Grendel: Devil by the Deed

Grendel #1

by Matt Wagner, Rich Rankin (Artist), Chris Pitzer (Colorist)

When Wagner first serialized 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!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime, Comix, Mystery

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Matt 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.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original Grendel, Hunter Rose's, tale told by his ward's daughter. The story is entirely in prose, the daughter taking an analytical approach to reading Grendel's lost diaries. Matt Wagner's lush illustrations are gorgeous. He makes every page look like an illuminated manuscript with deft use of limited colors, only using red, black gray and white.

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's tricky to review a graphic novel that you've read multiple times and know the future stories as well, but here goes...

"Grendel: Devil by the Deed" is an early masterwork by a comic book storytelling genius at the launchpad of his career. Matt Wagner's writes and draws a multi-layered narrative that's both nuanced and bold.

His prose is crisp, smart, and never drags. Yes, that's right. The entire comic is told in prose with big, colorful art-deco illustrations. It shouldn't work, but it does.

In fact, the entire Grendel universe should not have worked, but it did. From the early issues at Comico all the way to the future stories at Dark Horse. It all works and it all starts here.

I've read this graphic novel many times and still find little bits of magic each time.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty interesting story. It's not quite a comic book, more like an illustrated prose story. I found some of the prose a bit dull at times. The separation of text and art made it harder to connect with the characters.

The artwork was nice throughout.

I read the "Master's Edition" where Wagner has gone back and completely redone the comic. I'm interested in reading the original version now!

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a Comics-Prose, which is fusing images in the background but the story is told in a novel format. It's not my favorite thing but it worked pretty damn well here.

It's about a man name Hunter Rose, a famous Novelist who also happens to become an assassin and tus begins his murdering ways. It talks about building a empire to control the crime while a Man-wolf named Argent is hunting him. Argent actually works with the police to stop Hunter Rose. It sounds silly but it's taken semi-seriously and it works. You get sucked into this world quickly and then when Stacy Palumbo comes in, a daughter of a mobster who is killed, she is adopted by Hunter Rose. But Stacy eventually befriends Argent, and eventually this leads to the two dueling once more to the death.

A twisted, dark, well told, and very interesting world is being build around tragic characters and I can't help but enjoy. For one who's not the biggest fan of Comics-Prose, this was done extremely well and I'll be reading more. A 4 out of 5.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve wanted to dig further into Wagner’s Grendel for years but never really have. This was the first story to feature Grendel. It’s a short story that also has accompanying art. The art and color scheme is gorgeous. The story is dark and mysterious. I really enjoyed it.

[Logan Polk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t read the HC, but the first collected version in a floppy. Reads like a novel, teases interesting things, would love to read a truly expanded version of the story.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a backup story in his other series, Mage (1984–1986), Wagner reworked and retold Hunter Rose's story in its entirety. It was collected by Comico in 1986. A new edition, recolored by Bernie Mireault, was published by Dark Horse in 1993. In 2007, it was released in hardcover colored only in black, white, and red. An experiment in illustrated fiction, the panels combine to form something of a static whole on each page, often likened to a stained glass window. Each page is both one picture and several images, arranged much less sequentially than in typical comic book narrative. All of its text appears in accompanying captions, presented as excerpts from a non-fiction book about Hunter Rose.

The story begins with an extraordinarily gifted boy, his name only given as Eddie. Because victory in his endeavors came so easily to him, it all seemed meaningless. In despair, he threw a world-championship fencing match, and began a torrid affair with Jocasta Rose, a trainer twice his age. When Jocasta died, Eddie left behind his former life and took on a new persona - or rather two. He became Hunter Rose, successful novelist and socialite, and Grendel, elegant costumed assassin and crime boss. Grendel was hunted relentlessly by Argent, a several hundred year old Native American man-wolf cursed with a thirst for violence, working for the police in an effort to turn his curse to good.

