Grendel: Behold the Devil

Over the past year, I’ve had a friend of mine turn me on to the ongoing saga of Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series.  I’ve been reading everything from its origins with criminal mastermind Hunter Rose to the exploits of his “granddaughter” Christine Spar and her boyfriend Brian Li Sung as well as the far-future exploits of Orion Assante and his compatriots.  It’s all been very entertaining even if they haven’t inspired the fanatic devotion that my friend has toward the series and Wagner’s work in general.  One of these days I’ll probably get around to podcasting it all, but for now I just want to say a few things about the latest story to feature Hunter Rose.

“Behold the Devil” is the story of a “lost” chapter from Hunter’s time as a crime lord.  While the man balances his duties of running his criminal empire with his public duties as a bestselling author he feels that he’s being watched by something.  This isn’t his only concern as he locks horns with his nemesis, the wolfish detective Argent, and an investigative reporter comes closer than he ever dreamed possible in discovering the identity of “Grendel.”

For the majority of this collection, the story is basically a huge serving of Hunter Rose fanservice.  We get to see him in his prime as the amoral genius strategist that held a city’s criminal underground in his iron fist, and as a badass martial artist and fighter as well.  If I had to define the man’s appeal in three words, they’d be “He’s Evil Batman.”  Mark Millar is currently trying the same approach for his current series “Nemesis,” but Wagner pulls it off with actual intelligence and style.

While I like fanservice as much as the next man, that also leaves much of the volume without a point.  Hunter’s feeling that he’s “being watched” provides a subtle hook at first, but Wagner’s true intentions become clear once the threat is revealed.  Without giving too much away, this turns out to be a way for the author to expose Hunter to his legacy — to show him what the “Grendel” name winds up signifying in the years to come.  It’s interesting to see the man’s reaction because his disgust is actually pretty true to his character.  Hunter’s arrogance is a key part of his character and as the man prides himself on what he has accomplished it’s only natural that he’d be disgusted to find out that he wasn’t “unique.”

Part of me also wonders if it’s some kind of self-commentary by Wagner on the sprawl of the series over the years.  Thinking about it, I doubt it.  The commitment that the man has shown to developing “Grendel” beyond the story of one man and into a meditation on the necessity of some kind of evil in the world makes it unlikely that he’d devote an entire series to stating that it has grown beyond his control.  Still, it’s an interesting experience to have him hold up a mirror to the man and show him his legacy.  That aside, it’s still an entertaining adventure taken on its own terms and recommended to “Grendel” fans.  If you haven’t read any of the series yet, then I’d recommend you start with the first story “Devil by the Deed” before reading this.