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Grendel (comics)
Encyclopedia
Grendel is a long-running series of comic books originally created by American author Matt Wagner
. First published by Comico
, Wagner has now moved his character to Dark Horse
. Originally a noir
comic in the style of European titles such as Diabolik
, it has evolved into, in Wagner's words, a study of the nature of aggression
. In 2009, Hunter Rose, the first Grendel, was ranked as IGN
's 88th Greatest Villain of All Time.
in the anthology Comico Primer, and was given his own series in 1983
. This was quickly cancelled due to financial troubles the company went through. Wagner, who still owned the character, used the opportunity to re-tell the story of Hunter Rose in a far less conventional style in Grendel: Devil by the Deed, serialized as a backup story in Wagner's series Mage
; this was subsequently collected as a 48-page one-shot.
There followed an ongoing series, which lasted 40 issues. It was written by Wagner and drawn by a variety of artists, including the Pander Brothers, Bernie Mireault
, Tim Sale
, John K. Snyder III
and others. It began with a story set in the near future, with Hunter's granddaughter Christine Spar taking on the identity of Grendel to pursue a mission of revenge, but ultimately being consumed by it. The identity passed briefly, and tragically, to her deluded boyfriend Brian Li Sung. After a brief return to stories of Hunter Rose (actually two fictional novels written by Captain Wiggins, a supporting character from the Christine Spar arc), Wagner then spun the series further into the future, with the Grendel identity affecting a variety of people, and ultimately a whole society.
The publishing rights were tied up for several years after Comico
's bankruptcy, but Grendel resurfaced at Dark Horse Comics
with the ten-part series, Grendel: War Child, written by Wagner.
Following this, Dark Horse launched Grendel Tales, stories set in the world established by Wagner, created by other writers and artists, including Darko Macan
and Edvin Biukovic
. The main story has also continued in novel form, written by Greg Rucka
.
In the years since the publishing of War Child, Wagner has occasionally written short stories featuring Hunter Rose, and most recently launched an eight issue mini-series, Behold the Devil, which is to fill in a secret of Hunter Rose. Behold began publishing in November 2007.
Comico Primer #2 (1982) contained the first Grendel story, introducing debonair master-criminal Hunter Rose and his nemesis, Argent the wolf. Grendel soon got his own black-and-white title, published by Comico
, which lasted three issues. It ended prematurely, mid-story, because of Comico's financial issues. Wagner considers these stories a "rough draft". These issues, along with the aforementioned Grendel story from Comico Primer #2, were collected for the first time ever in the Grendel Archives collection in 2007, just in time for the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first Grendel story. The collection included an introduction by Wagner explaining the situation which led to the creation of Grendel, and dismissing rumors that he was unhappy to have the early work available.
(1984–1986), Wagner reworked and retold Hunter Rose's story in its entirety. It was collected by Comico in 1986. A new edition, recolored by Bernie Mireault
, was published by Dark Horse in 1993. In 2007, it was released in hardcover colored only in black, white, and red.
An experiment in illustrated fiction, the panels combine to form something of a static whole on each page, often likened to a stained glass window. Each page is both one picture and several images, arranged much less sequentially than in typical comic book narrative. All of its text appears in accompanying captions, presented as excerpts from a non-fiction book about Hunter Rose.
The story begins with an extraordinarily gifted boy, his name only given as Eddie. Because victory in his endeavors came so easily to him, it all seemed meaningless. In despair, he threw a world-championship fencing match, and began a torrid affair with Jocasta Rose, a trainer twice his age. When Jocasta died, Eddie left behind his former life and took on a new persona - or rather two. He became Hunter Rose, successful novelist and socialite, and Grendel, elegant costumed assassin and crime boss. Grendel was hunted relentlessly by Argent, a several hundred year old Native American
man-wolf cursed with a thirst for violence, working for the police in an effort to turn his curse to good.
Hunter adopted the young daughter of a mobster he recently killed, Stacy Palumbo, who was also befriended by Argent. Hunter was a loving father to Stacy, but when she discovered Hunter was Grendel she sold him out to the wolf. The two antagonists met on the roof of a Masonic temple; the battle left Argent paralyzed, and Grendel unmasked and dead. The police discovered Stacy's role in this incident and her previous murder of a governess to prevent interference with her scheme. Stacy developed severe psychological problems, and she was committed to a mental hospital until adulthood.
Within the Grendel universe, Devil By The Deed is the novel written by Christine Spar, Stacy's daughter, about the life of Hunter Rose. It becomes a bestseller, and "Grendel" becomes a recognizable pop-culture figure.
s for Best Continuing Series, Best Single Issue (#12), earned Matt Wagner
a nomination for Best Writer, and the Pander Brothers & Jay Geldof a nomination for Best Art Team.
The first twelve issues, written and colored by Wagner and drawn by Arnold and Jacob Pander, were set in the near future and told the story of Stacy Palumbo's daughter, Christine Spar. When her son, Anson, was kidnapped by a vampire
Kabuki
dancer called Tujiro XIV, Christine took on the identity of Grendel in her quest to rescue and/or avenge him. As she became more and more consumed by the Grendel identity her actions became more and more violent, and attracted the attention of the police, in particular Captain Wiggins, a chic, flamboyant New York detective with a cybernetic eye that also functioned as a lie detector. Wiggins enlisted the aid of Grendel's old arch-enemy Argent. Eventually Christine and Argent fought, to both of their deaths.
A collected edition was published by Comico in 1988. Dark Horse re-published Devil's Legacy, recolored by Jeromy Cox, as a 12-issue miniseries in 2000 and a collected edition in 2002.
, and colored by Wagner, Mireault and Joe Matt
. The story followed directly on from Devil's Legacy. Brian Li Sung, the stage manager with Tujiro's Kabuki
group, had met and romanced Christine Spar during her time as Grendel. After her death, Captain Wiggins hounded him in the hopes of recovering Christine's journals. Brian became more and more confused and irrational, believing "Grendel" was telling him to take action. He made himself a Grendel costume and attempted to murder Wiggins, however Li Sung was able to keep the spirit of aggression from completely overtaking him, allowing enough time for Wiggins to shoot and kill him.
