It’s the end of the last full week of this campaign! We wrap up next Thursday afternoon, so make sure to tell all your friends, family, allies, and foes! If you want in on Sentinels of the Multiverse: Disparation, now is the best time! 

Let’s talk about the strangest villain from this set…

When Sentinel Comics started publishing their new Tome of the Bizarre book in October of 1948, it was “hosted” by a strange and scary narrator who called himself “Grimm”. He appeared as a ghastly spirit haunting an old library, emerging from the shelves to share “blood-curdling tales”! What is now considered Volume 1 of Tome of the Bizarre only lasted until 1951, and when Volume 2 of the book launched in 1959, it was without its horror host. Grimm was gone and nearly forgotten, until issue #100 of Volume 2 of Tome of the Bizarre in April of 1967, which introduced a new villain: Grimm, Teller of Tales! 

This Grimm had much in common with the narrator from Volume 1 — he looked similar, narrated stories, and fit the same aesthetic as his earlier incarnation — but this Grimm was an actual character in the stories of Sentinel Comics! Grimm was an ancient figure, telling the primordial stories that hold power over humanity. He could force the heroes into roles, making them play out his tales, all to some unknown dread purpose. 

Grimm was a rarely appearing but memorable character throughout the Silver age of comics, appearing less often as the books moved into the modern age, until Tome of the Bizarre Volume 3 was abruptly canceled at issue #259 in October of 2009. Just two months later, issue #1 of Volume 4 was on the shelves, and Grimm was back! In both capacities! He introduced the book, proud to have his own title once again, and he seemed to have various amounts of control of the stories told in the pages of Tome of the Bizarre. He addressed the readers directly, taunting them that they could not save their precious heroes, informing them that they were the ones dooming the heroes by turning the pages of the very comics they were reading. But Grimm also appeared as a character — or, often, multiple characters in disguises that the heroes seemed unable to see through, while the readers could easily identify Grimm in all his forms. He taunted them, set up grand plots, pitted heroes against one another, and delighted in the twists that befell the protagonists. 

Grimm clearly has a story to tell, and the heroes are but players on his stage! But to what end? And how could the heroes hope to defeat a foe who seemingly holds editorial control over the stories they play out? Furthermore, how could such a strange villain work as an adversary in a cooperative card game? These questions and more can only be answered by reading more, dear backer! Grimm invites you to read the rest of this update… if you dare!

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Grimm was VERY recently revealed and explained, including one of his plots that took up two comics, in this very week’s episode of The Letters Page podcast, Episode #243. (Huh. It’s almost like someone planned it this way…)

Dare you read what Grimm might do in a game at your very table? If you find yourself brave enough, read on!

Grimm cares deeply about the heroes playing the roles he assigns them. Those roles might even be beneficial to the heroes… but at what cost?

He has a variety of ways of getting the heroes to do what he wants:

And then, once the heroes are playing their roles, they’ll have choices to make, the outcomes of which may leave them no good options!

(A note: the “Role Icon” for Grimm’s cards is still in process by our totally badass graphic design team. They’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, but they’re making their way through everything as we wrap up development of this product! I’ll show off that and other things in future updates.)

Grimm’s plots are clearly dangerous and he has some nefarious purpose. Will you play into his hands? Or can you manage to turn the tables on the teller of tales?!

A question! No answer?

A: Now THAT is a question I’m not going to answer. Yet.

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Have a great weekend, everyone! Maybe consider saving the Multiverse this weekend? Something to think about.

-Christopher