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Grendel #7
Grendel: War Child
Grendel is one of comics' most provocative characters. From the beginning, Matt Wagner's stories have won critical and popular acclaim. This long-awaited continuation of the storyline picks up several years after the events of Grendel #40 and the death of Orion Assante. Ten-year-old Jupiter Niklos Assante, heir to the throne of the Grendel-Khan, is kidnapped from the retreat in which his rapacious stepmother has hidden him, away from his rightful power. The child is worth a hefty ransom, but there seems to be more than money on the mind of his kidnapper -- who is none other than Grendel!
304 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 1993
3 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
About the author
Matt Wagner
967 books231 followersMatt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist. In addition to his creator-owned series' Mage and Grendel, he has also worked on comics featuring The Demon and Batman as well as such titles as Sandman Mystery Theatre and Trinity, a DC Comics limited series featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 20, 2016
Great story, fantastic art, awesome Simon Bisley's covers and Grendel Prime is just the most badass cyborg in comics history (He kicked for good the Dark Knight's butt too in "Grendel/Batman" :D), just imagine a Mad Max/Terminator with a lightsabre in a post-apocalyptic world with mutants, vampires and pirates.
Add to that the fact that this story is a great tribute to Kazuo Koike's "Lone Wolf and cub" manga too.
Matt Wagner is a genius.
Vivat Grendel
Add to that the fact that this story is a great tribute to Kazuo Koike's "Lone Wolf and cub" manga too.
Matt Wagner is a genius.
Vivat Grendel
October 15, 2013
It's kind of weird that Grendel is as well-respected as it is, because if mainstream comics pulled the kind of narrative crap Grendel pulls, everyone would hate it. Like this book. What's important, narratively, is that this is the story about how the son of the Grendel-Khan (read: sci-fi future leader guy) comes into power after his father's death, despite the machinations of the Grendel-Kahn's meddling wife (every female character in Grendel is either a meddling shrew or a hot lesbian.)
But that (the return to power thing) is not the focus of this book. This book is about the Grendel-Kahn's paladin, Grendel Prime (go with it) who has to protect the son of the Grendel-Kahn while he's still a toddler (or maybe slightly older, depending on the artist's mood each issue.) For nine chapters, Grendel Prime drives a landspeeder and fights with a lightsaber against bikers, pirates, mutants, vampires, and I think an alligator. Then skip ten years forward in the last issue and Plot Happens with the assistance of tons of plot-advancing caption boxes that hadn't been used anywhere else in the series.
So it's lazy fucking writing. I mean, totally fine because of all the monsters, but laaaazy. And Grendel is kind of like this pretty often -- some kind of Big Idea that's dealt with by totally ignoring it for most of the story in which it's been introduced, only to cram it all into an information dump when the fighting is all done.
I think the difference between Grendel's overuse of MacGuffin plots as opposed to like, every other genre story's use of the same is that Grendel has a lot of interesting stuff it could be exploiting. In most genre stories, the lines of morality are pretty clear (even if the characters wander back and forth across them), and the resolution (or the options for resolution) is also obvious, so what remains is watching the story components work around each other in interesting ways. In a sense, every genre story is essentially a MacGuffin plot.
But since the difference with Grendel is that it's actually about how a malignant force triumphs instead of a benevolent one, Grendel stories have this endlessly unpackable concept about what it means when a society's highest ideals are equivalent to the audience's understanding of societal taboos. Grendel himself (who is thousands of years dead in this book) is a symbol of evil, but we're asked to root for him in more and more complicated ways throughout the series.
That's the idea, anyway. In practice, we get stories like these -- adventure stories and caper stories and sci fi stories without even the hamfisted moral quandary of something like Sin City, which isn't morally complex at all, but at LEAST is trying to makes its mild ambiguity part of the plot.
With Grendel, the concept is put out there and never played with further -- the protagonists don't act any differently than any genre protagonist might, despite the fact that in theory they should have entirely opposite ethics from what we're used to. It's a lot of wasted potential.