A collected edition was published by Comico in 1990. It was republished as a miniseries by Dark Horse in 2001 and a collected edition in 2004.
The retired Captain Wiggins, decades later, was prevailed upon to write something about Grendel, as he was the last person alive to have been involved. Not wishing to dredge up old ghosts, Wiggins elected to tell stories concerning Hunter Rose, the only Grendel he had never met. Issues 16-19 featured two of his stories. One centers on rather ordinary police Lt. Lewis Polk who investigates a diamond smuggling affair supposedly engineered by Grendel. The other is an expanded story on informant Tommy Nuncio, who was briefly mentioned in Devil by the Deed.
Devil Tracks appeared in Grendel #16-17; Devil Eyes appeared in Grendel #18-19. Both were written and drawn by Wagner. Dark Horse republished them as a two issue mini-series, Grendel Classics: Devil Tracks and Grendel Classics: Devil Eyes, in 1995, and collected them as Grendel: Devil Tales in 1999, now out-of-print.
The actions of Christine Spar and Wiggins' books had made Grendel a household name. The following three issues became more experimental, depicting the growth of the concept of Grendel from pop-culture villain to synonym for Satan
, against a background of political upheaval, social breakdown, nuclear war and environmental catastrophe. These four stories ran in Grendel #20-23, and were written by Wagner and drawn by Hannibal King and Tim Sale
.
According to Dark Horse editor Diana Schutz
and creator Matt Wagner, the original art for issues #20-22 has deteriorated to the point where the issues can not be reprinted, though issue #23 was reprinted as issue #0 of the God and the Devil reprint mini-series, and will be included in the forthcoming collection.
The storyline resumed in the 26th century, when much of the world was contaminated. America had fragmented into a number of corporate "systems" dominated by a corrupt Catholic Church, now based in "Vatican Ouest" in Colorado
and led by Pope
Innocent XLII. Innocent was bleeding the systems dry to build a huge, ostentatious tower.
Orion Assante, a corporate auditor and wealthy aristocrat, tried to work within the system to stem the Church's financial corruption, but his efforts were upstaged by the acts of a lone anti-Church terrorist, blasphemously dressed as Grendel. This was Eppy Thatcher, an insane factory worker fuelled by a designer drug called "Grendel" and convinced God hated him. To combat him, the Church established a second Inquisition, and hired Pellon Cross, head of the mercenary Confederacy Of Police (COP) to provide security. Innocent, in reality the vampire Tujiro (and the villain of the Christine Spar series), used Cross to retrieve the materials needed to complete the weapon he was building at the top of his tower - a weapon designed to block out the sun referred to as "The Sun Gun". As an afterthought, he turned Cross into a vampire. A subplot of the series dealt with the church's massive purchases of bananas, which contained a chemical needed for the weapon.
Assante, driven to desperate measures by the death of his sisters/lovers, led a small private army to destroy the "sun-gun". At the same time Pellon Cross, who had escaped Tujiro's clutches and turned a number of his fellow COPs, led an army of vampires against the Vatican, and Grendel also staged an attack. The Vatican was destroyed before the sun-gun could be activated. Tujiro and Thatcher apparently perished in the conflagration.
God and the Devil, written by Wagner, drawn by John K. Snyder III
and Jay Geldhof and colored by Joe Matt, ran in Grendel #24-33. It was republished as a 10 issue miniseries, recolored by Jeromy Cox, by Dark Horse in 2003. A trade-paper collection of all 10 issues was published in 2008.
The evil at its heart exposed, the corrupt church collapsed--and much of society with it. A community of vampires, led by Pellon Cross, established itself in the sovereign resort nation of VEGAS
. Orion Assante, using his corporate connections and private wealth, gradually restored order with an army and a broadcasting network both called "Orion's Sword". In securing its borders, the newly united North America absorbed South and Central America and Australia, presenting these conquests as corporate mergers. However the other world powers, including China
, Japan
and Africa
, were alarmed.
On a state visit to Africa, the world's only nuclear power, Orion's wife Sherri Caniff was abducted by an African nationalist
faction. Suspecting African government involvement, Orion sent forces to simultaneously seize Africa's nuclear silos and free Sherri. Now in control of Africa, Orion discovered that the instigator of the kidnap plot was in fact Japan. A state of cold war
developed, with corresponding military build-up. The unauthorised conquests of territories in Asia
by a renegade general brought Orion's Sword to the borders of China. The formerly aloof superpower
reacted by allying itself with Japan, and global war resulted.
The war did not go well for Orion. His forces were overstretched and suffered many reverses. In the midst of this, Sherri Caniff died of cancer
.
Orion had long been nicknamed "Grendel" for his role in bringing down the church, but he had now come to believe he was actually possessed by the devil
. He disappeared. In an effort to understand his condition he tracked down Eppy Thatcher, still alive and living in the sewers beneath Vegas. Interrogating Eppy, Orion had an inspiration. Adapting the technology of Tujiro's sun-gun, he developed a terrible new weapon, the Sun-Disk (which did not need the banana-derived chemical), with which he devastated Japan. China surrendered, and Orion was now ruler of the world. Embracing his originally derogatory nickname, he declared himself Orion I, the first Grendel-Khan. His troops became known as "Grendels", and to be a Grendel became an honorable, high-status position in society. Grendel had, in effect, conquered the world.
Devil's Reign, written by Wagner, drawn by Sale and colored by Mireault, ran in Grendel #34-40, bringing the series to a close. It was republished as a 7 issue miniseries, recolored by Matt Hollingsworth, by Dark Horse in 2004. A trade-paper collection of all seven issues was released in 2008.
and drawn by Messner-Loebs and John Peck
, told the story of Argent's origin in a tale based on Native American mythology
. Wagner has said that, due to problems with the original source material, which has deteriorated over time, it is unlikely that this will ever be collected or reprinted in any way.
and drawn by D'Israeli
.
