The changing protagonists is such a cool idea to me. Probably because I'm a huge fan of JoJo's. But I really like how it's done here, the title of Grendel being some sort of curse, it's awesome.

I think that the idea that Prime is a hero is something that Wagner plays with. He seems heroic, but he's ruthless, pragmatic, and almost comically violent in service of his singular mission, which shifts over a few stories. So much to unpack in those books. Very much a product of their times. Some of the takes and plot details may seem eye brow raising now, but Wagner fits in a lot of contemporary political and social themes in a kind of speculative way. It's the most awkward thing about the book in places, but it adds a lot of detail to the world. I could go on and on about the series. I read these as a kid, and I've thought about them way too much. Not much writing about them.

The simple, almost soft and bright eyed art style of the first comics reminds me of Osamu Tezuka's works more than anything. Astroboy and Kima and the like. i think its the eyes and faces.

This is a character that really deserves an adaptation, preferably animated since Animation tends to be more faithful to the original source material than live action.

Given development-latitude, I'd argue Wagner's Grendel has the greatest potential for an extended universe built into its premise.

This episode was the on such a different level of what is usually done, I love every second of deep dived lore and analysis with the tone being perfectly low and dark and yet again you’ve made me want to check out another comic series.

I've never clicked play so quickly. IMHO Grendel is the greatest creation I've read in comics.

One quote regarding always sticks in my mind “I am patient, I am directed, I am Grendel.” It gave me chills as a kid when you realise these characters are being manipulated by an external force.

I wonder how much influence Grendel had on Symbiote Spiderman/Venom's look and characterization (black suit with wide white eyes, anti-hero status, shifting protagonist/host). Or, for that matter, how much it influenced The Mask. Anyway, Wagner had a very cool, unique art style with clear Showa Manga influences. This is an interesting find, Chris! Also, your atmospheric soundtrack to this video really added a lot!

Grendel was seriously ahead of its time, even if its timely aspects sometimes make it a bit ridiculous. The shifting narratives, themes, and concepts made for such a weird, wonderful story. Thank you for reminding me of this gem

I always understood the Beowulf poem to be about the cycles of revenge. Very similar to what Grendel became

My favorite has always been Devils and Deaths by Darko Macan and Edvin Biuković (1994) from the sort of spin-off or one-off series of Grendel Tales. Amazing artwork, great writing.

Grendel has always been a source of direction and guidance for me as a young man growing up. Hunter Rose is my favorite version but all are good. Long Live Grendel.

Vivat Grendel!!

A great episode, but one I wish was LONGER. I was hoping for more analysis on some of the post War Child stories that included Wagner's stunning painted work. Also, I particularly love how he managed the two different Batman crossovers, since the original was apparently created years before it was published, but buried due to the legal issues, and features Batman against Hunter Rose. The second series is against Grendel Prime and is an amazing showcase of how not only how comic style has changed, but is a very different perspective. They act as almost bookends on the character and Wagner's creative approaches that I find fascinating.

Batman vs Grendel was my first exposure to Wagner and Grendel. I got obsessed right away and had to read everything Grendel oriented. In a weird sort of twist, it got me obsessed with the poem Beowulf as well.

Grendel seems like a series that could really benefit from a recent adaption because of it's scope. Maybe not like, a trilogy or anything crazy, but reintroducing audiences to this unique world, characters, and Corrupting Influence known as Grendel could make some excellent narratives.

I always loved how the series became more and more of a science fiction epic but never abandoned or ignored the weird occult/horror themes of its early days, like Argent and the vampires. I don't think it ever bothered to justify them either, it just trusted that comic book readers can deal with world that includes lots of strange things.

I always really liked the Grendel concept and design, but at first only knew him through the Batman crossovers. As a teenager however, I picked up a really great Grendel Prime novel by Greg Rucka which gave me an appreciation for the overall narrative.

Matt Wagner is one of the greats! Grendel is such an inspiration, both as an example of fantastic indie work, and as a long running story that maintains its quality and relevance over its run. Also, I love Matt Wagner's Batman, too. Hell, Wagner's my hero, not gonna lie.

This series helped me understand the cycle of abuse and what it takes to break it

Thanks for giving Grendel some love, Chris! The original B&W Comico Hunter Rose stories are still my very favorites. I can't wait for the Netflix series to come out sometime in 2023 I believe. Matt Wagner's writing and art have been the biggest influence on my own style. I have been infatuated by this story since I was a child.

This is the best comic book channel.