But there's great art, and monsters, and hot lesbians. So it's fine.
But that (the return to power thing) is not the focus of this book. This book is about the Grendel-Kahn's paladin, Grendel Prime (go with it) who has to protect the son of the Grendel-Kahn while he's still a toddler (or maybe slightly older, depending on the artist's mood each issue.) For nine chapters, Grendel Prime drives a landspeeder and fights with a lightsaber against bikers, pirates, mutants, vampires, and I think an alligator. Then skip ten years forward in the last issue and Plot Happens with the assistance of tons of plot-advancing caption boxes that hadn't been used anywhere else in the series.
So it's lazy fucking writing. I mean, totally fine because of all the monsters, but laaaazy. And Grendel is kind of like this pretty often -- some kind of Big Idea that's dealt with by totally ignoring it for most of the story in which it's been introduced, only to cram it all into an information dump when the fighting is all done.
I think the difference between Grendel's overuse of MacGuffin plots as opposed to like, every other genre story's use of the same is that Grendel has a lot of interesting stuff it could be exploiting. In most genre stories, the lines of morality are pretty clear (even if the characters wander back and forth across them), and the resolution (or the options for resolution) is also obvious, so what remains is watching the story components work around each other in interesting ways. In a sense, every genre story is essentially a MacGuffin plot.
But since the difference with Grendel is that it's actually about how a malignant force triumphs instead of a benevolent one, Grendel stories have this endlessly unpackable concept about what it means when a society's highest ideals are equivalent to the audience's understanding of societal taboos. Grendel himself (who is thousands of years dead in this book) is a symbol of evil, but we're asked to root for him in more and more complicated ways throughout the series.
That's the idea, anyway. In practice, we get stories like these -- adventure stories and caper stories and sci fi stories without even the hamfisted moral quandary of something like Sin City, which isn't morally complex at all, but at LEAST is trying to makes its mild ambiguity part of the plot.
With Grendel, the concept is put out there and never played with further -- the protagonists don't act any differently than any genre protagonist might, despite the fact that in theory they should have entirely opposite ethics from what we're used to. It's a lot of wasted potential.
But there's great art, and monsters, and hot lesbians. So it's fine.
July 29, 2011
Grendel: War Child is not only my favorite Grendel book, but also one of my favorite comic book stories. The story of Grendel Prime protecting the son of the Khan, from not only within, but from the uncertainty of the road. It is an action packed story of survival and redemption in the post-apocalyptic world that is part of the Grendal storyline.
January 28, 2011
It's hard to start anywhere but the beginning with Grendel, but this collection is how I first discovered and became obsessed with Matt Wagner's great creation.
There's a lot of backstory, but the setting is the 26th century in a world united under the Grendel banner. Orion Assante, the first Grendel Khan, has died and his power-hungry wife has seized control of the empire and claimed herself regent until Jupiter Assante, the Khan's only son, is old enough to claim his title. However, she has no intention of abdicating her power. Little does she know is that Orion has planned for this eventuality. In secret before his death, he oversaw the creation of Grendel Prime, a super soldier loyal only to the Khan. Grendel Prime's one and only mission: to rescue Jupiter from his step mother and ensure his ascension to the throne of the empire!
I know, I know, pretty awesome right! This book has everything: political intrigue, light sabers, violence, drugs, lesbian sex, mutants, vampires, pirates, and even fighting gorillas! Check it out, and hopefully you'll get sucked into the rest of the Grendel stories.
There's a lot of backstory, but the setting is the 26th century in a world united under the Grendel banner. Orion Assante, the first Grendel Khan, has died and his power-hungry wife has seized control of the empire and claimed herself regent until Jupiter Assante, the Khan's only son, is old enough to claim his title. However, she has no intention of abdicating her power. Little does she know is that Orion has planned for this eventuality. In secret before his death, he oversaw the creation of Grendel Prime, a super soldier loyal only to the Khan. Grendel Prime's one and only mission: to rescue Jupiter from his step mother and ensure his ascension to the throne of the empire!
