Jessica Harrow is dead. But her journey has only just begun! Boom! Studios’ latest supernatural comic series Grim introduces us to the world of Reapers, charged with ferrying souls to the afterlife.

After the events of the premiere issue, Jessica finds herself trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead—something that no other reaper has ever experienced. But what makes her so special? And what exactly is going to happen now that she can walk amongst the living again?

Grim #2 Review

Grim continues to be a visual delight in issue #2. The dark, swirling base palette of deep reds, blues, and purples continues to tie everything together. But this issue kicks off at a Día de los Muertos celebration, which gives the story even more to play with visually. The supernatural aesthetic of Grim remains spot-on; it really is a joy for any fan of the spooky and otherworldly to flip through the pages.

The Día de los Muertos opening helps build out the world of Grim and set up some extra supernatural conflict. Outside of Jessica’s mysterious past – and unprecedented new ability to move between the lands of the living and the dead – it’s clear dark and dangerous forces are at play here. Is the creature attacking the celebration the main Grim Reaper? Or does it have to do with the man who stole Jessica’s scythe? We’ll have to wait to find out!

The issue ultimately leads Jessica down a path to seek out more information about her past. (In a sneaky way, because of course she was denied the information when she asked outright.) Storywise, Grim #2 feels best as bookends; the beginning and end both grab your attention and make you feel intrigued about the story. 

The middle of this chapter, however, drags a little for me. The exposition didn’t feel as well balanced as in the first issue. Jessica’s conversation with her fellow Reapers felt a little too much like just recapping the last issue, and her confrontation with Adira also just seemed to echo/reinforce what we learned in issue #1. It’s all relevant to watching the plot unfold, but it seemed too drawn out at times without really contributing any new information.

Still, if Grim felt like it took a dip in the middle, the end brings it back up high again. I do feel invested in the mystery of the story and Jessica’s arc, and I want to see what happens next. Hopefully, with the bulk of the exposition and character establishments out of the way, we can see some big things happen in issue #3.

You can preview the first few pages of Grim #2 below.

The second issue of Grim is available from Boom! Studios now.

Series Info

Description: Jessica Harrow is dead. But her journey has only just begun! Discover the world of the afterlife, where Jessica has been recruited as a Reaper, tasked with ferrying countless souls to their final destination. But unlike the rest of the Reapers, she has no memory of what killed her and put her into this predicament. In order to unravel the mystery of her own demise, she’ll have to solve an even bigger one – where is the actual GRIM REAPER?

Author: Stephanie Phillips

Artist: Flaviano

Release: Monthly (first issue May 2022)