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Latest Updates
- May 18, 2008 - I have finally found some time and have done a massive update on the site. In the near future I really hope to have all the pictures redone, and am in the process of tweaking the text as well. By the time I'm done I hope this catalog will be as complete as possible. I truly thank you for your patience.
- 25th Anniversary of Grendel - 2007
Dark Horse announces several new Grendel projects for 2007. Among those products are:- Hardcover reprint of the original Comico Primer #2 and the B&W 1-3
- Grendel: The Art of Matt Wagner Hard Cover
- Grendel: Behold the Devil - A BRAND NEW 8 issue mini-series featuring Hunter Rose, and to a lesser extent Christine Spar. Concludes July 2008.
Matt describes the anniversary thusly: "Oh, you can bet there are many more projects in the works. We're still finalizing the publishing list that will spotlight Grendel's 25th year but the grand finale, published towards the end of that cycle, will be an all-new original graphic novel written and drawn by me. I'm looking in the neighborhood of 200 page or so and it will feature a never-before-seen Hunter Rose adventure. I figure these two projects will make the end-caps to commemorate this historic event and I think my readers will certainly agree."
- June 21, 2007 - I added information on four new items in the catalog: The Archives HC, The Art of Grendel HC, the vintage style statue and the zero issue of "Behold the Devil."
- February 26, 2007 - NEW information on the 8 issue Grendel Chronicles: Behold The Devil coming out of NYCC 2007 - Check this out from Comic Book Resources
- February 25, 2007 - "NYCC, DAY 3: WAGNER TALKS "GRENDEL: BEHOLD THE DEVIL"
by Zack Smith, Contributing Writer
Posted: February 25, 2007
The Devil is back.
This fall, as part of the 25th anniversary of Matt Wagner’s Grendel, Dark Horse will release a new eight-issue miniseries entitled "Behold the Devil" that will chronicle a mysterious incident from the life of Hunter Rose.For those unfamiliar with the character, Rose whose tale was told in the recently re-released "Devil by the Deed," was a young prodigy who led a double life as the masked criminal mastermind Grendel. Though Rose died in that tale, flashback stories have helped flesh out the incidents from his infamous career, including a memorable duel with Batman.
In recent years, Wagner has limited his tales of Rose to short stories illustrated by other artists in the "Black, White and Red" and "Red, White and Black miniseries." He’ll employ that format himself for Behold the Devil, his first extended story with Rose in more than a decade.
Wagner promised that "Behold the Devil" would appeal to “the new reader and the seasoned reader as well.” “Part of the whole point was to kind of reintroduce people to Grendel, and try to incorporate its many different faces, while still making it a Hunter Rose story,” Wagner told CBR News. “Hopefully, people will find it intriguing enough that they’ll want to go pick up more.”
The impetus for "Behold the Devil" came from Wagner’s longtime editor/sister-in-law Diana Schutz. “When Diana and I first sat down to talk about what we wanted to see happen project-wise for the 25th anniversary, she said, ‘Look, it’s the 25th anniversary. You’ve got to draw a Grendel story and not just write one.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right,’” Wagner recalled. “Then she said, ‘And if you’re drawing it, it’s got to be a Hunter Rose story.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ And she said, ‘And if it’s a Hunter Rose story, it’s got to be something important, and not just a Hunter Rose caper.’
Meeting Schutz’s challenge wasn’t easy. “I was like, ‘Ah, shit! I already told all his important stuff!’” Wagner laughed. “I thought about it for a while, and then eventually something came to me and I thought, ‘There’s a hole in the story, there’s something I can do.’” That something involved looking back at the original Hunter Rose story, "Devil by the Deed." “The nugget of the story, for readers that are familiar with Grendel, is that Grendel is a multigenerational character, a character that moves from personality to personality, has many different characters that are Grendel over the course of this narrative,” Wagner explained. “The second Grendel is Christine Spar, a journalist in the near-distant future, who is Hunter Rose’s step-granddaughter, and she has access to Hunter Rose’s private logs and journals that he had sequestered away over the course of his life, and it’s these that she later uses to write a famous book about Grendel called ‘Devil by the Deed.’
“We find out in this series that there’s a section missing – there’s a section that was obviously deliberately excised from [Hunter’s] journals, where she can see the ripped-out pages, but [Christine] has no idea why and no idea what happened during that time period. And this is that story.”
Wagner offered one other hint about what to expect from "Behold the Devil." “Without spoiling too much, Hunter Rose is a very arrogant character,” Wagner said. “So what could make him want to disregard part of his history, a history that he’s obviously very excessively proud of, indeed, something of an egotist?”