I know, I know, pretty awesome right! This book has everything: political intrigue, light sabers, violence, drugs, lesbian sex, mutants, vampires, pirates, and even fighting gorillas! Check it out, and hopefully you'll get sucked into the rest of the Grendel stories.
March 18, 2015
War Child (41-50). One of my favorite Grendel stories, probably because it was the first one I read. However, the visual storytelling is really stunningly good, often telling in pictures what many people would instead use words for. It's also beautiful (especially the covers!). I also love seeing the evolution of the society that was depicted in the previous arc, especially since its inclusion is so subtle here. The story itself is enjoyable too; Wagner does a good job of communicating the frenetic chase, even if it drags a bit by the end [7+/10].
March 9, 2023
Almost the polar opposite of usual Grendel fare, usually told in retrospective journal form, condensed storytelling with big themes in the background, and strongly centred on characterisation. This is simply an action adventure, featuring in media res characters we don't know, encountering obstacles on a flight to freedom. It's close to being just Mad Max, featuring the Terminator with a lightsabre.
Hugely delayed after the bankruptcy of previous publisher Comico, this was planned as issues 41-50 of the original Grendel run. As such, the first five issues feature some fairly undistinguished early art from McEown, indifferently—and rather sketchily—inked by Wagner; it's fine, it tells the story, but falls far short of the sheer visual style of previous artists. Nothing much happens narratively, and it's entirely routine.
The new material is a revelation: the story picks up, characters are explicated and evolved, and the art—with a few years' more experience—is rounded and solid, atmospheric. Inevitably, the final issue is rushed, with a brief climax, smacking of convenience, and then Wagner returns to his narrative text blocks for a perfunctory Ten Years Later wrap-up.
Hugely delayed after the bankruptcy of previous publisher Comico, this was planned as issues 41-50 of the original Grendel run. As such, the first five issues feature some fairly undistinguished early art from McEown, indifferently—and rather sketchily—inked by Wagner; it's fine, it tells the story, but falls far short of the sheer visual style of previous artists. Nothing much happens narratively, and it's entirely routine.
The new material is a revelation: the story picks up, characters are explicated and evolved, and the art—with a few years' more experience—is rounded and solid, atmospheric. Inevitably, the final issue is rushed, with a brief climax, smacking of convenience, and then Wagner returns to his narrative text blocks for a perfunctory Ten Years Later wrap-up.
July 26, 2023
It was nice to be able to revisit this series. I remember back in the 90's when Grendel moved to Dark Horse with this book and I started buying Grendel regularly. (Before that it was at Comico and hard to find even at comic book stores). It takes place centuries after the original Grendel, Hunter Rose. The leader of the world had passed in the previous book, leaving his son to succeed him. His stepmother though was attempting to usurp power for herself. (You figure out all this as you go along.) Grendel Prime kidnaps the boy, Jupiter Assante, at the beginning of this and most of the book is the two of them on the run. Grendel Prime is a cyborg and jedi all rolled up into one. He's one of my favorite characters from the 90's. Wagner tells most of the story through actions over words and the action sequences are epic. There's some other great characters involved but I'll let you experience them for yourself. I'm not sure what happened to Pat McEown but I've always really dug his art.
October 6, 2020
What a relief to find this wasn't packed with dialogue and panels of text, like the previous series (spoilers, backmatter from #6 explained how the Pope was actually the vampire Tujiro from the christine spar stories. I thought Pellon Cross got vampirism from the nuclear reactor)
Anyway, a quick read but still the story just stretched out for a few more issues for no real reason. Cool fighting, I guess. Light sabers!
I'll keep plowing through Grendel Tales. At least they have different writers.
I hope Sandman Mystery Theater doesn't suck like this.