I wandered into a comic book store around 1985 (36 fuckin' years ago) and picked up #2 of Mage. I was immediately hooked and went to the back issue bins, picking up Mage #1 and the entire original three-issue Grendal series. I adore almost all of Matt's work and kept up with the Mage series and the first couple of runs of Grendal. Bernie Mireault's Grendal was the last one that I read for a while, hampered by the fact that I missed issues and couldn't find them in the local comic book shops. So I drifted away from Grendal for years. The next Grendal book I picked up was the Hunter Rose/Batman crossover. which I really, really liked. So when a slender comic called Grendel: Behold The Devil came out, I picked it up and was amazed to find the starting (or maybe ending) of the entire Grendal saga, with a partial explanation of exactly what the true Grendal was. No spoilers, but I can say that it felt perfect, explaining some things but allowing the various Grendals to retain their own autonomy (and responsibility for their own crimes as well). Your note about Cain and the 'original Grendal' in Beowulf is prescient, I believe, because Cain's story is about the first true act of violence, the first murder. This is probably the untold origin of the matter discussed in Behold the Devil. Most importantly, the greater story of Grendel is one of the powerful and seductive nature of violence. All of these individuals lost control, or power in some way, and then used violence to re-attain their own autonomy and power over others. The examination of this, the violence all around us - sometimes visible, sometimes not - is the key to understanding this complex and multi-layered epic. Because it is an epic - the epic of violence.

I was in a convenience store looking at all the comics on the spinner rack (that should date this), when I saw this amazing neon bright comic with a cover that stood out in quality over all the other titles. The art inside, and the paper it was printed on were outstanding. I grabbed it up. That was Grendel #1. Through Comico's house ads inside, I learned about the Devil by the Deed Graphic Novel (very different in style back then), and eventually tracked a copy down. I still have it to this day. I love Grendel, and Matt Wagner, and thank you for this great video.

I bought Primer #2 when it came out. I must have been 16. I think Grendel have to be taken, within Wagner's corpus as a whole, to truly understand the nature... of the beast. Grendel and Mage, are the 2 sides of the heroic. The old good/evil trope.

9:23 _"We can probably assume that Christine Spar is narrating this story as accurately as possible... she's a journalist."_ lmao

Nice.........Grendel has been my favorite long running series for at least the past decade.

I gotta say it does this old comic book readers heart good to know that so many people love and appreciate Grendel. I have loved this character for decades ever since I first came across Grendel War child. It introduced me to this amazing aggression driven character. From there I went back and discovered Hunter Rose, then Christine Spar. My love of Grendel has driven me to make 1/6 figures of action figures of Grendel Prime and Hunter Rose. I dream of meeting Matt Wagner someday and having him sign both of them. Vivat Grendel.

So happy that you showcased this! I’ve been a fan since late -86. (Around issue 8 of the ongoing comic.) It did so many cool things. First, instead of an endless continuation, like all comics at the time, it was an anthology, a serie of mini-series. Sandman is the second big name that used this format, and it started in -89. Frickin three years later! And as you showed, each one has a different tone, style and genre. My impression is that Matt Wagner used it as a vehicle for experimentation and training as a writer. Wagner makes me think of Frank Miller who is also both artist and writer, but their skillsets are reversed. Miller has always been a competent writer, as shown in Martha Washington and Batman year 1, but I’d argue that he’s never been groundbreaking. Never astonishing. I think that he would have made a fine living as just a script writer, and nerds like you would talk about his different works. But as an artist he is amazing and has done groundbreaking work, and it has made him a comics superstar, if a problematic and weird one. Wagner is really good as an artist. The art deco of Devil by the Deed is lovely. His action (in his later work that is) is striking, clear and full of energy. I’m sure he could have made a fine living illustrating other peoples’ stories. But as a writer he’s not just really good, he is amazeballs. The three issue story about Brian Li Sung made me cry and gave me nightmares. Yay. Finally, a thought on the Grendel entity itself. The comic goes back and forth a bit on what it actually is. But in my head canon it is a meme. Everyone who gets infected at first has had access to Hunters writing, both his published works and his private logs. At this point, it’s like ”The Emperor in Yellow”, it’s a literary brown note, it’s a body of text that will harm and brainwash you. And then it goes public as a growing cultural phenomenon, with increasingly detrimental effects on the world at large. Makes me think of the anime Paranoia Agent, but more insidious. Finally, Wagner seems to have changed his mind on the original Hunter Rose. Early versions are very heroic and sympathetic for a villain protagonist. But later stories focus a lot more on Hunters cold manipulativeness and casual sadism. Everyone should read Grendel. Again, thank you for talking about it!