Wagner said that he hopes "Behold the Devil," which he is about “half-done” penciling, will come out sometime around September or October. He said the series will be proceeded by a “zero issue” available at Comic-Con International in San Diego, which will feature a six-page introduction to the series, along with a few other “Grendel Goodies.” There will also be an "Art of Grendel" hardcover available from Dark Horse later this year, featuring work on the character from both Wagner and other artists who've contributed to the character over the years.
And Wagner already has plans to write another Grendel series for another artist in 2008. “We’re not going to let the Grendel line die after the anniversary,” Wagner promised. It looks like it’s a good time to be a friend of the Devil. "
- Summer 2006 - I have spoken with Bob, the co-owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Westwood and also the owner of Graphitti Designs, and the fine manufacturer of MOST of the Grendel merchandise of the last decade. Bob said that he would LOVE to do a Grendel Prime, Eppy Thatcher and Grendel Khan figures, but that the timing would have to be right, but he didn't say that Graphitti would never make them! WOOOO HOOO! He is a BIG fan of Grendel, and when the time is right, you can expect more merchandise from the fine folks over there. Also, the aforementioned Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Westwood (my new regular Comic Book Store - Hi Jeff and John) has quite a bit of Grendel Merchandise for sale, including the statues and other items, so spend all your dough at J&SBSS.
- December 30, 2005 - From Comic Book Resources recent chat with MW:
Paploo the Ewok: Have you ever thought about Grendel Animation?
Paploo the Ewok: I feel it's be the best format for adapation.
Brian Cronin: Fine last question, Pap
Joe Rice: Damn, are we competing for "questions Cronin likes best"? Shit.
MattWagner: Yeah, that is a good question...
MattWagner: Cause it let's me announce that we've just finalized a Grendel movie deal with Warner Brothers.
Joe Rice: Congrats!
MattWagner: I've been down this road before, but feel pretty good about it this time...
Lex: Very cool. Live action or animated movie?
Paploo the Ewok: Oooh! Shiny! Which version of Grendel?
MattWagner: Christine.
Brian Cronin: That makes sense. It is more unique in the movie landscape.
MattWagner: Not only is she the most sympathetic version but, since Hunter's presence runs so strongly throughout her tale, we get to introduce Grendel as both a character and a concept all in the same film.
Brian Cronin: True.
MattWagner: And, hey, vengeance driven action chick in a black leather outfit and mask...what's not to love, right?
Jamal: Do you ever plan to revisit Grendel Prime or any of that time period and will you ever let other creaters do Grendel Tales type stories?
MattWagner: Look for a lot more Grendel stuff in 2007...the big G's 25th Anniversary!!!
MattWagner: Including an "Art of.." book like the Sin City and Usagi ones...
Brian Cronin: Does it creep you out at all that Grendel has a 25th anniversary coming up? :)
MattWagner: The 25th...well, it's certainly sobering. - January 6, 2003 - According to Comics2film.com, the Grendel Property has been optioned by John Wells Productions, which is affiliated with Warner Brothers. Don't get all excited though, the property has been optioned before, and nothing came of it, and what with all the comic properties being optioned in the wake of Spider-Man, I wouldn't get my hopes up that it will actually yield a feature film. In any case, you can check out the article Here. According to the story, the proposed film will focus on Christine Spar. Yeah, that's what I want the first Grendel film to focus on. Typical Hollywood.
- October 22, 2003 - Um...you might notice that there's no more pictures on the site, well, that's because I'm stupid. I accidentally deleted the folder containing ALL the pictures for this page. I'll probably have to use an internet archive to retrieve them, which will take awhile. Stupid, stupid me.
- May 10, 2003 - MAJOR UPDATE FINALLY! I've broken up the main page into two sections: the main page Comics, Trades, GN's and Magazines and all other merchandise . This gateway page will still remain here for news and stuff. I also added some story synopses for the first couple of arcs, and I'll work on the others when I get a chance. I'm still toying with the idea of breaking the pages up even further by character, but that's a gargantuan effort that I'm not really willing to undertake.
- May 2003 - OK, this gateway page is now the designated area for me to post NEWS items and keep updated. The rest of the Catalog is now here. I will endeavor to break up the catalog into smaller chunks, each reflecting a particular Grendel (i.e. there'll be one for Hunter Rose, one for Christine Spar, one for Brian Li Sung (though I really don't want to), and so forth, up to and including all the Grendel Tales. This will be a massive endeavor, so bear with me. So far in three years all I've managed to do is put together a neat catalog of all the Grendel related items and their values. Now maybe I'll through some helpful text at you. Then again, maybe I won't.
There have been 
people who've wasted their time here since September 2000.