Wagner marches off to join Gaiman. Simply not my style or taste.
Anyway, a quick read but still the story just stretched out for a few more issues for no real reason. Cool fighting, I guess. Light sabers!
I'll keep plowing through Grendel Tales. At least they have different writers.
I hope Sandman Mystery Theater doesn't suck like this.
Wagner marches off to join Gaiman. Simply not my style or taste.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2022
A book with too much suspense and entertaining an extraordinary story
March 16, 2013
War Child is a story about Grendel Prime, a cyborg created and trained by the Grendel Kahn, Orion Assante. Grendel Prime's purpose is to protect Assante's sole heir in the event of his death. Prime must protect 10 year old Jupiter Assante from zombies, mutants, rednecks, bikers, vampires, and worst of all his step-mother Laurel Kennedy Assante.
The War Child series was intended by Wagner to continue the Comico series Grendel as issues 41-51, chronicling the rise of Jupiter Assante. Comico shutting down ended the series, which would eventually be published by Dark Horse in this volume.
As Devil's Reign came to a close, Wagner thought of an idea for a new storyline, which was intended to run as Grendel #41-50, after a brief publishing hiatus. Before that could happen, though, Comico went bankrupt.[3][4] Finally, after Wagner regained the publishing rights, Grendel: War Child saw print in 1992 as a 10-issue miniseries from Dark Horse, written by Wagner, drawn by Patrick McEown and colored by Mireault. A collected edition was published in 1994.
Ten years after the death of Orion I, his son Jupiter was kidnapped from his home/prison at a base in the Dakota Black Hills by a lone Grendel in black full-body armour, called by the other characters "the paladin," and later known as Grendel-Prime. The regent, Orion's widow Laurel Kennedy, sent the empire's elite Red Devils after the renegade Grendel and his hostage, further neglecting and alienating her daughter Crystal in the process.
Jupiter and the Grendel fled through wastelands and the wreckage of cities, across the ocean, and into the jungles of Africa. Along the way, they encountered not only the Red Devils but also bandits, mutants, pirates, dangerous wildlife, and other Grendels (both friend and foe). In the OPEC wastes, Grendel and Jupiter were captured by a band of rebels opposed to the misrule of Laurel Kennedy. Grendel-Prime was disassembled and revealed as a solar-powered cyborg created by Orion I to protect Jupiter from political manipulators until he was old enough to assume the throne of the Grendel-Khan.
Jupiter was abducted from the rebel base by a group of vampires who took him back to their lair in Siberia. The rebels and their charismatic leader, Azif a-Barouk, accompanied Grendel-Prime to rescue the boy, and Grendel-Prime managed to slay the vampires' lord in the process - who turned out to be none other than Orion Assante's old foe, Pellon Cross.
Laurel Kennedy's rule was undermined by the lack of an heir, so she tried to arrange a suitable dynastic marriage for her daughter, Crystal. But Crystal, who had begun an affair with her guard, a Grendel named Susan Veraghen, escaped the Black Hills complex and fled into the wilderness. Laurel became increasingly irrational, and effective rule of the empire passed to her minister, Abner Heath.
Ten years passed. Laurel Kennedy had been quietly displaced and imprisoned by Abner Heath, who took on the role of world leader. In attempting to hold the empire together Heath wanted to learn how to activate the Sun-Disc, Orion's most formidable weapon, but was met with continual failure. But during a televised worldwide broadcast Jupiter - now a young man - and Grendel-Prime made their move. Grendel-Prime and his team captured the Imperial palace, and Jupiter raided the Black Hills complex, encountering a wasted and frail Laurel Kennedy. It turned out that the missing component of the Sun-Disk was contained within the body of Grendel-Prime. He activated the weapon and destroyed the government's broadcasting satellites, enabling Jupiter to take over the airwaves and announce his succession. After Jupiter's coronation, Grendel-Prime took his leave of Jupiter and disappeared off into the wastelands.
