Grendel: Devil By The Deed (Grendel (Graphic Novels)) [Hardcover]

Matt Wagner (Author, Artist), Rich Rankin (Author), Others (Author)

Book Description

Series: Grendel (Graphic Novels) | Publication Date: April 10, 2007

When Wagner first serialized Grendel: Devil by the Deed as a backup in his critically acclaimed title Mage, its innovative storytelling techniques, philosophical undertones, and charismatic anti-hero ignited a devoted following. Introducing Hunter Rose as the brilliant, twisted assassin Grendel, it gave birth to what would become a centuries-spanning epic exploring the roots and consequences of violence. This influential tale has been collected only twice in the past twenty years, quickly selling out each time. Now, for the first time in hardcover, Dark Horse presents the book that brought one of the most popular alternative comics characters to life and marked the auspicious arrival of one of the greatest visionaries of modern comics!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This 25th anniversary edition reprints what began as an inconspicuous backup feature but has blossomed into a classic dark saga of the ultimate counter-Batman. Hunter Rose is a wealthy and glamorous socialite who also is the masked assassin Grendel, master of the underworld but obsessed with destroying his archfoe, the cursed, centuries-old wolfman Argent. Meanwhile, Rose's innocent ward, Stacey, discovers his secret and coldly plots against both villains, becoming monstrous herself in the process. The fundamental story is silly, over-the-top pulp fiction. Wagner makes it readable and memorable first by filtering the action through several layers of narrator/interpreter so that a reader isn't confronted by gruesome lunacy but is encouraged to imagine the lurid details. Secondly, Wagner experiments with the form of comics by turning each page into an elegant Art Deco design in which blocks of narrative text are embedded; Finally, he succeeds in tantalizing readers' hope and dread that some of Grendel's aloof, fierce spirit may be alive in all of us. For better or worse, he helped introduce the age of the antihero in comics. (Apr.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159307736X
• ISBN-13: 978-1593077365
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #953,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best graphic prose ever written!, August 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Grendel: Devil by the Deed (Paperback)

This book is a visual and literary masterpiece. Matt Wagner took a novel approach to the comic book format and created the poetic dark story of Hunter Rose aka Grendel, the most sadistic and romantic killer in comic book history. It chronicles the birth and death of Grendel in a smoothly flowing pictorial, with text inserts. This book is a must read if you are a fan of the dark and twisted. This is not a children's book by any means

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grendel Devil by the Deed, November 2, 2008

By 

Monkey "Monkey Moniker" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Grendel: Devil By The Deed (Grendel (Graphic Novels)) (Hardcover)

You just do not see much about the wildly popular Grendel Comics from Comico written by Matt Wagner and the Pander Brothers. That is unfortunate, but maybe it is time for a new generation to discover the character. With the 25th anniversary editions coming out, and the original Comico comic books being reissued by Dark Horse they are slowly coming back into circulation, it is time to find out and read about the Grendel story. The premise of the Grendel series was that various people snap and then take on the character exacting bloody revenge on the problems and issues of the day. Some are darker than others, some explore human issues, those times where we could be stronger about our principles and morals but fail abjectly.

The Devil by the Deed looks at the Hunter Rose period, the original serialization is hard to find, but the anniversary edition is worth reading. Dark Horse has done a wonderful presentation of the original material, and the book is just as rich, dense, and enjoyable as it was the first time around as a comic book. They are well worth picking up and taking a look at the implications and conclusions. Grendel is a machine in many ways through these, there is no way for the character to accomplish his goals, without changing everyone around him, friends, family, and everyone else. What the Grendel character never seems to understand or realize is that change will only come with him as a leader, not as a source of violence and destruction. The series is overall interesting, and worth reading.

Grendel will influence you, these are much more than comic books, in many ways, Matt Wagner has hit on one of those few universal meme's, power, revenge, anger, that consumes the actor in the end.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Big Ones, May 19, 2011

By 

Russell L. Anderson (MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grendel: Devil By The Deed (Grendel (Graphic Novels)) (Hardcover)

Matt Wagner's original GRENDEL story deserves to stand with the other important comics works of the mid-80s - Watchmen, Dark Knight, Elektra: Assassin - and I'm not sure why it's not treated with the same amount of respect and fondness. Here we have the quintessential anti-hero in Hunter Rose, and his subsequent rise and fall. The Grendel books that followed have been of varying importance and quality, but this story arc was groundbreaking in its presentation and page design and even its characters. Worth reading if you're at all interested in what comics are capable of.