No Tomorrow has been a heavily promoted series from Zenescope, so we thought we’d weigh in on the brand new series. With every group review the writers/reviews of Comic Bastards will give the book a score of: Buy, Borrow or Pass and follow that up with a short reason why they picked their score. First here’s a quick blurb about the book from Zenescope: In the not so far off future, the battle between the forces of good and evil for control of the nexus has finally come to an end… but this uneasy peace is not meant to last. A new horror is born into the Grimm Universe more terrifying than any before. A horror whose name is spoken in hushed and fearful whispers. A horror more beautiful than the breath we breathe but as deadly as our last and final gasp: Keres, the Goddess of the Death! From fan-favorite writer Raven Gregory (Wonderland trilogy/Fly/Dream Eater saga) comes THE WORLD'S MOST TERRIFYING COMIC BOOK! In a world where Death has gone mad, there may be...NO TOMORROW!

Adam: BUY

I reviewed a book from Zenescope’s main series Grimm Fairy Tales last week, and now here’s a Grimm Fairy Tales Presents book.  At first glance I thought this issue might take elements from the main series, water it down a bit and throw it into a miniseries.  To my delight, I was ignorantly wrong.  The first thing I noticed is the artwork on the cover is actually just as good quality-wise (albeit a little bit different) as the art inside.  Of course with Zenescope there’s 5 other covers, but the one we were presented I feel does the best job of setting the tone and mood of what’s in the actual book.  The story itself is very strong and interesting, enough for me to want to check out at least issue #2, if not further.  You get a glimpse into multiple people’s lives, and see first-hand how they are affected by death and tragedy.  For example, there’s a little boy who’s scared to fly for the first time.

When Keres unleashes the enormous earthquake, the mother of the boy comforts him as she sees a reunited brother and sister get slaughtered by debris in the Denver airport.  The fact that it takes place in real-life areas such as Chicago and Denver make it more marketable to the people who don’t exactly enjoy the fantasy genre such as myself, while still retaining some of it and all of Grimm Fairytales’ darkness.  All the stories tie together too, such as when we meet the main character Patrick.  When Keres was in Patrick’s office, it was interesting to see him try to stop her after recalling he saw her in Denver on the news that morning.  The fact that his fate was similar to the brother and sister in the beginning really makes me wonder if he lives or not (unfortunately, we found that out in the preview for next months’ issue which kind of killed my curiosity), and if he can find out how Keres is doing what she’s doing and why she’s doing it.  If I can find this at my local shop, I’ll definitely be picking a copy up.

Unfortunately, writer Raven Gregory knows tragedy and loss all too well as explained at the end of this issue, and I send my condolences out to him and his family.

Samantha: PASS

Stories surrounding death are so relatable on so many levels. He is a character that everyone knows and most could tell a story or two about him. I am not surprised that for this new Grimm Fairy Tale death has been chosen as our main character once again. I found this comic to have huge disconnects with the reader despite choosing a familiar character.

Death doesn’t seem escapable so when Patrick accidentally escapes her it seems weird to me. Almost like she has given up. With East of West doing such a fantastic job on death’s character it is hard not to judge this against that comic. You need to build ties with your characters in a matter of moments for the story to have a hook. I can see East of West story in real-time. Here, I didn’t get that same connection with Patrick or his wife. Death is barely even in it and also seems too much of a mystery when their beliefs are black and white. I will definitely pass on this Fairy Tale.

Dustin: BORROW

I teetered back and forth on whether or not you should purchase this issue or not and it really came down to a few things. One I will admit is completely trivial, but being that the story beings in Denver and they show the infamous Blue Mustang statue, you’d expect them to get the glowing red eyes right. That’s my home state and I love flying home and being greeted by that demonic looking beast that not only killed its creator, but attempted to kill his son that finished the project. Also the red eyes would have fit perfectly with the story. Also I’ve never known Colorado to look like a desert, especially around the airport. That aside I have actual reason why this is only a “borrow” for me.

The story is interesting, but only because of the cliffhanger we’re left on. The rest of it really could have been told in six pages and the cliffhanger (which is really the lead into the story) could have been our title page. The disaster at the beginning took up far too many pages; the encounter with the family was strange and basically ended up being pointless. The art was decent, but I didn’t believe our main character was forty. It could be that he wasn’t since they comment on that, but then they never say his real age. I can appreciate Raven Gregory’s dedication at the end and so if you wanted to buy the book to support that dedication I would be fine with that.

Carl: PASS

Another reimagining of the Grimm Fairy Tales, No Tomorrow centers on Death as she causes lethal earthquakes.  What this book has is an interesting premise.  What it suffers from is a lack of execution.  Sure, horrible disasters are happening, but we readers have no sense of awe as to be lured into this book or the following issues.  Death shows up and people die.  But there’s no more than that in this issue.

So what’s the catch?  We won’t know until issue two.  And that’s a cheat that prevents people from purchasing comics.

Kevin R: BUY

The cover of No Tomorrow #1 is Death, herself, wielding her trademark scythe and not much else. But don't let that initial gross feeling- which, by the way, is totally normal- deter you from the book: No Tomorrow #1 is a really entertaining read. Here, Death is a silent force of nature, leaving widespread destruction in her wake. Raven Gregory is super careful to not draw any direct parallels, and creates characters to bring you into the moment of disaster only to end their lives, or their role in the story entirely

Artist JG Miranda, too, is incredibly clever with the way he represents action in that opening sequence and throughout the book. The main plot of the issue follows a man as he realizes that Death is very real, and in our world. The storytellers give us this idea in less than two pages. Efficiency of exposition is something not a lot of storytelling teams can do in comics, so it’s refreshing to see it here. This is probably the biggest surprise for me since I started writing for the site. Never did I ever think I would be saying this, but I can’t wait for the next one.

Steve: PASS

So, I’m guessing No Tomorrow is an attempt to centralize a supernatural disaster scenario around one man and his family, which elsewhere might offer a unique perspective, but here falls flat with a painfully slow story and mostly indistinguishable characters. For some reason, it also feels like the beginning of DC’s Trinity War event (especially in the appearance of this book’s cloaked, Pandora-esque baddie), but it doesn’t even come close to the action or intrigue of Trinity War, which is saying a lot, since I don’t particularly care for that event. The art is the best thing about this book, and even that undulates significantly in quality, luxuriating near the rushed side of the spectrum. Not having much in the way of substance, No Tomorrow #1 was a tough book to get through that I doubt will capture many readers’ attention.

Score: 3 Passes, 2 Buys and a Borrow

Writer: Raven Gregory

Artist: JG Miranda

Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment

Price: $3.99

Release Date: 8/28/13