The War Child series was intended by Wagner to continue the Comico series Grendel as issues 41-51, chronicling the rise of Jupiter Assante. Comico shutting down ended the series, which would eventually be published by Dark Horse in this volume.
As Devil's Reign came to a close, Wagner thought of an idea for a new storyline, which was intended to run as Grendel #41-50, after a brief publishing hiatus. Before that could happen, though, Comico went bankrupt.[3][4] Finally, after Wagner regained the publishing rights, Grendel: War Child saw print in 1992 as a 10-issue miniseries from Dark Horse, written by Wagner, drawn by Patrick McEown and colored by Mireault. A collected edition was published in 1994.
Ten years after the death of Orion I, his son Jupiter was kidnapped from his home/prison at a base in the Dakota Black Hills by a lone Grendel in black full-body armour, called by the other characters "the paladin," and later known as Grendel-Prime. The regent, Orion's widow Laurel Kennedy, sent the empire's elite Red Devils after the renegade Grendel and his hostage, further neglecting and alienating her daughter Crystal in the process.
Jupiter and the Grendel fled through wastelands and the wreckage of cities, across the ocean, and into the jungles of Africa. Along the way, they encountered not only the Red Devils but also bandits, mutants, pirates, dangerous wildlife, and other Grendels (both friend and foe). In the OPEC wastes, Grendel and Jupiter were captured by a band of rebels opposed to the misrule of Laurel Kennedy. Grendel-Prime was disassembled and revealed as a solar-powered cyborg created by Orion I to protect Jupiter from political manipulators until he was old enough to assume the throne of the Grendel-Khan.
Jupiter was abducted from the rebel base by a group of vampires who took him back to their lair in Siberia. The rebels and their charismatic leader, Azif a-Barouk, accompanied Grendel-Prime to rescue the boy, and Grendel-Prime managed to slay the vampires' lord in the process - who turned out to be none other than Orion Assante's old foe, Pellon Cross.
Laurel Kennedy's rule was undermined by the lack of an heir, so she tried to arrange a suitable dynastic marriage for her daughter, Crystal. But Crystal, who had begun an affair with her guard, a Grendel named Susan Veraghen, escaped the Black Hills complex and fled into the wilderness. Laurel became increasingly irrational, and effective rule of the empire passed to her minister, Abner Heath.
Ten years passed. Laurel Kennedy had been quietly displaced and imprisoned by Abner Heath, who took on the role of world leader. In attempting to hold the empire together Heath wanted to learn how to activate the Sun-Disc, Orion's most formidable weapon, but was met with continual failure. But during a televised worldwide broadcast Jupiter - now a young man - and Grendel-Prime made their move. Grendel-Prime and his team captured the Imperial palace, and Jupiter raided the Black Hills complex, encountering a wasted and frail Laurel Kennedy. It turned out that the missing component of the Sun-Disk was contained within the body of Grendel-Prime. He activated the weapon and destroyed the government's broadcasting satellites, enabling Jupiter to take over the airwaves and announce his succession. After Jupiter's coronation, Grendel-Prime took his leave of Jupiter and disappeared off into the wastelands.
November 27, 2014
Oh, Dark Horse. How I love your disturbing picture books.
It's true: my admiration for Grendel: Warchild cannot be properly summarized without pointing out that when I was growing up, there were essentially three comic book publishers: DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse. You could pick up an issue or two of any number of books--usually missing issues here and there due to the fact that we were kids and some of our moms refused to take us to the comic book store every Wednesday. Bless my mom's heart: the Satanic Panic of the 80's and 90's hit her pretty hard, and I had a hard enough time hiding my Dungeons & Dragons collection from her without resorting to explaining why Grendel was actually art.
Dark Horse, you see, was always what the older kids read. What the soldiers picked up while grabbing staples and snacks.
We wanted to read those books.
