Grendel: Behold the Devil

Dark Horse

Created, written, & illustrated by Matt Wagner; Lettered by Tom Orzechowski

Apr 22, 2010 Dark Horse By Kyle Lemmon

Matt Wagner’s ongoing “study of the nature of aggression,” or Grendel, celebrates its 28th birthday this year, so it seems appropriate to see 2007’s Behold the Devil in a snazzy hardcover. Wagner is thankfully going through his archives and re-releasing some old tales, but Behold the Devil is the Eisner-nominated writer/artist’s first Grendel series in over 10 years. The prequel narrative follows Hunter Rose during a “lost period” ripped out of his journal.

He’s followed by the Detective Elizabeth Sparks and journalist Lucas Ottoman, but also a sinister, supernatural assailant. Wagner’s penned many different Grendels in the past, but Hunter Rose has always been the best. In Devil by the Deed, Hunter was an ordinary citizen until a horrible tragedy happened to him. Now he spends his time being a novelist by day and vindictive crime syndicate boss by night. This new series also delves into submerged trauma with Wagner’s iconic black, white, and red palette. It would seem to be too monochromatic if it wasn’t for the bloody splash pages that come at just the right intervals. Also, the romantically involved Ottoman and Sparks are trailing Grendel throughout. They’re often more interesting than the titular character and definitely sexier. Behold the Devil may not be as intellectually engaging as some of Wagner’s best tales, but it’s still as visceral and ultra-violent. Fight scenes between boss Kwon’s Korean hitmen, The Four Winds, and longtime nemesis Argent the Wolf are particularly striking.

This largely stems from Wagner’s full involvement. His sparse, yet beautiful illustrations always portray Grendel’s many eviscerations with a delightfully brutal panache. Grendel: Behold the Devil‘s limp and sometimes too revealing plot is unfortunate. There’s plenty of things to dig into here. New readers will have an easy time jumping into the simple story and Christine Spar’s excerpts from Devil by the Deed help push the exposition. Long term fans will enjoy some of the extras thrown at them via additional pages previously only seen on MySpace. Even after so many years, Hunter Rose is still one of the premiere anti-heroes. Wagner’s stated in interviews that he hopes to write and illustrate more Grendel stories in the near future in between working on DC/Vertigo‘s stellar reboot of Madame Xanadu. Here’s hoping that his violent creation can wreak havoc on New York yet again. (www.mattwagnercomics.com / www.darkhorse.com)

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