Grendel Tales
| Grendel | |
|---|---|
Grendel: Devil Tales cover by Matt Wagner
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher |
Comico Comics Dark Horse Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly; irregularly |
| Publication date | March 1983 – present |
| Main character(s) | Hunter Rose |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Matt Wagner |
| Creator(s) | Matt Wagner |
Grendel is a long-running series of comic books originally created by American author Matt Wagner. First published by Comico, Wagner later moved publication of the series 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.
Grendel was the masked identity of Hunter Rose, a successful author. As Grendel, he worked as an assassin before taking control of New York City's organized crime. He first appeared in 1982 in the anthology Comico Primer, and was given his own series in 1983. This was quickly cancelled due to the publisher's financial troubles. 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 Christine Spar, Hunter's posthumous biographer, taking on the identity of Grendel to pursue a mission of revenge. The identity passed briefly, and tragically, to her deluded boyfriend Brian Li Sung. After a brief return to stories of Hunter Rose (actually two in-universe 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. The name "Grendel" took on several meanings as the stories portrayed a dystopian future. Grendel became a synonym for The Devil with the title held by the emperor of the world, (Grendel-Khan) and members of a warrior society identical to samurai.
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