Sonja series I'm having trouble really feeling like Zenescope is at a competitive level. I do still love their art and artists (4 of my 6 fave artists work with them) so I'll still get their variant covers for my collection (if not full series books); but I'd really like to see them step it up in a different way. There is something to be said for the 'tried and true' I suppose; but with DC's Black Label and other publishers pushing the bounds of nudity in comics Zenescope and the Grimm Universe not as exciting as it once was, I think something more needs to be done. Not that I want porn (because I don't) but a few Z-covers (X-rated) and some nice perky boobs on the pages are just not going to and be enough in today's market anymore. Whether you're a guy who loves that, or a bisexual girl like me, the story is becoming a lot more important as the graphic novel/comic medium shifts into being more respected. I'd like to see our Grimm gals shift with the times, both in their depth and personality, as well as their looks. I don't mean in terms of less nude or sexy (as I still love the look of these books) but let's get some POC and more cultural variety in this fairy tale universe. Someone other than a knock-off of Disney's Mulan or Tiana. Zenescope should dig deeper into original, lesser known fairy tales and give us some gals to identify with and share some new fairy tales with their market.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review. However, I do also own many variant Gretel covers and the paperback book (in print) is a part of my personal Zenescope collection.

Review submitted to Diamond Bookshelf (part of Diamond Comic Distributors) for possible publication.

This story tells an alternate story of Hansel and Gretel, where Gretel became a witch.

I really enjoyed the plot of this story. Gretel searches for the original witch, and meets many others along the way. It also tells the story of what she has been doing for the hundreds of years since her brother and her were captured by the witch.

This was quite a gruesome and graphic comic. The witches in this story eat human hearts. They eat children’s hearts to stay young, and they eat the hearts of other witches to gain their powers. These parts had realistic illustrations, so they were graphic.

This was a great horror graphic novel.

Thank you Diamond Book Distributors for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a great time reading this graphic novel. It begins with a tragic event, and changes someone’s life forever. They gain a new mentor, one who teaches them how to hone and develop their skills. While their story moves along, it ends up being a part of a sinister plan. They might be the only one capable of stopping it from coming true, and they must hurry before it is too late. If you are a fan of this story, then this is a graphic novel you will want to read.

Gretel, yes that Gretel - the one from the Grimm tales, is up to her rear in attacking witches while she is hunting for her mentor Samuel in New Orleans. She was a witch finder in Europe until she had to flee the Nazis in WWII. But now she is hunting for Samuel because she has seen a vision of his death and the destruction of the world. And as much as she is tired of life, she does not the world to end on her watch. But how much of what she knows is true? Read and find out along with her!

Gretel is a reimagining of Hansel and Gretel. Gretel is now a witch hunter hunting down witches (who eat children's hearts) and gaining superpowers by eating their hearts. It's not a bad story and has decent art. The problem is the amount of exposition and monologuing. It grows tedious really quickly.

Aside from the obvious fan service of super hot chicks in impossible to fight in armour, this was very good. It's a take on Hansel and Gretel in which Gretel survives the evil witch's clutches by being made to feast on the hear of her own brother. This somehow not only gives her superpowers but also extends her life - as does hunting down witches and eating THEIR hearts which allows Gretel to absorb her power.
Also, the main nemesis here is Tituba, the accused Salem Witch herself, who it turns out, was also the gingerbread witch of the fairy tale, which I found to be a unique take on both the fairy tale and the history.

Gretel is an offshoot of the Fables series. Yes it is Gretel as in Hansel and Gretel, and I don’t know about you, but I think she looks an awful lot like Taylor Swift. At least if TS dressed sluttier and ate the hearts of witches. Gretel is a witch hunter with an endless life after being made to eat the heart of her own brother. She looks forward to the day when she can slay the witch who turned her into a monster. The story line was lots of fun. I don’t care for the way they draw comic book woman, but marvel will likely never change.

Upon first glance, I naturally assumed this was just some other Hansel & Gretel story. After reading the graphic novel, I realized it is more than that. Gretel is some form of a retelling of the story we all know, but in the span of hundreds years in the past to present day with a mixture of various forms of magic and magical creatures. There's a lot of narration between the time lines, but together, forms a pretty good story and we learn a lot of Gretel and her time spent throughout centuries. Although a little dark and a bit graphic, I really enjoyed the graphic novel and seeing all the details put into it. If anyone likes witches and retellings, this one might just be for them.

We all know the 1812 German fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. The story about a brother and sister kidnapped by a cannibalistic witch who cleverly escape by outwitting their captor. Zenescope, under writer Ben Meares and artist Allan Otero, reimagine Gretel’s origins and the consequence of the choices she has made over the past 300 years.

