Grendel Omnibus 3

Grendel #5, 6

by Matt Wagner

No longer content to inhabit one host at a time, the Grendel entity goes viral, in a new phase of Wagner's epic spanning centuries and culminating with the rise of a new kind of host--the Grendel-Khan! This volume collects the never-before-reprinted "Incubation Years" tales from "Grendel" #20-#22 and the mammoth "God and the Devil" and "Devil's Reign" story lines, featuring art by Tim Sale and John K. Snyder and collected in order for the first time!
* Futuristic tales by artists Tim Sale, John K. Snyder, and more!
* Over 500 pages!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Crime, Graphic Novels Comics

568 pages, Hardcover

First published July 2, 2013

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

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this volume a little more than last. One thing that I'm noticing about the Grendel series is I seem to either love each story or hate it. It's either really good or almost unreadable, but I think a lot of that is due to the experimental art style employed in several stories.

This one started out with some never reprinted back up tales that I didnt care for. But then we get into the Orion Assante story, who became the first Grendel Khan, or basically world ruler. This was really good as we go from a world controlled by an evil vampiric pope into a police state that started with good intentions but ended up as something not good. This volume is basically a political thriller with sci fi overtones (vampire invasion anyone?) but it's almost ridiculously engrossing as I just didn't want to stop reading.

The Grendel Saga is really something totally unique in comics, as I dont remember ever reading something that started out as one thing and ended up as something totally different. This all started with Hunter Rose, basically an evil Batman and has evolved into a true science fiction epic. Some of it's unreadable as I've said before, but when it's good, it's great.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Another volume that left me with mixed feelings. The development of Orion Assante as the future Grendel Kahn is interesting enough but Matt Wagner indulges himself in some bad habits that really hindered my pleasure :
1- Way too verbose. It can hardly be skipped in "Devil's reign" seeing the way the book is constructed but "God and the Devil" is crushed under looooooong soliloquies or useless captions. I finished skim-reading the whole stuff.
2- Too long. Both arcs could have been shorter of at least 1 (Devil's reign)or 2 (God and the devil) issues, all for the best.
3- A terrible lack of subtlety. This particularly goes for "God and the devil" where Wagner attacks the catholic church with the delicacy of a bull in a china shop. It's not the attacks that bother me but the way they're conducted; this carpet-bombing of overdone caricatures is as oafish as possible and somehow disappointed me.
As for the art, "God and the devil" is quite as ugly as "Devil's legacy" in Vol.2. It's a shame they couln't hire decent artists for these jobs. "Devil's reign" is better illustrated but sorry, no prize, it wasn't very difficult.
All in all this one is for fans only.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it is in many ways more interesting in second half of Grendal legacy, the consequences of legacy still play out over time. The tie between Grendel-Kahn and the Christine Spar line (and also the Hunter Rose comics) travels through both Lt. Wiggin's decline and the return of the vampire previously known as a Kabuki dancer, who has now become Pope. "God and the Devil" tells this story and is the more interesting of the two involving Assante. However, by the time we get to Reign of The Devil, we get a comic book told almost entirely through exposition. While this worked in smaller scale stories around Hunter Rose, it reads like an interesting but under-written science fiction story. While the flashes of the vampire culture are interesting, most of this reads like a way to bridge "God and the Devil" to the Grendal Prime tales.

[Adelaide Metzger · Rating 2 out of 5]

The further we go into the future, away from what started it all (with Hunter Rose) I feel like I get a but more disinvested.

Omnibus three sees the demonic spirit of Grendel at its peak in power when it shifts from the possessed vigilante fighting against a hypocritical, vampire pope, to the character of political-turned-empiric ruler of the Earth Orion (hence the title). Although the demon’s purpose seemed to simply be "screw with Hunter's life = pleasure" at the very beginning, it now has achieved a complete rule over humanity and can screw with pretty much everyone due to the position it manipulates. #SlayedAnotherDay must be trending on Hell's Twitter roster.

I did find the many different iterations of how the Grendel spirit evolved really interesting. The first volume in this omnibus titled, "The Incubation Years" started out really cool with the idea of a renowned author made famous for publishing several works on Hunter and Christine Spar, driven mad because the Grendel spirit possesses his electric eye implant. Grendel in an eyeball. Maximum creative points right there. Drug addict and lower class victim of the church Eppy Thatcher has the coolest Grendel costume design I have seen so far and the art design whenever he went on a trip while he took on the persona was so addicting (pun intended). I just want to take those trip scenes and montage them into a tribute video or something because that's how awesome they are.