Hunter adopted the young daughter of a mobster he recently killed, Stacy Palumbo, who was also befriended by Argent. Hunter was a loving father to Stacy, but when she discovered Hunter was Grendel she sold him out to the wolf. The two antagonists met on the roof of a Masonic temple; the battle left Argent paralyzed, and Grendel unmasked and dead. The police discovered Stacy's role in this incident and her previous murder of a governess to prevent interference with her scheme. Stacy developed severe psychological problems, and she was committed to a mental hospital until adulthood.

Within the Grendel universe, Devil By The Deed is the novel written by Christine Spar, Stacy's daughter, about the life of Hunter Rose. It becomes a bestseller, and "Grendel" becomes a recognizable pop-culture figure.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Grendel tales, the hunter Rose Grendel. He is a writer/artist who takes over the crime gangs and bosses in the city. I feel this is one of the ultimate anti-heroes in comics, and it is one of the titles you won't see made into a movie, cartoon or tv series. This was hard core noir when it was written and these collections are pure gold. Really enjoyable and Matt Wagner is an amazing creator. various artists drew the books and to be honest, this is one of those stories where the artists' change doesn't really impact the overarc. Really glad to have reread this one. Check this out if you're tired of the Marvel/Disney glut of content and want something dark, warm and dangerous.

Danny

[Alex Caudill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was first exposed to Matt Wagner through his Mage comic in the early 1980's. I was 12 when I began reading that book and it made an impression
The back up story, GRENDEL made me realize comics were so much more than superheroes fighting villains.
It had been over 30 years since I read this graphic novel. The feeling of the 80's returned to me as I read each page, the hair, clothes, the apartments, the colors. The story seems so much darker to me as an adult than it did when I was a teenager.
I do not know if anyone under 30 will appreciate this book for the groundbreaking piece of art that is was....but pick it up and give it a read.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grendel: Devil by the Deed was my first exposure to Grendel way back in the late 80s/early 90s. It's actually an illustrated text, rather than a comic book, but it is the lynch pin to the whole Grendel mythos. I highly recommend that anyone thinking about giving Grendel a try read DbtD first because a) It's what the author intended, and b) it will help put any stories of Hunter Rose, as well as the events of Devil's Legacy, into context.

[DoctorM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art Deco Noir? Elegant, distanced, alluring, very dark. Very well-written, with perfect art deco imagery.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always find this comic hard to dive into because it’s so wordy. However, it’s a terrific noir story with great characters and weird twists, and the artwork underlying it all is beautiful.

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got a copy of this that's not on Goodreads which is neat. Published in the back pages of independent comic Mage; Grendel is the work of Matt Wagner where he transforms a noir crime lord into a symbol of violence and evil. Grendel is an experiment in comics where the villain is center stage in the story, rather than how comics have usually pandered to audiences by giving a title to a villain which fold as it becomes obvious that the villain has little to do without a nemesis. Grendel changes this by treating its story of Grendel fighting the werewolf Argent very seriously, the layout of the pages are carefully designed to evoke art deco design and stained glass, there are no text bubbles instead the passages are presented in text boxes recounting the events as a report. The book is simple in it its layout only shown in red, white and black further proving they are the magick number combination and bordered by a black frame on each page. Stripped of a lot of comic trappings bar two instances Grendel is more concerned with making the figure of Grendel a symbol of violence and it achieves it well with the simplicity of it's design, a black suit, white boots and gloves, a black ask with two curiously bug like eyes and a forked staff and that's it. Grendel is simple in design because the idea behind it is to be utilitarian and striking, Grendel has one goal so needs the one image to be enough. His nemesis Argent is a 300 year old Native American werewolf that is both reviled and seen as fascinating by the press as he relentlessly hunts Grendel and their mutual ward a young girl named Stacy Palumbo another victim of Grendel's casual destruction of life.

I have been flip flopping on four or five before settling on four because Grendel will not be for everyone and Wagner's intent to show a completely amoral villain is thrown off by a few instances where Grendel destroys another evil but he's meant to be a symbol of the devil but at the same time I can understand why it's there. His portrayal of Hunter Rose (Grendel's alter-ego) has been absorbed by pop culture with the suave, chic, debonair villain who is brilliant and aloof has been transplanted into so many works and I'd be surprised if they knew where it was coming from. Grendel is a great beginning to a great series that takes this figure and takes him on new adventures. It is worth knowing that Grendel's surface plans are known to us but the deeper meanings are hidden referencing Beowulf's Grendel as an indescribable monster that persists despite being slain. (And I got to reference Beowulf which is a nice pretentious end.)