Summary:

The year is 1688 when an American man, Samuel, falls in love with a witch named Tituba. The couple quickly relocated to Salem, Massachusetts where their marriage remained a secret due to their different skin colors. During this time Tituba gave Samuel a piece of her heart to grant him similar powers she possessed as a witch. As time went on Tituba granted more pieces of her heart to other women as a means to liberate them from their confines. As more women were granted this power the people of Salem became fearful of these powers and began burning witches at the stake. This forced Samuel and Tituba to move to Germany where they would not be hunted and could live peacefully.

Once in Germany Tituba begins plotting her revenge on humanity, which is to eliminate the majority of humanity and enslave the rest. In order to do this Tituba needs to find a person who can hunt down and consume the witches she has created. One day Hansel and Gretel are captured by Tituba, who kills Hansel and starves Gretel with the sole purpose of making her eat her brother’s heart. Once Gretel eats Hansel’s heart she will gain powers similar to that of a witch along with a hatred of their kind creating the desire to kill them all and consume their power. Unknown to Gretel and Samuel, who trained her to use her powers, this was part of Tituba’s plan. After Gretel consumed enough witches Tituba would eat Gretel’s heart and combine it with her own power to enact her revenge on humanity.

After 274 years, countless witch hunting and power absorbing, and not knowing the name of the witch who killed her brother, Gretel is thrown into a final conflict with the witch that created her, Tituba, to determine the fate of humanity and possibly get a piece of revenge for the life she had to suffer through.

Significance:

Zenescope’s latest graphic novel, Gretel, has reimagined the classic fairy tale for a new generation. This is done through providing the backstory of the witch Tituba who started out having sympathy for humanity, but eventually seeks revenge upon them for killing her fellow witches. Yet, in order to carry out her revenge Tituba needs to create a witch who could track down and absorb other witches’ powers. After waiting several decades, she found Hansel and Gretel and continued her plan by killing Hansel and granting Gretel witch-based powers. Throughout this process we begin to see that Tituba is not evil but rather believes what she is doing is an end to a means allowing generation of witches to live in peace at the cost of only a few. Conversely, Gretel viewpoint is different as she was kidnapped, starved to near death, and forced to eat her brother’s heart and then cursed with witch powers. In response Gretel wants revenge against Tituba for the death of her brother and for the powers she does not want. It is not until Gretel meets Samuel who begins to train her that she begins to redirect her powers on killing witches as a means of getting revenge. In many ways, this reveals that Gretel was initially the victim, but has far exceed that status and is not innocent. Furthermore, Gretel only has one goal and that is to enact her revenge on Tituba and every other witch that gets in the way of plan. This creates an interesting dynamic between Tituba who uses Gretel to try to save an entire species and Gretel who is part of that species, doesn’t care, and wants to kill Tituba for using her. Thus, you are torn between Gretel and Tituba as they both have justifications for wanting to kill the other. The stakes between the two has never been higher as either humanity will survive or the witch species will be revitalized.

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Gretel consists of five volumes in total and is gonna be published in paperback February 2020. I never encountered Ben Meares's work but I must say I was impressed. His art style is vivid, detailed and well drawn. The only problem people might point out is oversexualized portrayal of women (aka heir clothes). I understand it was probably targeted at male audience, but I personally enjoy some girl power as well (and I don't need my heroines running around in tight clothes). It didn't bother as much as some other reviewers though.

Plotwise, we are following Gretel's path of revenge, leading up to final battle with with who killed her brother and turned Gretel into witch herself. I overall enjoyed all of the flashbacks and little side stories that created the whole picture. It got kind of repetetive in a while though and I wouldn't mind if Gretel focused on something else. I appreciate different types of witch and their abilites, I think it made a story more compelling and interesting. We also got a lot of action.

Author focuses on characters a lot. First of all, Gretel. I really enjoyed the way her character progressed in centuries and how everything turned out in the end. It's a nice way to show how revenge might blind you. As for side characters, we don't get that many, but it's still enough. Gretel's archnemesis was the most interesting part of whole series for me - her reasoning and why she seeked what she did was challenging.

In the end, I would recommend Gretel to any comics fan who likes a strong female lead with a little bit of fanservice and lots and lots of witches. Modern take on classic fairytale gone right.

Some of these fairy tale revamps really hit their mark while some splat like rotten tomatoes. Being a avid fairy tale reader I was disappointed in Gretel and DNF at 25 pages.