As for Orion's Reign and everything else in-between it was really hard for me to pay attention. I wasn’t invested in or cared enough for those characters or plots to keep me hooked. I mostly skimmed through Orion's Reign so I'd be prepared for the fourth and final omnibus.

So yeah. Not completely riveting, but I'm glad to have the whole series on my shelf.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can praise wildly the experiments involved in the storytelling here--separate issues and arcs use wildly different techniques and visual allegories, making them interesting from a storytelling point. But these actual arcs aren't necessarily very interesting. In particular, God and the Devil is way too long for what it is; the plotline is fairly straightforward, and it's not as if we're doing deep character studies to justify the length. Also, at this point in the Grendel mythos, it's become pretty unclear what the overarching theme is. I've regularly heard that the series is about violence, but some of our Grendel characters aren't unusually violent. It really seems to me like a bunch of stories that happen to be set in the same timeline, but perhaps I'm missing something.

So, to sum up: I liked a lot of things about this volume, but it's more ambitious than it is interesting, and parts of it drag on for far too long.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the death of Christine Spar her main pursuer goes mad and a nuclear " incident" wipes out the east coast leading to a change in the world order of the future. After a battle between a new Grendel, a vampire that has risen to be a pope of the future, and Orion Assante places Orion in power and he proceeds to remake the world. A mix of stories and artistic styles the bulk of this book is the two largest stories "God and the Devil" and "Devil's Reign" as evil battles evil for power and vanquished foes plot to rise again. This story has changed a lot since the first evil genius Hunter Rose to post apocalyptic future new world order and vampire plague turned rebellion, sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse, but overall an interesting story.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Single issues, with interesting ads and letters pages that are more ridiculous than some GR reviews :)

What a ride... I vividly remember some issues/panels/scenes but I find the series overall to be boring. Experimental? Sure, to the point where I would stumble over which panel or caption to read in order. Needlessly drawn out plots.

Crudely sexual and violent. Maybe the most boring world-building ever. I remember discovering blogs in the late 90s and really digging this. Oh well, I'm looking forward to finishing Grendel and making room in my long boxes.

[Darth Reggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

weakest vol IMHO way too word heavy and kind of of overly preachy of wagner's religious beliefs making this vol the hardest to read due to its slow pacing compared to the previous ones or even the one after this the enjoyed the first two issues of the incubation years the last 2 were just kinda weird god and the devil I would have liked way better (other than the poking at religion part) if it wasn't so damned word heavy like I'm talking silver age comic word heavy devils reign is fine enough as it sets up the next era of the series and has nice tim sale art to boot

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wagner's opus continues to confound expectations after the saga of Christine Spar. There continues to be some overlap between arcs, and the writing shows significant growth (Spar's "mourning", or lack thereof, in Vol.2 was a bit hard to fathom). Honestly, if you're not a Wagner fan, you wouldn't start here, and I can see how the continued experimentation would alienate some readers.

[Alex Budris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly ambitious work. At the start I was a little unsure and having trouble following some of what was going on, but it quickly came together and I found myself quite invested in this future world and its social and political machinations.

[Andy Leavy]

One of the characters in this is in an incestuous relationship with his sisters then becomes a dictator who rules the world then he needs an heir so he himself becomes pregnant.

Never change, Matt Wagner, never change.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some crazy stuff, but I didn't feel as involved.

[Terri Skocz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading it thirty years later

The truth is some of the story is weak. Better than volume 2 by far through. I would say worth reading

[Joshua Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like Grendel but this was just awful

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The socio-political intrigue/future sci-fi amalgamation in this volume of the Grendel saga was thoroughly entertaining. Curious to see where Wagner heads next.

[Al Capwned · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars. Better than the previous volume but nowhere near as good as the first or the last omnibus volumes. It seems that the experimental tendencies don't quite work here.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Incubation Years (20-23). Unfortunately, the initial stories in this volume continue the experimental ideas of the post Christine Spar arc, and so are of mixed success. "Paranoiaic" (20) nicely concludes the story of a major character, but neither it nor "Conspiratorial" (21) is that readable or enjoyable [3/10]. "Hormonal" (22) is much better, because its language seems more concrete, but it might also be because it foreshadows the world of War Child [7/10]. Similarly, "Ecclesiastical" is more coherent and does a nice job of of setting up "The God & The Devil", which is probably why it was a part of the "God & The Devil" reprints. [7/10] Overall, I can see why most of these stories were skipped in the previous reprints.

