First published in 1982 by Comico, in Comico Primer #2, Grendel is a creation of Matt Wagner that started as something highly usual at the time. Inspired by Diabolik, Kriminal, Elric, the Beowulf myth, and more, this was the story of an anti-hero, Hunter Rose, an assassin turned mob boss whose Nemesis was Argent the wolf–a powerful and terrifying man-wolf.
The story of this master criminal would soon be retold in Devil by the Deed as a backup story in Wagner’s other series, Mage.
Grendel would eventually become an ongoing series at Comico, from 1986 to 1990. Instead of bringing back Hunter Rose, inspired by the generational aspects of The Phantom, Wagner decided to create a collection of stories exploring the influence of the Grendel identity. The first was Christine Spar, the daughter of Stacy Palumbo who played an integral part in Hunter Rose’s life, then Brian Li Sung who was for a time involved with Christine. After that, Wagner started to adopt a different angle, revisiting Hunter Rose’s career before going progressively into the future.
Continuously evolving, Grendel became a sci-fi story about a dystopic future where a corrupt religious society is disrupted by a powerful Vigilante dressed as Grendel. This led to a revolution and a new status quo as the power shifted and the spirit of Grendel pushed the whole imagery of the Grendel to evolve again. Then emerged the powerful and mysterious Grendel Prime.
As Comico went into bankruptcy in 1990, Grendel’s story was interrupted, but Matt Wagner moved it creation to Dark Horse Comics. Since then, he published new series and revisited old ones, coming back to it multiple times through the years.
Grendel Comics Reading Order
Grendel: Hunter Rose
Throughout the years, Matt Wagner went back to Hunter Rose multiple times, helped by talented artists. The Omnibus collection is the best way to read those stories as they are collected in chronological order in this format.
- Grendel Omnibus Volume 1: Hunter Rose
Collects Grendel: Devil by the Deed 25th Anniversary Edition, Grendel: Black, White & Red #1–4, Grendel: Red, White & Black #1–4, Grendel: Behold the Devil, stories from Comico Collection, Decade: A Dark Horse Short Story Collection, issues #49–50 of Dark Horse Extra, Dark Horse Maverick 2001, and Liberty Annual 2011.
For the 40th anniversary, Matt Wagner put out the Grendel: Devil by the Deed Master’s Edition, an all-new reimagining of “Devil by the Deed,” featuring 120 all-new story pages. It tells the same story, but with more details connecting to events in Hunter Rose’s life added through the years. With new art and coloring.
Grendel: The Hunter Rose Crossovers
Set during the Hunter Rose era, those crossovers are not published in the omnibus as Grendel is meeting with heroes from DC Comics and Dynamite. The Shadow series was, at the time, also written by Matt Wagner (recommended reading!).
There are two Batman/Grendel miniseries. The second one features Grendel Prime, see below.
- Batman/Grendel – Devil’s Riddle/Devil’s Masque
- Grendel vs The Shadow
Collects Grendel vs The Shadow #1-3.
Published in 1989, the Silverback miniseries was plotted by Matt Wagner, and written by William Messner-Loebs, with art by William Messner-Loebs and John Peck. It is the story of Argent the wolf, from a Native tribe in Canada 300 years ago through the 1980s.
- Silverback
Collects Silverback #1-3.
Grendel: The Legacy – Christine Spar, Brian Li Sung, Orion…
Going beyond Hunter Rose, the Grendel story moved forward with new characters becoming Grendel in their own way. Bringing us in the near future, Stacy Palumbo’s daughter, Christine Spar, became the first to wear the mask after Hunter, but not the last.
- Grendel Omnibus Volume 2: Legacy
Collects Grendel: Devil Tales, Grendel: Devil Child, Grendel: Devil’s Legacy, and Grendel: The Devil Inside.
Moving through The Incubation Years to the 26th century, the story introduces the wealthy Orion Assante who finds his way into this corrupted religious future, and leads us to the Grendel-Khan!
- Grendel Omnibus Volume 3: Orion’s Reign
Collects Grendel: Incubation Years, Grendel: God and the Devil, and Grendel: Devil’s Reign.
Grendel: Prime
Still moving into the future, a Cyborg Grendel previously known as the paladin becomes Grendel-Prime.
- Grendel Omnibus Volume 4: Prime
Collects War Child, Devil Quest, and Past Prime - Batman/Grendel – Devil’s Bones/Devil’s Dance
The Grendel Tales are stories from multiple creative teams, exploring the rich mythology of the Grendel Universe.
- Grendel Omnibus Volume 5: Grendel Tales Vol. 1
Collects Devil Worship the first Grendel Tales short story from Grendel #40, Four Devils, One Hell #1-6, Devil’s Hammer #1-3, The Devil in Our Midst #1-5, and Devils and Deaths #1-2. - Grendel Omnibus Volume 6: Grendel Tales Vol. 2
Collects Homecoming #1-3, Devil’s Choice #1-4, The Devil May Care #1-6, and The Devil’s Apprentice #1-3.
Grendel Prime comes back, continuing his adventures as he searches for a planet to be a new home for humanity.
- Grendel: Devil’s Odyssey
Collects Grendel: Devil’s Odyssey #1-8. - Grendel: Devil’s Crucible