As Devil's Reign came to a close, Wagner thought of an idea for a new storyline, which was intended to run as Grendel #41-50, after a brief publishing hiatus. Before that could happen, though, Comico went bankrupt. Finally, after Wagner regained the publishing rights, Grendel: War Child saw print in 1992 as a 10-issue miniseries from Dark Horse, written by Wagner, drawn by Patrick McEown and colored by Mireault. A collected edition was published in 1994.
Ten years after the death of Orion I, his son Jupiter
was kidnapped from his home/prison at a base in the Dakota Black Hills by a lone Grendel in black full-body armour, called by the other characters "the paladin," and later known as Grendel-Prime. The regent
, Orion's widow Laurel Kennedy, sent the empire's elite Red Devils after the renegade Grendel and his hostage, further neglecting and alienating her daughter Crystal in the process.
Jupiter and the Grendel fled through wastelands and the wreckage of cities, across the ocean, and into the jungles of Africa. Along the way, they encountered not only the Red Devils but also bandits, mutants, pirates, dangerous wildlife, and other Grendels (both friend and foe). In the OPEC wastes, Grendel and Jupiter were captured by a band of rebels opposed to the misrule of Laurel Kennedy. Grendel-Prime was disassembled and revealed as a solar-powered cyborg
created by Orion I to protect Jupiter from political manipulators until he was old enough to assume the throne of the Grendel-Khan
.
Jupiter was abducted from the rebel base by a group of vampires who took him back to their lair in Siberia. The rebels and their charismatic leader, Azif a-Barouk, accompanied Grendel-Prime to rescue the boy, and Grendel-Prime managed to slay the vampires' lord in the process - who turned out to be none other than Orion Assante's old foe, Pellon Cross.
Laurel Kennedy's rule was undermined by the lack of an heir, so she tried to arrange a suitable dynastic marriage for her daughter, Crystal. But Crystal, who had begun an affair with her guard, a Grendel named Susan Veraghen, escaped the Black Hills complex and fled into the wilderness. Laurel became increasingly irrational, and effective rule of the empire passed to her minister
, Abner Heath.
Ten years passed. Laurel Kennedy had been quietly displaced and imprisoned by Abner Heath, who took on the role of world leader. In attempting to hold the empire together Heath wanted to learn how to activate the Sun-Disc, Orion's most formidable weapon, but was met with continual failure. But during a televised worldwide broadcast Jupiter - now a young man - and Grendel-Prime made their move. Grendel-Prime and his team captured the Imperial palace, and Jupiter raided the Black Hills complex, encountering a wasted and frail Laurel Kennedy. It turned out that the missing component of the Sun-Disk was contained within the body of Grendel-Prime. He activated the weapon and destroyed the government's broadcasting satellites, enabling Jupiter to take over the airwaves and announce his succession. After Jupiter's coronation, Grendel-Prime took his leave of Jupiter and disappeared off into the wastelands.
/Grendel crossover, Devil's Riddle and Devil's Masque, was written and drawn by Wagner and colored by Wagner at the time of the Comico series, but was delayed by Comico's bankruptcy. It was eventually published by DC in 1993. Hunter Rose came to Gotham City
to carry out an audacious crime and pit his wits against the city's protector, just to see if he could. Grendel returned to New York with a broken arm from Batman. (In the "Devil's Advocate" short, featured in Grendel: Black, White, & Red, Grendel is seen sporting a cast on the same arm.)
and Ho Che Anderson
--but Comico's bankruptcy derailed this plan. Grendel Tales finally began in 1993, published by Dark Horse as a series of miniseries.
A collection of both Batman/Grendel stories was released in hardcover (limited to only 300 copies) and paperback in April, 2008.
, Duncan Fegredo
, David Mack
, Mike Allred, Teddy Kristiansen
, Woodrow Phoenix
, Chris Sprouse
, Stan Sakai
, Jill Thompson
, Kelley Jones
, Andi Watson
, Ashley Wood
and Michael Zulli
and Stan Shaw.
The collected versions of these two limited series also contain several short Grendel stories Wagner had published over the years, such as "Devil's Vagary" (a 16 page one-shot from the Comico Collection slipcase), Devil’s Week (from A Decade Of Dark Horse #1, Scared Of The Devil (from Dark Horse Extra #49-50), and "Devil’s Duel" (from Dark Horse Maverick 2001).
and drawn by Tim Sale, told the harrowing story of Stacy Palumbo and the birth of her daughter, Christine Spar. A hardcover collection of the story was released in June, 2008.
written by Greg Rucka
with illustrations by Wagner, was published, following the adventures of Grendel-Prime and Susan Veraghen after the assassination of Jupiter I.
" theme.
Matt Wagner
Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.-Career:...
. First published by Comico
Comico Comics
Comico: The Comic Company was an American comic book publisher, headquartered in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Its best-known comics include the Robotech adaptations, the Jonny Quest continuation written by co-creator Doug Wildey, and Matt Wagner's Mage: The Hero Discovered and Grendel...
, Wagner has now moved his character to Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. Originally a noir
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
comic in the style of European titles such as Diabolik
Diabolik
Diabolik is a fictional character, an anti-hero featured in Italian comics. He was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962. His stories appear in monthly black and white digest-sized booklets. The character was inspired by several previous characters from Italian and French pulp...
, it has evolved into, in Wagner's words, a study of the nature of aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
. In 2009, Hunter Rose, the first Grendel, was ranked as IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's 88th Greatest Villain of All Time.