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art Deco Noir down as an illustrated novel. While the Grendel Cycle/Saga is far from perfect, its a more realized and explored concept than say most creations from the big two.

Not at insane as say, Cerebus, it is nonetheless as reinventive and reflexive examination of violence, trauma and those left in its wake.

Hunter Rose is the most solidly Matt Wagner creation. As while we wrote all the other series (other than Grendel Tales) he let the subsequent genre and artist influence the evolution of the concept.

[Txisko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bien pero… demasiado acelerado o esquemático. Los textos a veces son mejorables (o sufren de una traducción no muy fina). Eso en cuanto a la historia.
El dibujo es diferente y con toques muy interesantes, por momentos. No, esto no es cómic, sino texto acompañado de imágenes, o al revés. Pero cómic no. Y eso no tiene nada de malo.
Lo dicho: "bien pero…". Creo que se ha sobrevalorado al personaje. Suerte para Wagner.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found the 25th anniversary hardcover edition of this in a discount bin at NYCC, so I picked it up. I already had an earlier edition, but it seemed like a nice hardcover and a reasonable excuse to re-read it.

It's still very good. Wagner manages to make it almost a fable, and his design-heavy artwork really makes for a timeless, classic feel. Good, good stuff.

[B. Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art and fantastic prose are why Grendel is considered a game-changer in the comics industry. Any fan of noir should give this a look, and comic fans will want to read the story of Hunter Rose for sure.

[Elijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable noir tale, but I don't think I'll continue with the series; it seems to be more interested in exploring the darkness of the title character than in the characters who oppose that darkness.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, I really liked the format of it and the layout of the imagery. Intrigued to see what the other volumes hold

[Tamar Elmensdorp-lijzenga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, and such beautiful drawings

[Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published nearly 40 years ago, but even by today's standards this is an absolute masterpiece. It's amazing that it was done so early in Matt Wagner's career.

[flame03fire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever gotten so much information. from anything ever

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite the story, worth a read.

[Potato McB · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a weird story. Extremely dark and messed-up. Beautiful layouts and artwork, though.

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been a big fan of Matt Wagner and certainly don't get the fascination with his longest-extant original character Grendel. Even so, I find myself in possession of THREE Grendel books, all of which I've read several times and none of which makes enough an impression for me to remember much about them from one reading to the next (although, with my memory, the importance of that latter fact is debatable).
This book, Devil by the Deed, serves as our introduction to the mysterious figure known as Grendel (in spite of multiple people occupying the suit at different times). The story is told as from a book by Christine Spar, the daughter of the adopted daughter of (what appears to be) the original Grendel, Hunter Rose. She has recovered Rose's notebooks and written a tell-all book (from which, we have to assume, the text here is only excerpted -- or it was a very short book). So, we witness the youth and maturation of the man who is known to the world as Hunter Rose (but whose real name is...Eddie), his life as a man and as the crime-lord Grendel, his recurring conflict with the wolf-man-like creature Argent and his eventual demise.
For whatever reason, Wagner has chosen to present this book in a series of full-page, full-colour images with embedded text, after the fashion of (the 1980s version of) an art-deco picture book. Wagner's art really shines here, chiefly for his touch as a technical artist (his faces are touch-and-go and he seems utterly unable to draw a child), but the choice to run the story this way means we face a solid run of small, tightly-packed text boxes. This makes it a little difficult to read physically, but also serves to rush the story more than is necessary. I can only think that the stilted, dated way in which he's written this book is an intentional stylistic choice, because the writing is...well, it's just bad.
Devil by the Deed is an entertaining story, but not exactly comics literature. Wagner's taken bits of different characters and their stories from other places, peppered them throughout his Blade Runner-esque landscape and turned out a heavily-period piece of crime-adventure comics. How Grendel has survived as long as he/it has is utterly beyond me, though I suspect fandom's love of the masked, unidentified vigilante has a lot to do with it ('Anybody could be behind that mask, even...ME!'). For myself, I don't mind Grendel, I find Argent much more interesting, and I concede Wagner really trumped on costume-design with Grendel, but the whole thing just leaves me kind of unsatisfied.
This original Comico edition (mine's a second printing, so has cadet blue on the jacket instead of the pictured fuchsia) includes a brief laudatory introduction from Alan Moore and a small pin-up section of images of Grendel (and others) from John Totleben, Steve Rude, Jay Geldhof & the Pander Bros. and Steven Bissette. The jacket shows a handsome if amateurish wraparound painting from Wagner.