The back story was too in depth at first, so no character growth or paced reveal. Illustration are quick and lack quality. Gretel wears the same outfit (unfit for someone in her line of work and revealing for the sake of being revealing) through centuries of witch hunting which is lazy and unbelievable. Plus yadda, yadda, darkness, yadda, yadda, identity... we get it. It doesn't need to be repeated every 2 pages.

Gretel is not worth the time or effort to read.

Gretel is like the second book I have read from the Zenescope line of comics. The story of Gretel is a unique take on the fairytale as Gretel is a monstrous witch who hunts monstrous witches. The art is nice and smooth and the premise of the story is promising. But... the dialogue seems to be missing something and a lot gets lost in the details. This story is okay not memorable but not terrible either. I'm on the fence on if I would read more in this series, it could go either way depending on the blurb and reviews from the next book. My voluntary, unbiased review is based on a review copy from Netgalley.

This was an enjoyable read. If you like magic, action, and witches this is a graphic novel for you. It is a fun/unique spin off of Hansel and Gretel.
Thank you NetGalley and Zenescope for a ecopy of the Graphic Novel for my honest review.

ARC Copy...interesting take on the Gretal of "Hansel and Gretal" however even eating hearts to gain super powers is her main "quirk"...they goes my stomach!

Gretel isn't the little girl of the fairytale... She's a witch hunter with witch power. She's saved by a man that trained her to fight witches and eat their hearts for assimilated their powers. Years after years, centuries passed and Gretel has saved so many people from the evil witches (sometimes she didn't like in the WW2) but the only one who really matter seems to be "disappeared".
When her mentor - Samuel - seems to be killed, she will do everything possible to prevent it.
Meanwhile, we can see even Gretel's past and discover her background and new characters.

The plot is intriguing, the "darkness" in this serie is one of my favorite things.

This is a story of witches. Or at least one that doesn't want to be. "Gretel" revolves around... well, Gretel (yep, the one with the brother and the witch, or at least one with the same name, also a brother and also a witch that wants to eat them... or at least their heart), a woman that became a witch hunter around three hundred years ago, after she and her brother were kidnapped (and the brother killed; back then she was just a child). Gretel was saved and then trained by a random guy with a beard and then, after she had become strong enough, started to rid the world of all those bad women of yore. However, after a while, you get tired of killing witches, and the same happened to Gretel. We find her in America, having given up on killing witches... or not exactly, because lately witches are trying to hunt her down. Why? And she has also had a vision that says her former mentor is going to be killed. Gretel will not allow this.

"Gretel" is an entertaining comic, with interesting characters (even though the bad are very bad and the good kind of bad too) and a simple but non-stop plot that never becomes boring, and keeps the reader turning the pages. It is actually so simple that sometimes one would desire a little bit more to chew on.

The only couple of downsides are a tendency for the story to travel in time that becomes a little bit too much the umpteenth time we are sent two hundred years ago for four or five pages of background, or the tendency of the story to add a lot of exposition to this. Luckily for us, the atmosphere, the darkness, the violence, the characters, more than make up for this shortcomings.

The drawing style fits perfectly the story, even if some of the strips make sometimes for difficult reading. It is clear, it develops well the action and it conveys the story perfectly. It is also attractive. However, as always, we could make a couple of commentaries around the choice of clothing of the females here, but that is not something only this comic is guilty of.

A guilty pleasure waiting to be read.

I am unable to view the book via Pocketbook, Therefore the rating is based on the cover. Happy reading to those who are able to fulfill the book.

trigger warning
[kidnapping of children, cannibalism, gore, slavery, holocaust]

After all these years, witch hunter Gretel is reunited with her mentor, only to realise that someone's trying to murder them - in a more coordinated manner than she is used to.

Gretel is the Gretel of Hänsel and Gretel fame. I can't get used to the english spelling Hansel, but that's hardly something I can fault the comic for.

What I can fault the people who made it for is the optics. What's with martial arts people and leather trousers in media? Ever tried to wear one of these? It's restricting your movements. Also, if you wear a trouser that sits directly on your hip bones so you can hint at your genitalia, it's neither comfortable nor allows for freedom of movement. I know it's a genre thing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Another thing I really didn't like that the good guys are blond and have blue eyes and the villain is a PoC without playing with clichées. Nope. It's simply the bad evil witch doing bad evil things. And she is dark skinned because dark skinned people do bad and evil things. ...really?

Apart from that, we could talk about the narrative. Which is tell, don't show. Gretel's inner voice narrates everything, up to the point where she summs up what's happening right now so nobody has to say it. That's bad story telling.

After writing all this down, I think I have to go from two stars to one star. I am sorry, but that's how it is.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.