Overview
The first to be depicted as Grendel was Hunter Rose (Wagner has hinted of previous Grendels in history, but Rose is the earliest which he has written about), a youthful genius who wrote novels by day and ran a criminal empire by night. He first appeared in 19821982 in comics
-Year overall:* San Diego-based independent publisher Pacific Comics makes a strong push in the marketplace, following Jack Kirby's Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers with four new ongoing titles, Starslayer, Ms...
in the anthology Comico Primer, and was given his own series in 1983
1983 in comics
-Events and publications:* Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird found Northampton, Massachusetts-based Mirage Studios.* Chicago-based First Comics makes a strong entree into the publishing field, putting out four ongoing titles, American Flagg!, E-Man, Jon Sable Freelance, and Warp!; featuring the talents...
. This was quickly cancelled due to financial troubles the company went through. Wagner, who still owned the character, used the opportunity to re-tell the story of Hunter Rose in a far less conventional style in Grendel: Devil by the Deed, serialized as a backup story in Wagner's series Mage
Mage (comics)
Mage is an American superhero comic book written and illustrated by Matt Wagner. Three volumes, each of 15 issues are planned; , two have been published.-Publication history:...
; this was subsequently collected as a 48-page one-shot.
There followed an ongoing series, which lasted 40 issues. It was written by Wagner and drawn by a variety of artists, including the Pander Brothers, Bernie Mireault
Bernie Mireault
Bernard Edward "Bernie" Mireault is a Canadian comic book artist and writer.Comics critic Timothy Callahan has argued that Mireault is one of the unheralded creators who helped bring in the Modern Age of Comic Books:-Biography:...
, Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
, John K. Snyder III
John K. Snyder III
John K. Snyder, III is a writer and illustrator of comic books and graphic novels. His work has been published in the pages of the underground press , by independent comic book publishers, and by DC Comics .Snyder wrote and drew his first project, Fashion in Action, published by...
and others. It began with a story set in the near future, with Hunter's granddaughter Christine Spar taking on the identity of Grendel to pursue a mission of revenge, but ultimately being consumed by it. The identity passed briefly, and tragically, to her deluded boyfriend Brian Li Sung. After a brief return to stories of Hunter Rose (actually two fictional novels written by Captain Wiggins, a supporting character from the Christine Spar arc), Wagner then spun the series further into the future, with the Grendel identity affecting a variety of people, and ultimately a whole society.
The publishing rights were tied up for several years after Comico
Comicó
Comicó is a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina....
's bankruptcy, but Grendel resurfaced at Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
with the ten-part series, Grendel: War Child, written by Wagner.
Following this, Dark Horse launched Grendel Tales, stories set in the world established by Wagner, created by other writers and artists, including Darko Macan
Darko Macan
Darko Macan is a Croatian author and illustrator who has created and collaborated on comics, essays and science fiction and fantasy...
and Edvin Biukovic
Edvin Biukovic
Edvin Biuković was a Croatian comics artist. He made his debut in 1987 with the strip Dokaz. He spent several more years working on comic projects in Croatia....
. The main story has also continued in novel form, written by Greg Rucka
Greg Rucka
Gregory "Greg" Rucka is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.-Career:Rucka's writing career...
.
In the years since the publishing of War Child, Wagner has occasionally written short stories featuring Hunter Rose, and most recently launched an eight issue mini-series, Behold the Devil, which is to fill in a secret of Hunter Rose. Behold began publishing in November 2007.
The early stories
Comicó
Comicó is a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina....
, which lasted three issues. It ended prematurely, mid-story, because of Comico's financial issues. Wagner considers these stories a "rough draft". These issues, along with the aforementioned Grendel story from Comico Primer #2, were collected for the first time ever in the Grendel Archives collection in 2007, just in time for the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first Grendel story. The collection included an introduction by Wagner explaining the situation which led to the creation of Grendel, and dismissing rumors that he was unhappy to have the early work available.
Devil by the Deed
As a backup story in his other series, MageMage (comics)
Mage is an American superhero comic book written and illustrated by Matt Wagner. Three volumes, each of 15 issues are planned; , two have been published.-Publication history:...
(1984–1986), Wagner reworked and retold Hunter Rose's story in its entirety. It was collected by Comico in 1986. A new edition, recolored by Bernie Mireault
Bernie Mireault
Bernard Edward "Bernie" Mireault is a Canadian comic book artist and writer.Comics critic Timothy Callahan has argued that Mireault is one of the unheralded creators who helped bring in the Modern Age of Comic Books:-Biography:...
, was published by Dark Horse in 1993. In 2007, it was released in hardcover colored only in black, white, and red.
An experiment in illustrated fiction, the panels combine to form something of a static whole on each page, often likened to a stained glass window. Each page is both one picture and several images, arranged much less sequentially than in typical comic book narrative. All of its text appears in accompanying captions, presented as excerpts from a non-fiction book about Hunter Rose.
The story begins with an extraordinarily gifted boy, his name only given as Eddie. Because victory in his endeavors came so easily to him, it all seemed meaningless. In despair, he threw a world-championship fencing match, and began a torrid affair with Jocasta Rose, a trainer twice his age. When Jocasta died, Eddie left behind his former life and took on a new persona - or rather two. He became Hunter Rose, successful novelist and socialite, and Grendel, elegant costumed assassin and crime boss. Grendel was hunted relentlessly by Argent, a several hundred year old Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
man-wolf cursed with a thirst for violence, working for the police in an effort to turn his curse to good.
Hunter adopted the young daughter of a mobster he recently killed, Stacy Palumbo, who was also befriended by Argent. Hunter was a loving father to Stacy, but when she discovered Hunter was Grendel she sold him out to the wolf. The two antagonists met on the roof of a Masonic temple; the battle left Argent paralyzed, and Grendel unmasked and dead. The police discovered Stacy's role in this incident and her previous murder of a governess to prevent interference with her scheme. Stacy developed severe psychological problems, and she was committed to a mental hospital until adulthood.
Within the Grendel universe, Devil By The Deed is the novel written by Christine Spar, Stacy's daughter, about the life of Hunter Rose. It becomes a bestseller, and "Grendel" becomes a recognizable pop-culture figure.
