Grendel

• Title: Grendel vs. The Shadow #3 (of 3)
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Matt Wagner
• Artist: Matt Wagner

The conclusion of what if? tales such as Grendel vs. The Shadow are usually the weakest piece of the story, not for fault of the storyteller but simply because the end must reset back to the status quo without allowing either iconic figure to be truly beaten (or killed). Even with these limitations writer/artist Matt Wagner manages to end the three-issue mini-series in style giving us two final confrontations between Hunter Rose and The Shadow.

Of the pair’s individual tales Grendel’s works better as Hunter Rose finds himself pulled into the nostalgia and romance of his time-travel adventure only to realize the truth almost too late. The subplot of Margo Lane‘s possible departure doesn’t work as well simply because at no point are we sold on the possibility of her actually leaving Lamont Cranston.

In the end both warriors are bloodied and battered but Grendel, despite his hurt ego to go along with is injuries, manages to return back to his own time. His inability to find any mention of his adventures in the past suggests Grendel’s journey wasn’t just through time but also through an alternate dimension where crime does not pay. Worth a look

[Dark Horse / Dynamite, $5.99]

• Title: Grendel vs. The Shadow #2 (of 3)
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Matt Wagner
• Artist: Matt Wagner

The three-issue mini-series resumes as Grendel continues to grab control of the city’s various crime families and bring them under his banner while ruthlessly killing any who stand in his way. Grendel vs. The Shadow #2 also gives us the first meeting between the pair which both Lamont Cranston and Hunter Rose will think long and hard about in the days to come as each has apparently met an adversary they may not be able to defeat.

Despite the $6 price-tag, Matt Wagner again delivers with a terrific double-sized prestige comic pitting the iconic hero against Wagner’s greatest creation. Following the battle, much of the comic is set aside for each man to contemplate his enemy. Hunter Rose also continues to make a professional splash in his new home, and charm a crime boss’ daughter as well. And Grendel gets the best of The Shadow not once but twice. First, despite his defeat, he survives and escapes their initial encounter (something few villains can brag about accomplishing). And second, he immediately recognizes Cranston as the man behind the scarf setting up another battle in the final issue. Must-read.

[Dark Horse / Dynamite, $5.99]

• Title: Grendel vs. The Shadow #1 (of 3)
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Matt Wagner
• Artist: Matt Wagner

Finding himself sent back in time to 1930s New York after his encounter with an ancient artifact, Hunter Rose makes the best of the situation by using his well-honed skills and knowledge of the future to go about carving out a new empire in the name of Grendel during the waning days of prohibition.

Written and drawn by Mark Wagner, the comic begins in the black-and-white style of a Grendel comic before transporting the deadly Grendel into the past. Although The Shadow becomes aware of a new figure murdering his way through the various criminal families, the paths of the two characters do not intersect until the final page of the issue.

A fan of both Hunter Rose and The Shadow, the first issue of the three-issue mini-series is a joy to read. The double-sized prestige format makes the comic a little pricey, but it delivers in both story and style pitting my favorite of Wagner’s creations against a hero nearly as mysterious and deadly as Grendel himself. Best of the Week.

[Dark Horse / Dynamite, $5.99]