Years later in my adulthood I come to find that a lot of my faith in the grandiose and beautiful nature of "adult" comic books was misplaced. "Adult" comics in the 90's sometimes meant deeper storylines and heavier themes, but mostly meant gore and tits. And while both are present in abundance in Grendel: Warchild, this is not a book that disappoints.
Taking place decades after the original Grendel storyline, Warchild follows Grendel Prime (a cyborg warrior god) as he protects the heir to the empire of the world. It's On The Road with laser swords and Machiavellian intrigue.
Going through it all this time later, I'm reminded of all the good that the 90's did for comics. I've written in the past about all the bad it's done, because it's so easy to glom onto the boobs and Liefeld and contrived storylines and Liefeld and sexism and Liefeld. But lots of good came from the 90's, too. And by good I mean absolute, unadulterated insanity.
This book is freaking insane.
Grendel Prime fights his way through zombies, massive reptiles, samurai in red paint, African tribesmen (who for some reason talk in a bad Jamaican accent a la World of Warcraft), leper cultists, giant apes, robo-pirates, and a cabal of vampires who take their fashion sense from Kurt Cobain. Every chapter there was something different, and I'm pretty sure Matt Wagner would have thrown in a chapter with ninjas if Dark Horse would've sprung for a twelfth issue.
It. Is. Ridiculous.
And it's fun as hell. The artwork is dynamic and fluid--the characters (and there are more than a few) are well designed and unique. And while the last chapter falls into a massive hiccup with its abrupt "Ten Years Later..." shift and introduction of a faceless narrator, it's otherwise some of the most fun I've had reading an action comic now or in 1993.
If this was one that you passed by in the past, I'd pick it up and give it a read. More of a massive, unique world--excellent stuff. Crank up the Pavement--get your 90's on.
Oh, and Vivat Grendel.
It's true: my admiration for Grendel: Warchild cannot be properly summarized without pointing out that when I was growing up, there were essentially three comic book publishers: DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse. You could pick up an issue or two of any number of books--usually missing issues here and there due to the fact that we were kids and some of our moms refused to take us to the comic book store every Wednesday. Bless my mom's heart: the Satanic Panic of the 80's and 90's hit her pretty hard, and I had a hard enough time hiding my Dungeons & Dragons collection from her without resorting to explaining why Grendel was actually art.
Dark Horse, you see, was always what the older kids read. What the soldiers picked up while grabbing staples and snacks.
We wanted to read those books.
Years later in my adulthood I come to find that a lot of my faith in the grandiose and beautiful nature of "adult" comic books was misplaced. "Adult" comics in the 90's sometimes meant deeper storylines and heavier themes, but mostly meant gore and tits. And while both are present in abundance in Grendel: Warchild, this is not a book that disappoints.
Taking place decades after the original Grendel storyline, Warchild follows Grendel Prime (a cyborg warrior god) as he protects the heir to the empire of the world. It's On The Road with laser swords and Machiavellian intrigue.
Going through it all this time later, I'm reminded of all the good that the 90's did for comics. I've written in the past about all the bad it's done, because it's so easy to glom onto the boobs and Liefeld and contrived storylines and Liefeld and sexism and Liefeld. But lots of good came from the 90's, too. And by good I mean absolute, unadulterated insanity.
This book is freaking insane.
Grendel Prime fights his way through zombies, massive reptiles, samurai in red paint, African tribesmen (who for some reason talk in a bad Jamaican accent a la World of Warcraft), leper cultists, giant apes, robo-pirates, and a cabal of vampires who take their fashion sense from Kurt Cobain. Every chapter there was something different, and I'm pretty sure Matt Wagner would have thrown in a chapter with ninjas if Dark Horse would've sprung for a twelfth issue.
It. Is. Ridiculous.
And it's fun as hell. The artwork is dynamic and fluid--the characters (and there are more than a few) are well designed and unique. And while the last chapter falls into a massive hiccup with its abrupt "Ten Years Later..." shift and introduction of a faceless narrator, it's otherwise some of the most fun I've had reading an action comic now or in 1993.