Grendel - the series
The ongoing Grendel series was published by Comico from 1986 to 1990, with Wagner as writer (and occasionally drawing short story arcs) collaborating with a variety of artists. This series was nominated by the Eisner AwardEisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
s for Best Continuing Series, Best Single Issue (#12), earned Matt Wagner
Matt Wagner
Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.-Career:...
a nomination for Best Writer, and the Pander Brothers & Jay Geldof a nomination for Best Art Team.
Issues 1-12: Devil's Legacy
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
dancer called Tujiro XIV, Christine took on the identity of Grendel in her quest to rescue and/or avenge him. As she became more and more consumed by the Grendel identity her actions became more and more violent, and attracted the attention of the police, in particular Captain Wiggins, a chic, flamboyant New York detective with a cybernetic eye that also functioned as a lie detector. Wiggins enlisted the aid of Grendel's old arch-enemy Argent. Eventually Christine and Argent fought, to both of their deaths.
A collected edition was published by Comico in 1988. Dark Horse re-published Devil's Legacy, recolored by Jeromy Cox, as a 12-issue miniseries in 2000 and a collected edition in 2002.
Issues 13-15: The Devil Inside
Issues 13-15 were written by Wagner, drawn by Bernie MireaultBernie Mireault
Bernard Edward "Bernie" Mireault is a Canadian comic book artist and writer.Comics critic Timothy Callahan has argued that Mireault is one of the unheralded creators who helped bring in the Modern Age of Comic Books:-Biography:...
, and colored by Wagner, Mireault and Joe Matt
Joe Matt
Joe Matt is an American cartoonist. He started drawing comics in 1987 and is best known for his autobiographical work, Peepshow. In addition to his cartooning career, he is known for his large collection of vintage Gasoline Alley comic strips. Matt lived in Canada from 1988 to 2002...
. The story followed directly on from Devil's Legacy. Brian Li Sung, the stage manager with Tujiro's Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
group, had met and romanced Christine Spar during her time as Grendel. After her death, Captain Wiggins hounded him in the hopes of recovering Christine's journals. Brian became more and more confused and irrational, believing "Grendel" was telling him to take action. He made himself a Grendel costume and attempted to murder Wiggins, however Li Sung was able to keep the spirit of aggression from completely overtaking him, allowing enough time for Wiggins to shoot and kill him.
A collected edition was published by Comico in 1990. It was republished as a miniseries by Dark Horse in 2001 and a collected edition in 2004.
Issues 16-19: Devil Tracks and Devil Eyes
When Bernie Mireault asked Wagner if Grendel could ever inhabit a crowd, Wagner was inspired to re-imagine the whole series. Starting with #16, he broke from the "next person puts on the mask" pattern he was establishing.The retired Captain Wiggins, decades later, was prevailed upon to write something about Grendel, as he was the last person alive to have been involved. Not wishing to dredge up old ghosts, Wiggins elected to tell stories concerning Hunter Rose, the only Grendel he had never met. Issues 16-19 featured two of his stories. One centers on rather ordinary police Lt. Lewis Polk who investigates a diamond smuggling affair supposedly engineered by Grendel. The other is an expanded story on informant Tommy Nuncio, who was briefly mentioned in Devil by the Deed.
Devil Tracks appeared in Grendel #16-17; Devil Eyes appeared in Grendel #18-19. Both were written and drawn by Wagner. Dark Horse republished them as a two issue mini-series, Grendel Classics: Devil Tracks and Grendel Classics: Devil Eyes, in 1995, and collected them as Grendel: Devil Tales in 1999, now out-of-print.
Issues 20-23: The Incubation Years
The next four issues contained short, one-off stories, each taking place further into the future, beginning with Wiggins following the success of his Grendel novels. He had become wealthy and famous, but the vision in his cybernetic eye was becoming distorted. Everyone appeared as grotesque caricatures, even his new young wife. Doctors put it down to the stress of his newfound celebrity, but what Wiggins was seeing out of his lie-detector eye was the true ugliness of the sycophants that now surrounded him: their greed, shallowness and desire to use him for his fame and wealth. All of this came to a climax when Wiggins, pushed over the edge by his spoiled wife's incessant nagging, murdered her in a brief fit of liberating rage, before calmly waiting for the police to come to arrest him.The actions of Christine Spar and Wiggins' books had made Grendel a household name. The following three issues became more experimental, depicting the growth of the concept of Grendel from pop-culture villain to synonym for Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
, against a background of political upheaval, social breakdown, nuclear war and environmental catastrophe. These four stories ran in Grendel #20-23, and were written by Wagner and drawn by Hannibal King and Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
.
According to Dark Horse editor Diana Schutz
Diana Schutz
Diana Schutz is a comic book editor, most notable as editor in chief of Comico during its peak years and for her continuing tenure at Dark Horse Comics, for whom she has worked since 1990...
and creator Matt Wagner, the original art for issues #20-22 has deteriorated to the point where the issues can not be reprinted, though issue #23 was reprinted as issue #0 of the God and the Devil reprint mini-series, and will be included in the forthcoming collection.
Issues 24-33: God and the Devil
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and led by Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
Innocent XLII. Innocent was bleeding the systems dry to build a huge, ostentatious tower.
Orion Assante, a corporate auditor and wealthy aristocrat, tried to work within the system to stem the Church's financial corruption, but his efforts were upstaged by the acts of a lone anti-Church terrorist, blasphemously dressed as Grendel. This was Eppy Thatcher, an insane factory worker fuelled by a designer drug called "Grendel" and convinced God hated him. To combat him, the Church established a second Inquisition, and hired Pellon Cross, head of the mercenary Confederacy Of Police (COP) to provide security. Innocent, in reality the vampire Tujiro (and the villain of the Christine Spar series), used Cross to retrieve the materials needed to complete the weapon he was building at the top of his tower - a weapon designed to block out the sun referred to as "The Sun Gun". As an afterthought, he turned Cross into a vampire. A subplot of the series dealt with the church's massive purchases of bananas, which contained a chemical needed for the weapon.
