Grendel (comics)

Grendel
Grendel: Devil Tales cover by Matt Wagner
Publication information
Publisher	Comico Comics Dark Horse Comics
Schedule	Monthly; irregularly
Publication date	March 1983 - present
Main character(s)	Hunter Rose
Creative team
Created by	Matt Wagner
Written by	Matt Wagner

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.

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 1982 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. Many people consider Rose the most important Grendel; Wagner returns to Hunter Rose from time to time, such as in the two Batman-Grendel crossovers, and occasional miniseries or short stories.

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.

Publishing History

The early stories

Hunter Rose as Grendel; art by Matt Wagner

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.

Devil by the Deed

As a backup story in his other series, Mage (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. The story is told unlike a normal comic, in which the pictures on each page seem to be part of a whole, like a stained glass window. Also, there are no word balloons. Everything is told in captions, and descriptions that resemble that of novel.

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 fellow fencer. 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. He 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 a child, Stacy Palumbo, the daughter of a mobster slain by Grendel, who was also befriended by Argent. Grendel 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. This discovery led Stacy to have severe psychological problems as an adult. Stacy's role in this incident, and her previous murder of her governess to prevent her from interfering in her scheme, was discovered by the police and she was incarcerated 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 collaborating with a variety of artists. This series was nominated by the Eisner Awards 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.

Issues 1-12: Devil's Legacy

Christine Spar as Grendel; art by Matt Wagner

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.

Issues 13-15: The Devil Inside

Issues 13-15 were written by Wagner, drawn by Bernie Mireault, 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.

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, 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.

Issues 24-33: God and the Devil

Eppy Thatcher as Grendel; art by John K. Snyder III

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.

Issues 34-40: Devil's Reign

Orion Assante, the first Grendel-Khan; art by Tim Sale

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.

Silverback

In 1989 Silverback, a three issue miniseries written by Wagner and William Messner-Loebs 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.

Devil's Whisper

The short piece Devil's Whisper was published in 1989 in A1 Book 4. It was written by James Robinson and drawn by D'Israeli.

Issues 41-50: War Child

Grendel-Prime; art by Matt Wagner

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.

Batman/Grendel I

A two-part Batman/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 The 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. Seagle and Ho Che Anderson. But Comico's bankruptcy had derailed that plan. Grendel Tales finally began in 1993, published by Dark Horse as a series of miniseries.

• Four Devils, One Hell by James Robinson and Teddy Kristiansen (1993)
• Devil's Hammer by Rob Walton (1994)
• The Devil in Our Midst by Steven T. Seagle and Paul Grist (1994)
• Devils and Deaths by Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic (1994)
• Homecoming by Patrick McEown (1994)
• Devil's Choices by Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic (1995)
• The Devil May Care by Terry Laban and Peter Doherty (1995)
• The Devil's Apprentice by Jeffrey Lang and Steve Lieber (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 was published Grendel Cycle, a 64-page recap of Grendel's history, written by Matt Wagner, 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

This tied in with the second two-part Batman crossover, Devil's Bones and Devil's Dance. 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 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 intended 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 The 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'Israeli, 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 have the addition of 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 Schutz 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 novel written by Greg Rucka with illustrations by Wagner, was published, following the adventures of Grendel-Prime and Susan Veraghen after the accession 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.

Other Stories

Grendel was also featured in Occupational Hazards #2, in a story titled "The Devil's @sshole". Occupational Hazards is an anthology series of stories by top notch talent to raise money for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; no issues have been reprinted.

Grendel has been featured in several one-shot tales. Other than The Devil's @sshole, they are all available in trade paperback collections.

The 25th Anniversary of Grendel

2007 marks 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) of the first appearance of Grendel from Comico Primer #2 and the original black and white uncompleted three issue series. Also released are a new monthly series, 'Behold the Devil', a commemorative t-shirt, and other items. Announced for release in 2007 was a collection published by Dark Horse and DC Comics of all four "Batman / Grendel" comics, though it was ultimately delayed until spring of 2008.

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, with future plans to release God and The Devil in August 2008 and Devil's Reign before the end of the year. 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