God & The Devil (24-33). Initially, the most interesting aspect of "God & The Devil" is how it so totally remakes the world. We're now clearly on our way to a post-apocalyptic society far from our own. It's quite a change from the super-hero focused stories of the original Grendel, and yet it's quite interesting to see the shade of Grendel continue into it. However, the story continues to excel even beyond its intriguing genesis because it's truly epic. We get three different protagonists telling a deep and wide-ranging story with global repercussions. It's terrifically done, thanks in large part to Wagner's innovative storytelling techniques, which interweave the narratives. I constantly wanted to know more about all three characters' stories, but still loved the issues focused on each of them. I also found the finale terrific, particularly for its open questions about what comes next. Overall, one of the best Grendel stories to date for its scope, daring, and storytelling [8/10].

Devil's Reign (34-40). Wagner tries yet another style of storytelling in this arc, and I find the results mixed. The big-picture reporting allows him to tell an epic story, but it's set so far back from the characters that I rarely felt drama or tension. There were some good moments in the comic, particularly those centering around what Orion and his vampiric adversary have become. They border on brilliance. But sadly it was undercut by the storytelling style. Still, this is a great advance in history that makes me eager to read what comes next [6+/10].

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the most ambitious Grendel arc, full of world-building, world-shaking movements and complex character arcs. The final piece, "Devil's Reign," returns to the stepdaughter's book of the protagonist approach of the original Grendel story to great effect.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest - I am a big fan of Grendel as a series but years ago when I came to this section of the saga I said, "WTF? I must have missed some context or back story here." Today, having read it all together in order and in context, I say "WTF? A lot of this just makes no sense." It's visually compelling and interesting reading, but far too often I found myself saying, "I don't understand who these people are and why this is important."

The story has its moments, and it's essential to read to understand the next volume (which is my favorite). But Matt Wagner just plain falls down frequently on explaining to readers what is going on and why they should care. It reminds me of years ago when I would pick up collected editions of "Cerebus" and think "this is brilliant I'm sure, but I must have missed a previous issue when they explained X Y and Z." Then later I read "Cerebus" sequentially and thought, "no, actually, the author just never bothered to explain a lot." So that's how I feel about this volume - worth reading for completists or those who want to understand Volume 4, but not so much on its own.

[Baal Of · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn between a 3 and a 4 on this volume. On the one hand, the artwork is really nice, especially some of the more hallucinogenic sequences in God And The Devil. Also I like having the post-Catholic church as the nasty villains in the story arc, and it doesn't take a whole lot more than what the church does in the real world to make it fit. On the Devil's Reign arc, once I got past the weird "He:" .. "She:" prefix on all of the character speech blocks, I really enjoyed the progression of the story. At first it felt like a plot synopsis, but then it developed into a good story. I liked the turnabout on Grendel Khan having to bear his own child, and the secondary story with the vampire colony in VEGAS worked well along with the events of the main story.
On the other hand, in the first couple arcs, the story lines were a bit hard to follow, and it seemed like the author was only giving us some of the information. Then again, that's kind of what Grendel has always been about, since it has such an experimental approach. Overall, an interesting chunk of the Grendel world, and I'm looking forward to the 4th and final volume.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly expected this volume to be more of the same, except lamer. Set in the far future, much of what made the first two Grendel Omnibuses tick is nowhere to be found. Instead, the first few issues try to do no more than tell a story of religious corruption in a heavy-handed and juvenile fashion. "Wasn't this crap hackneyed by the 80's already," I thought as I slogged through the first 200 or so pages.

Then the vampires show up and I breathlessly turn every page to see how it all ends.

If you've read the previous two volumes of Grendel in this format, you might as well get through the first half of this collection to where it gets really good. And I hear the fourth volume is the best of all. 1500 pages in I might as well keep going.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not my favorite part of the Grendel saga, but it's a good bridge between the strong start and the very strong finish.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic.

[Tankboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily my favorite segment of the saga. You really begin to see the larger story emerge.