Assante, driven to desperate measures by the death of his sisters/lovers, led a small private army to destroy the "sun-gun". At the same time Pellon Cross, who had escaped Tujiro's clutches and turned a number of his fellow COPs, led an army of vampires against the Vatican, and Grendel also staged an attack. The Vatican was destroyed before the sun-gun could be activated. Tujiro and Thatcher apparently perished in the conflagration.
God and the Devil, written by Wagner, drawn by John K. Snyder III
John K. Snyder III
John K. Snyder, III is a writer and illustrator of comic books and graphic novels. His work has been published in the pages of the underground press , by independent comic book publishers, and by DC Comics .Snyder wrote and drew his first project, Fashion in Action, published by...
and Jay Geldhof and colored by Joe Matt, ran in Grendel #24-33. It was republished as a 10 issue miniseries, recolored by Jeromy Cox, by Dark Horse in 2003. A trade-paper collection of all 10 issues was published in 2008.
Issues 34-40: Devil's Reign
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Orion Assante, using his corporate connections and private wealth, gradually restored order with an army and a broadcasting network both called "Orion's Sword". In securing its borders, the newly united North America absorbed South and Central America and Australia, presenting these conquests as corporate mergers. However the other world powers, including China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, were alarmed.
On a state visit to Africa, the world's only nuclear power, Orion's wife Sherri Caniff was abducted by an African nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
faction. Suspecting African government involvement, Orion sent forces to simultaneously seize Africa's nuclear silos and free Sherri. Now in control of Africa, Orion discovered that the instigator of the kidnap plot was in fact Japan. A state of cold war
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
developed, with corresponding military build-up. The unauthorised conquests of territories in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
by a renegade general brought Orion's Sword to the borders of China. The formerly aloof superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
reacted by allying itself with Japan, and global war resulted.
The war did not go well for Orion. His forces were overstretched and suffered many reverses. In the midst of this, Sherri Caniff died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
Orion had long been nicknamed "Grendel" for his role in bringing down the church, but he had now come to believe he was actually possessed by the devil
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
. He disappeared. In an effort to understand his condition he tracked down Eppy Thatcher, still alive and living in the sewers beneath Vegas. Interrogating Eppy, Orion had an inspiration. Adapting the technology of Tujiro's sun-gun, he developed a terrible new weapon, the Sun-Disk (which did not need the banana-derived chemical), with which he devastated Japan. China surrendered, and Orion was now ruler of the world. Embracing his originally derogatory nickname, he declared himself Orion I, the first Grendel-Khan. His troops became known as "Grendels", and to be a Grendel became an honorable, high-status position in society. Grendel had, in effect, conquered the world.
Devil's Reign, written by Wagner, drawn by Sale and colored by Mireault, ran in Grendel #34-40, bringing the series to a close. It was republished as a 7 issue miniseries, recolored by Matt Hollingsworth, by Dark Horse in 2004. A trade-paper collection of all seven issues was released in 2008.
Silverback
In 1989 Silverback, a three issue miniseries written by Wagner and William Messner-LoebsWilliam Messner-Loebs
William Messner-Loebs is an American comic book writer and artist from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs...
and drawn by Messner-Loebs and John Peck
John Peck
John Peck was an Australian rules footballer, who played in the Victorian Football League .John Peck played for Hawthorn from 1954 to 1966. He was the first Hawthorn player to win the leading VFL goalkicking award. Peck won the award in three successive years in 1963–65. He Kicked 78 goals in...
, told the story of Argent's origin in a tale based on Native American mythology
Native American mythology
Native American mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Native American religion from a mythographical perspective. Native American belief systems include many sacred narratives. Such spiritual stories are deeply based in Nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons,...
. Wagner has said that, due to problems with the original source material, which has deteriorated over time, it is unlikely that this will ever be collected or reprinted in any way.
Devil's Whisper
The short piece Devil's Whisper was published in 1989 in A1 Book 4. It was written by James RobinsonJames Dale Robinson
James Dale Robinson is a British writer of comic books and screenplays who is also known for his interest in vintage collectibles and memorabilia. His style is described as smart and energetic, built upon his vast knowledge of obscure continuity from the period known to fans and historians as the...
and drawn by D'Israeli
D'Israeli
Matt Brooker, whose work most often appears under the pseudonym D'Israeli , is a British comic artist, colorist, writer and letterer. Other pseudonyms he uses include "Molly Eyre" , for his writing, and "Harry V...
.
Issues 41-50: War Child
Ten years after the death of Orion I, his son Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
was kidnapped from his home/prison at a base in the Dakota Black Hills by a lone Grendel in black full-body armour, called by the other characters "the paladin," and later known as Grendel-Prime. The regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
, Orion's widow Laurel Kennedy, sent the empire's elite Red Devils after the renegade Grendel and his hostage, further neglecting and alienating her daughter Crystal in the process.
Jupiter and the Grendel fled through wastelands and the wreckage of cities, across the ocean, and into the jungles of Africa. Along the way, they encountered not only the Red Devils but also bandits, mutants, pirates, dangerous wildlife, and other Grendels (both friend and foe). In the OPEC wastes, Grendel and Jupiter were captured by a band of rebels opposed to the misrule of Laurel Kennedy. Grendel-Prime was disassembled and revealed as a solar-powered cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
created by Orion I to protect Jupiter from political manipulators until he was old enough to assume the throne of the Grendel-Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
.
Jupiter was abducted from the rebel base by a group of vampires who took him back to their lair in Siberia. The rebels and their charismatic leader, Azif a-Barouk, accompanied Grendel-Prime to rescue the boy, and Grendel-Prime managed to slay the vampires' lord in the process - who turned out to be none other than Orion Assante's old foe, Pellon Cross.
Laurel Kennedy's rule was undermined by the lack of an heir, so she tried to arrange a suitable dynastic marriage for her daughter, Crystal. But Crystal, who had begun an affair with her guard, a Grendel named Susan Veraghen, escaped the Black Hills complex and fled into the wilderness. Laurel became increasingly irrational, and effective rule of the empire passed to her minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
, Abner Heath.