[The Fizza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure how to explain my love, as that is what I have, for the Grendel series without seeming somewhat odd. After all it is a dark and strange series I am expressing my love for and had the little boy who picked up his very first superhero comic known that one day his favorite characters would be the devil himself I can guarantee he'd have believed you.

I first found Grendel at the bottom of a grab-bag and within its pages I meet Hunter Rose (the 1st Grendel). He was terrifying underworld villain by night and Bruce Wayne-ish playboy writer by day.

I was immediately fascinated! What is this book about? Who is this Grendel? A hero? A villain? A man? A devil? Perhaps he was all these things... I had to know more! It took me many years to piece the series together (now so wondrously available here recolored in its entirety) and within it's pages I learned of a young prodigy bored by a world that came too easily to him. A young man infatuated by an older woman who's daredevil lifestyle hid her knowledge of imminent death.

After tasting a less than ordinary life the man reinvents himself as both Hunter Rose, successful novelist and socialite, as well as Grendel, elegant costumed assassin and crime boss.

The Grendel is relentlessly hunted by Argent, a man-wolf thing cursed with a thirst for blood and hundreds of years old. Working for the police in an effort, not really to redeem himself but to direct his lust in socially acceptable ways. Thus the monster who could not pass as a man hunts the man who plays at being a monster.

Argent continues to chase Hunter to no avail, that is until Hunter adopted the young daughter of a mobster he kills... with this dynamic change the shapes of the story moves forward becoming more twisted and disturbing as both monster-men confuse innocents and acceptance with youth. Schemes-within-schemes grow until they break the traditional comic book tropes to pieces in favor of gritty crime-horror conclusion.

And if that was how the strange life of Grendel truly ended it would be odd enough, but Matt Wagner wasn't done with Grendel yet. After the events in this story Hunter Rose's posthumous biographer began to take on the identity of Grendel in pursuit of revenge.

Finally the biography of Hunter, titled Devil By The Deed, comes out and becomes a bestseller. As Grendel, now a recognizable pop-culture figure, doesn't fade away Wagner spins the series further into the future. The Grendel identity begins affecting a variety of people. Eventually cults spring up and Grendel finally became a synonym for The Devil with the title held by the emperor of the world in a dystopian future.

A fluid and textured world is built by Wagner where he can continue to explore themes of identity and human connection as other writers and artists begin to contribute. Yet Wagner never forgets about Hunter continuing to revisiting his life-and-times over the years with short pieces or one-shots adding further depth to the Grendel Universe.

But it all started here, with Devil By The Deed.

Part conventional superhero tale, part film noir crime drama - I wouldn't dare recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have a least a taste for the darker side of the world. Be wary though, for once you begin to read Grendel you might just find the devil inside you as well.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to many of comic books' biggest fans, I'm relatively new to comics. As of the time of reviewing this book, I am in my mid 20s. My first big comic book was an Ultimate Spider-Man omnibus, which I read early on in high school. I didn't jump onto the bandwagon until a couple years later, right as I was starting my college education. From my understanding, a large chunk of comic book readers have been reading them since the 80s and 90s, long before I can even remember. To say that I am unfamiliar with the Grendel character would be an understatement. I know next to nothing about him, not even the size of his fanbase. After hearing his name brought up from time to time, I did a little research and decided to check out Grendel: Devil By The Deed.

