Grendel: Behold the Devil #1 (Dark Horse – Wagner) – From the Dark Horse site “This is an untold chapter in the life of the greatest criminal mastermind in history–a thrilling and horrifying glimpse into a time when Rose’s novels were at the top of all the bestseller lists and rumors of the assassin Grendel were on the lips of every terrified mobster unfortunate enough to present an obstacle to Rose’s utter domination of the city’s underworld.” For those of you that don’t know, Grendel is a sociopathic, violent, power-driven anti-hero (think Dark Knight meets Judge Dredd with a ton of style and class) born from the 80’s and his alter ego is Hunter Rose, best selling author. In this mini-series, For the first time in over ten years, Matt Wagner returns to the character he created over 25 years ago. As someone who has not followed the journey of Hunter Rose for any period of time, I went with trepidation into this highly anticipated series. Fanboys of Grendel are solid to core, and given the level of Wagner’s ability and his relationship to the wide fanbase, I knew he wouldn’t let them down… but what I worried about was the non-long term reader, could I jump right into what could be the fifteenth Grendel storyline? The answer is a resounding yes. Matt Wagner masterfully weaves together this narrative that jumps between the interaction of supporting to characters to Hunter Rose’s personal journal to a journalist writing about Grendel’s reign of terror to a first person perspective from Grendel himself. While having the Grendel history might very well add flavor to this series, it is not necessary to enjoy it. The only reader negative is that the issue’s story was so well put together it seemed to be over before I was ready for it. Issue #2 and Grendel trades here I come. Pullbox Warning: heavy violence and straight-out sexual content takes this off the middle school reading list!
Grade: A