If this was one that you passed by in the past, I'd pick it up and give it a read. More of a massive, unique world--excellent stuff. Crank up the Pavement--get your 90's on.
Oh, and Vivat Grendel.
October 26, 2023
Grendel War Child. Grendel Archives, #7.
November 25, 2016
Grendel: War Child is perhaps not what long-time Grendel fans expected. I can understand how those of you who cut your teeth on the affairs of Hunter Rose and Christine Spahr might find this massive post-apocalyptic adventure story a bit jarring, but on its own merits, I think War Child holds up pretty well.
War Child is set in the distant future, where the spirit of Grendel is no longer part of the shadow world, but is instead a critical and respected aspect of society. The world's ruler, the Grendel Khan has recently died, and his young heir has been kidnapped by a mysterious warrior called Grendel Prime, much to the dismay of the Khan's ex-wife, who sought to use the boy to assure her own control over the world's affairs.
Grendel Prime's quest to protect the heir until he is old enough to rule takes them all over the globe and incorporates the best elements from just about every adventure story imaginable. You have cyborg warriors with (for lack of a better term) lightsabers and hover-cycles, vampires, mutants, gangs, pirates, witches, resistance fighters, super-weapons, and a pissed-off gorilla. There are romantic and political elements to the story, but at heart War Child is an epic adventure saga.
All told, I think Matt Wagner has created something quite special with Grendel: War Child. It's not what you'd typically expect from a Grendel story, but it's the one I find myself coming back to time and time again. The 300+ page War Child trade paperback collects the entire 10-issue limited series plus covers and sketchbook material.
NOTE: This one is for mature readers only. It features explicit language, nudity and some sexual situations, and more blood-soaked violence per page than you might think possible. None of it seems gratuitous however; it's just part of the story.
War Child is set in the distant future, where the spirit of Grendel is no longer part of the shadow world, but is instead a critical and respected aspect of society. The world's ruler, the Grendel Khan has recently died, and his young heir has been kidnapped by a mysterious warrior called Grendel Prime, much to the dismay of the Khan's ex-wife, who sought to use the boy to assure her own control over the world's affairs.
Grendel Prime's quest to protect the heir until he is old enough to rule takes them all over the globe and incorporates the best elements from just about every adventure story imaginable. You have cyborg warriors with (for lack of a better term) lightsabers and hover-cycles, vampires, mutants, gangs, pirates, witches, resistance fighters, super-weapons, and a pissed-off gorilla. There are romantic and political elements to the story, but at heart War Child is an epic adventure saga.
All told, I think Matt Wagner has created something quite special with Grendel: War Child. It's not what you'd typically expect from a Grendel story, but it's the one I find myself coming back to time and time again. The 300+ page War Child trade paperback collects the entire 10-issue limited series plus covers and sketchbook material.
NOTE: This one is for mature readers only. It features explicit language, nudity and some sexual situations, and more blood-soaked violence per page than you might think possible. None of it seems gratuitous however; it's just part of the story.
April 1, 2016
I was enjoying Grendel: Warchild. It is a dark look into the power struggle after the death of the great Grendel-Khan Ruler of Earth. When his son, Jupiter Assante and rightful heir is kidnapped by a powerful warrior, factions across the world fight to claim the boy and the seat of power that comes from his position as future world leader.
With that said the book runs out of steam in the last chapter, skipping the final battle almost all together for a childish happily ever after ending. All the white hats have fairy tail endings, all the black hats get their judgment day.
I would have much rather seen a detailed final battle that was a proper climax to all the buildup of the rest of the book, as well as a realistic future for the damages done to those who had to make hard choices to win a war. Also Jupiter Assante has almost no character development, a central figure such as him put into a horrible fight for survival yet is not changed by the event at all?