What I got was a unique comic book experience. The composition of each page was a single illustration, beautifully rendered into color in such a way to resemble stained glass windows combined with art deco. I should note that the version of the book I read was fully colored, where the hardcover book was entirely black, white, and red. While both look fantastic, the latter lacks the stain glass effect achieved by a full color palette, therefore I would recommend reading the full color book, but that's a personal choice.

The book is narrated to us by Grendel's granddaughter, recounting important events in her grandfather's life. The story is told to us the way a camper might tell a ghost story. We're never directly in the action of Grendel's life, only observing events from a slight distance. This combined with the single illustration to page format gives it the feel of a picture book, straddling the line with a more traditional comic book format.

Grendel, or rather Hunter Rose, begins his life as Eddie, a creepy young child. He's not your typical comic book protagonist. Depending on your interpretation, he is either a dark anti-hero or a villainous main character. He's intelligent, but finds his endeavors meaningless due to how easy they come to him. He becomes romantically involved with his fencing teacher, a woman twice his age. At this point, it should be clear that Eddie isn't in the best state of mind. It only becomes worse when his teacher dies, leaving his life behind to become Hunter Rose, the novelist, and moonlights as his Grendel persona. The look is stylish, and the image goes well with the book's format. Beyond that, I leave for readers to discover.

Characters to note are Stacy Palumbo, a young girl close to Hunter Rose, and Argent, a centuries old Native American cursed into a wolf man. Normally, such a character would be jarring in a book like this, but Matt Wagner writes him in a way where his presence is never questioned, kinda like magic in magical realism. He acts as a foil to Grendel. Where Rose appears a normal man, he hides his dark secret well, and rules over the crime families of his region, Argent operates openly, and tries to turn his violent instincts of his curse to good.

I liked this story, and it was different, but it wasn't so amazing that it will be a close favorite. Even with the unique format of the book, I can only give it four stars.

[Kimber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.

Hunter Rose, a child protege, becomes an unstoppable assassin, Grendel, leading the criminal world of the entire East Coast, all the while being a famous author and father to an adopted young girl. This book documents the final battle between Grendel and his rival, Argent, the mysterious wolf who battles against him across the city at night.

This comic was lent to me by a friend who said it was one of their absolute favourites. That set the bar pretty high. The book definitely lived up to the hype it was given. This book is one of the most unique graphic novels I've ever read. The art, an art deco style, is amazing with fantastic colour palette and interesting use of space. The story is told through literary text instead of detail and speech bubbles. The story was engaging and unique, using a fantastic twist of the classic hero and villain characters.

This is likely to become one of my most highly recommend graphic novels and I'm definitely going to share it with my close friends in the near future.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original Grendel story, created by Matt Wagner. Dark & slightly disturbing, but by no means the best Grendel story, this book is none the less a pretty thorough introduction to Hunter Rose, the first of many to adopt the Grendel identity.

This hardcover may be hard to find (as with most Grendel books), but Dark Horse is releasing the complete Grendel epic in 4 massive omnibus collections (at a rate of one every six months or so), the first 2 of them being already available. From a financial point of view, it's a much better deal to get the omnibus collections than to cahse down the many individual Grendel books.

Click here for my review of Grendel Omnibus, Volume 1: Hunter Rose.

** For more information on this particular story, please read Paul's thorough review.

[Ptokremin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel a bit torn for rating this book just 1.5 stars:

The art work certainly has style. The black-red-white colour palette fits the overall mood quite well. The way pictures and text are intertwined/arranged is definitely innovative.

Making an 'evil' character the focus of a comic book may even have been innovative in principle. Unfortunately he has no story of it's one: in this book Grendel story can not exist without it's opponent.

But... It reads like a brief summary (plot-skeleton) of an epic novel. The character actions seem to pop out of nowhere and generally lead to nowhere much. Maybe it would have been a great book, if there where more room to connect the often surprising (not to say harsh) plot turns.

Reading it I had some difficulties to develop an understanding of the characters. In the end it left me pretty disappointed, because I found the veil of illusion too thin.
Sorry.