Ten years passed. Laurel Kennedy had been quietly displaced and imprisoned by Abner Heath, who took on the role of world leader. In attempting to hold the empire together Heath wanted to learn how to activate the Sun-Disc, Orion's most formidable weapon, but was met with continual failure. But during a televised worldwide broadcast Jupiter - now a young man - and Grendel-Prime made their move. Grendel-Prime and his team captured the Imperial palace, and Jupiter raided the Black Hills complex, encountering a wasted and frail Laurel Kennedy. It turned out that the missing component of the Sun-Disk was contained within the body of Grendel-Prime. He activated the weapon and destroyed the government's broadcasting satellites, enabling Jupiter to take over the airwaves and announce his succession. After Jupiter's coronation, Grendel-Prime took his leave of Jupiter and disappeared off into the wastelands.
Batman/Grendel I
A two-part BatmanBatman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
/Grendel crossover, Devil's Riddle and Devil's Masque, was written and drawn by Wagner and colored by Wagner at the time of the Comico series, but was delayed by Comico's bankruptcy. It was eventually published by DC in 1993. Hunter Rose came to Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
to carry out an audacious crime and pit his wits against the city's protector, just to see if he could. Grendel returned to New York with a broken arm from Batman. (In the "Devil's Advocate" short, featured in Grendel: Black, White, & Red, Grendel is seen sporting a cast on the same arm.)
Grendel Tales
Grendel Tales, an irregular series of stories by other writers and artists set in the world Wagner had created, was intended to follow the original comic series--in fact, Grendel #40 had contained a short story by Steven T. SeagleSteven T. Seagle
Steven T. Seagle is an American writer who works in the comic book, television, film, live theater, video game, and animation, industries....
and Ho Che Anderson
Ho Che Anderson
Ho Che Anderson, born 1969 in London, is a cartoonist and comics artist primarily affiliated with Fantagraphics publishers.-Biography:Anderson was one of the creators to submit ideas when Fantagraphics put out a call for adult comics and the submission became I Want to Be Your Dog.He wrote,...
--but Comico's bankruptcy derailed this plan. Grendel Tales finally began in 1993, published by Dark Horse as a series of miniseries.
- Four Devils, One Hell by James RobinsonJames Dale RobinsonJames Dale Robinson is a British writer of comic books and screenplays who is also known for his interest in vintage collectibles and memorabilia. His style is described as smart and energetic, built upon his vast knowledge of obscure continuity from the period known to fans and historians as the...
and Teddy KristiansenTeddy KristiansenTeddy Kristiansen is a Danish comic book artist. The artistic style he uses for comic books is unique and seems to touch upon the German expressionist painters of the late 19th century. Teddy Kristiansen is a natural at illustrating mystery, horror, and dark, suspense-filled comics. Among his...
(1993) - Devil's Hammer by Rob WaltonRob Walton (comics)Rob Walton is a Canadian comic book artist who has also worked in animation. His works include the parody Pork Knight , and Devil's Hammer, an installment of Grendel Tales...
(1994) - The Devil in Our Midst by Steven T. SeagleSteven T. SeagleSteven T. Seagle is an American writer who works in the comic book, television, film, live theater, video game, and animation, industries....
and Paul GristPaul GristPaul Grist is a British comic book creator, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff.-Biography:...
(1994) - Devils and Deaths by Darko MacanDarko MacanDarko Macan is a Croatian author and illustrator who has created and collaborated on comics, essays and science fiction and fantasy...
and Edvin BiukovicEdvin BiukovicEdvin Biuković was a Croatian comics artist. He made his debut in 1987 with the strip Dokaz. He spent several more years working on comic projects in Croatia....
(1994) - Homecoming by Patrick McEown (1994)
- Devil's Choices by Darko MacanDarko MacanDarko Macan is a Croatian author and illustrator who has created and collaborated on comics, essays and science fiction and fantasy...
and Edvin BiukovicEdvin BiukovicEdvin Biuković was a Croatian comics artist. He made his debut in 1987 with the strip Dokaz. He spent several more years working on comic projects in Croatia....
(1995) - The Devil May Care by Terry LabanTerry LaBanTerry LaBan is an alternative/underground cartoonist and newspaper comic strip artist. He is probably best known for his comic book series Cud, and his syndicated strip Edge City....
and Peter DohertyPeter Doherty (comics)Peter Doherty is a British comic book artist and colourist.-Biography:Doherty's work over a 15 year career has mainly been concentrated on the classic 2000 AD character Judge Dredd. He has illustrated several significant episodes of the strip...
(1995) - The Devil's Apprentice by Jeffrey Lang and Steve LieberSteve LieberSteve Lieber is a comic-book illustrator. His best known work includes runs on Detective Comics and Hawkman, the graphic novel Whiteout and its Eisner Award-winning sequel, Whiteout: Melt. He is also the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel.-Early life:Lieber was...
(1997)
Devil Quest
Wagner wrote and painted a series of short stories as backups in Grendel Tales, starting in 1994 and collected in 1995. Set 104 years after War Child, it featured the new Khan's attempts to find Grendel-Prime. The cyborg, disillusioned by the decadence of the world, was attempting a bloody experiment/ritual to contact the soul of Hunter Rose. At the conclusion of the experiment he disappeared, only to reappear, badly damaged, some distance away. A hardcover collection of the story was released in June, 2008.Grendel Cycle
In 1995, Grendel Cycle was published. It was a 64-page recap of Grendel's history, written by Matt Wagner and with art pulled from issues of the original series. It also contained an all-new 8-page primer, written and painted by Wagner, showcasing various characters and events from the series; a timeline of the Grendel legacy, giving some new information about the characters; and a cover gallery for the 40-issue Comico series and the War Child mini-series.Batman/Grendel II
The second two-part Batman/Grendel crossover, titled Devil's Bones and Devil's Dance, was published in 1996. It tied directly into events from Devil Quest. A museum in Gotham was holding an exhibition of famous murderers, including as its prize exhibit the bones of Hunter Rose. Grendel-Prime's experiment from Devil Quest had thrown him back in time, and he reappeared in the museum, drawn by the "true skull". With the aid of a kidnapped WayneTech engineer he built a device to send him back to his own time, but also to kill thousands in a blood sacrifice intended to contact Hunter Rose's soul. Batman managed to prevent him carrying out the sacrifice before he was hurled back to the future, but not before having his arm broken by Grendel-Prime, mirroring the injury Hunter Rose had suffered at the hands of Batman in the first Batman/Grendel crossover. In this story it is also explained why Hunter Rose's skull has a hole on the forehead (as seen in Four Devils, One Hell).A collection of both Batman/Grendel stories was released in hardcover (limited to only 300 copies) and paperback in April, 2008.