The book is a good read with a happy go luck ending. Enjoy
With that said the book runs out of steam in the last chapter, skipping the final battle almost all together for a childish happily ever after ending. All the white hats have fairy tail endings, all the black hats get their judgment day.
I would have much rather seen a detailed final battle that was a proper climax to all the buildup of the rest of the book, as well as a realistic future for the damages done to those who had to make hard choices to win a war. Also Jupiter Assante has almost no character development, a central figure such as him put into a horrible fight for survival yet is not changed by the event at all?
The book is a good read with a happy go luck ending. Enjoy
January 29, 2015
A surprisingly fun romp through a vaguely-dystopian world chock full of vampires, cyborgs, and zombie mutant hybrids of some sort. While I felt a bit lost in the beginning, I was pulled right along into the story, which had an off-beat humor that reminded me of the Serenity graphic novels. Jupiter's mother was also quite entertaining.
I couldn't help but think that Grendel was Spiderman in his symbiote suit, perhaps after he'd stolen Scarlet Spider's webshooters, which was enforced by his usual lanky build that didn't match the cover at all.
An interesting world that I wouldn't mind reading more of.
I couldn't help but think that Grendel was Spiderman in his symbiote suit, perhaps after he'd stolen Scarlet Spider's webshooters, which was enforced by his usual lanky build that didn't match the cover at all.
An interesting world that I wouldn't mind reading more of.
July 28, 2008
Far and away, this is the series that got me into comics. I think it was the Simon Bisley covers that drew me in, but Matt Wagner's writing and deceptively spare drawing style kept me there. What better way to start than with a master of the form, and in War Child he wields the form to tell a hell of a story! It's a Mad Max future meets a Terminator-like war machine, meets the ancient tale of Lone Wolf and Cub. A great read for any comics fan, especially newbies wanting a good taste of the genre.
August 13, 2012
trying to get others into books - reading literature, whatever that might be - is not easy. but there are several comics (or graphic novels) that make the introduction to more "classic" reading easier (does anyone remember those Illustrated Classics? my first introduction to Dostoyevsky, Dickens, Dumas, Shakespeare...)...
this is a great story - and told with a consistent voice and artist (unlike much of the regular Grendel comics).
this is a great story - and told with a consistent voice and artist (unlike much of the regular Grendel comics).
April 12, 2016
This collection of the serial comic of Grendel was both good and poor. The writing seemed at times to be kind of lost for purpose or misdirected. It came somewhat together by the end, but it definitely had some problems. The illustrations were rather stiff, though some of it was quite nice. This could use some work for improvement, but I did enjoy reading it; though, I think if it were much longer I would have grown tired.
August 14, 2012
One of the all time great comic series, and definitely one of Matt Wagner's best. It's a futuristic twist on an Arthurian theme. The son of the Grendel-Khan Orion Assante, who was the first to take control of the entire Earth, is kidnapped by the Khan's personal paladin to protect him from his evil stepmother and the machinations of bureaucrats until he can come of age and take over the world.
June 23, 2013
I remembered liking this more when I first read it (as a teenager?), but revisiting it now, it's a lot of homage to the Terminator movies packed with pointless and not very effectively drawn action sequences. Which isn't to say it doesn't have its moments, and the premise -- that the idea of "Grendel" would survive the centuries and shape the world of the far future -- is pretty great.
March 10, 2013
So very different from the original Grendel. Not bad, really, but why even call it Grendel?
October 29, 2014
Read and re-read many times this is a wonderful story with cool comic art and fascinating characters, Vivat Grendel !
read-in-a-different-form
January 20, 2019I have enjoyed the variety of the Grendel stories overall. While the previous story, with the church and vampires and an unusually insane Grendel and rogue cops and a world-ending gun and... was certainly overly complicated, I was disappointed that the plotline here was so simple. The art looks great, and it's full of ready-for-movie action scenes, but this is very long for a book were so little really happens. I can't help but feel like a more happy medium between the two might be better.
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