Black, White and Red & Red, White and Black
Wagner returned to Hunter Rose in 1998 with a four issue miniseries, Grendel: Black, White and Red, featuring short stories drawn by an array of artists. As the title suggests, the stories were drawn in black and white with red spot-color. A second series, Grendel: Red, White and Black, followed in 2002. Some of the artists included D'IsraeliD'Israeli
Matt Brooker, whose work most often appears under the pseudonym D'Israeli , is a British comic artist, colorist, writer and letterer. Other pseudonyms he uses include "Molly Eyre" , for his writing, and "Harry V...
, Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...
, David Mack
David W. Mack
David W. Mack is an American comic book artist and writer, best known for his creator-owned series Kabuki. Mack is known for his unique painted and collage-like work...
, Mike Allred, Teddy Kristiansen
Teddy Kristiansen
Teddy Kristiansen is a Danish comic book artist. The artistic style he uses for comic books is unique and seems to touch upon the German expressionist painters of the late 19th century. Teddy Kristiansen is a natural at illustrating mystery, horror, and dark, suspense-filled comics. Among his...
, Woodrow Phoenix
Woodrow Phoenix
Woodrow Phoenix is a British comics artist, writer, editorial illustrator, graphic designer, font designer and author of children's books.He was a contributor to a number of British comics magazines including Escape, Blaaam! and Blast! and was part of the British small press comics scene in the...
, Chris Sprouse
Chris Sprouse
Chris Sprouse is an American comic book artist.-Biography:Chris Sprouse was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. At the age of 3 he moved with his family to New Delhi, India where he first discovered comics as he was unable to play outside due to the dangerous amount of snakes in the house yard...
, Stan Sakai
Stan Sakai
is a third-generation Japanese American Cartoonist comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series Usagi Yojimbo. -Biography:...
, Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably better known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.-Career:Jill Thompson illustrated The Sandman story...
, Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones is an American comic book artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman.-Biography:...
, Andi Watson
Andi Watson
Andrew "Andi" Watson is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for the graphic novels Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and his series Love Fights, published by Oni Press and Slave Labor Graphics....
, Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator who is well known for his cover art, concept design and his work as an art director....
and Michael Zulli
Michael Zulli
Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator. He's gotten great acclaim for his work on The Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman and has been a longtime collaborator with the author...
and Stan Shaw.
The collected versions of these two limited series also contain several short Grendel stories Wagner had published over the years, such as "Devil's Vagary" (a 16 page one-shot from the Comico Collection slipcase), Devil’s Week (from A Decade Of Dark Horse #1, Scared Of The Devil (from Dark Horse Extra #49-50), and "Devil’s Duel" (from Dark Horse Maverick 2001).
Devil Child
In 1999 a two-part series, Grendel: Devil Child, written by Diana SchutzDiana Schutz
Diana Schutz is a comic book editor, most notable as editor in chief of Comico during its peak years and for her continuing tenure at Dark Horse Comics, for whom she has worked since 1990...
and drawn by Tim Sale, told the harrowing story of Stacy Palumbo and the birth of her daughter, Christine Spar. A hardcover collection of the story was released in June, 2008.
Past Prime
In 2000, Grendel: Past Prime, a novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Greg Rucka
Greg Rucka
Gregory "Greg" Rucka is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.-Career:Rucka's writing career...
with illustrations by Wagner, was published, following the adventures of Grendel-Prime and Susan Veraghen after the assassination of Jupiter I.
Behold the Devil
In July 2007 Dark Horse debuted the new Hunter Rose series Grendel: Behold the Devil with a 50 cent #0 issue. This was released during 2007, the 25th Anniversary of Grendel. The first issue hit comic stands in November 2007. The series ran eight issues (nine including #0).The 25th Anniversary of Grendel
2007 marked the 25th anniversary of Grendel. To mark the anniversary, Dark Horse released two hardback collections; one is a reprint of Devil by the Deed with a new color scheme, the other, called The Grendel Archives, reprints (for the first time) Grendel's debut appearance from Comico Primer #2, and the original uncompleted black and white three-issue series. Also released was the new monthly series titled 'Behold the Devil', a commemorative t-shirt, and other items. Finally, a collection of both two-part "Batman/Grendel" crossovers was announced for release by Dark Horse and DC Comics, although it was ultimately delayed until spring of 2008.Sympathy for the Devil
In October 2011, Grendel appeared in the CBLDF's fundraising Liberty Annual in a story addressing the book's "It Gets BetterIt Gets Better
It Gets Better is an Internet-based project founded in the United States by Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller on September 21, 2010, in response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay...
" theme.
The Future
2008 found Matt Wagner working diligently on various Grendel projects. After Behold the Devil, Wagner has stated that he will be giving fans another Grendel Prime story arc. He has been working to make sure all of the Grendel stories are collected in the best possible format. When asked, Wagner has stated that Grendel Tales may return, but there are no plans to revive the title in the immediate future.External links
- Matt Wagner Comics
- Podcast with Matt Wagner on Grendel's 25th Anniversary
- The Devil's Catalog
- The Devil's Sketchbook