Grendel is probably my favorite series of all time and you did a terrific job of summarizing, both, the major story beats of the series and the themes that Wagner explored in it. The only thing I would add is a recommendation for the Grendel Tales mini-series "Devils and Deaths," by Darko Macan and the late Edvin Biukovic. While not written or drawn by Wagner, it explores many of the same themes as the main series, but from a powerful, personal perspective (at the time, Macan and Biukovic were young men who had just lived through the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia). Thanks so much for the excellent Grendel video and I will look forward to when you get around to Wagner's Mage. :)

I got introduced to grendel by a batman/grendel comic, that was on sale. I really liked it. Later a saw one of the grendel tales and I enjoyed it too. I did not know that the series had so many more stories.

Grendel feels like an entity to me. Like an eldritch god or a cosmic horror kind of thing but more subtle and on a very small scale. Every person who takes the name and wears the mask, the symbol, becomes consumed into a violent warrior. Hunter Rose was just a rich boy who was good at fencing, Christine was a loving mother, Brian was just caught up in the tragedy, Eppy was an insane drug addict. All of them became assassins just by assuming the identity. Grendel Prime feels like the natural evolution and true form of what Grendel (the "entity") wanted to be. A powerful killing machine. Maybe I'm reading it all wrong because each of these people are drastically different from each other. But they almost... blend together into the same being when they wear that mask.

Grendel is my favorite comic series of all time. The comics had a strong influence on me as an adolescent discovering all forms of storytelling and art. Thank you Chris for making this wonderful video.

Up until today, I have never heard of this comic series before and now needless to say,……I love it.

I had all the original prints of Grendel going all the way back to Primer. I started back tracking issues around the time War Child was on its fourth issue. It took me all up until the tenth issue of War Child. We're talking a lot of money for a kid who was only 15 or 16 and made only a few bucks a week mowing lawns and cleaning houses on weekends. Sadly, I lost them all about ten years ago for reasons I'm not going to explain. But for the time I had them and was still adding on to them with new issues as they came out, they were my pride and joy. Nowadays, I can't make that kind of a commitment to a comic series thanks to work and taking care of family. But I can say it was always exciting to find back issues I didn't have at a comic con and strike them off the list once I had them in hand. Note: I still know all the stories word for word by heart.

Christine Spar was my first Grendel. An older lass who I idolized lent me the first comic back in ''86 and I devoured each issue as it came out.

I saw this video when it first came out and I still come back to it every couple months, one of my favorite videos

Grendel Vs Batman is one of my favorite Batman stories. Wagner is a great creator and the ability for the title to pivot to different genres while still staying loyal to the theme is proof of just how brilliant this creation is.

Grendel is a favorite of mine since the 1980’s. Matt Wagner wasn’t getting much attention at his table at a Con but he was very happy that I brought Art of Grendel for him to sign. He even drew a free sketch of Hunter Rose in there for me. Very cool! I’ve read them all but vs. Shadow and Odyssey which I will now get. Grendel, to me, is the spirit of violence or aggression which, tied to the Cain idea, makes a helluva lot of sense.

Grendel lead me down a thinking path of free will, situational awareness, & personal/ moral code. We are all Grendel.

I love Matt Wagner's art. I used to collect his book "Mage" back in the good old days. There were some issues that had Grendel stories if my memory serves me correctly.

I came across Grendel by accident when Mage came out and instantly fell in love with it to the extent that it is one of the few sets of comics I still have from back then and still read occasionally. The look of the original Devil by the Deed was unlike anything else in comics at the time, so it was very disappointing that it didn't continue in the same style afterwards. The art deco style and colouring were gorgeous (the later recolouring takes the whole thing several steps down) and inspired a lot of my design work at the time. I assume that the amount of work required to produce it is why the later stories were handed out to other artists. A shame.

When I got into Grendel a few years ago, it seriously ruined other comics for me for a good while. Its such a fu**ing masterpiece. Wagner makes such good use of the format of comics to deliver what is arguably the best indie series from the 80s. Vivat Grendel!!!

I will never forget when my best friend got me to read his Grendel collection from the beginning, and all he had to tell me was it was all just set-up and world building for what he called 'The Pope Issues'. I didn't understand at first but definitely did after. It became one of my favorite indie comics along with Fish Police.

Can we all just sit here and appreciate how beautifully the production values of this show, let alone the intros themselves have developed over the years and seemingly the passion behind every video seemingly never lessens thanks for this one btw... its one of those series I wish I could start reading and now I have even more interest in reading it!

The method of multiple protagonists is such a great way to handle American comics in my eyes. With the revolving nature of their plots and arcs, something of this nature could be interesting. You can see people wanted to do it, with people like Peter passing on the mantel to Ben Riley, but we all know how these things ultimately work out.

I came along when Grendel Tales came out. Then, I couldn't collect for a while. When I jumped back in, I bought War Child back issues and some of the tertiary stories around that time period. I was quite happy to watch this. Thanks.

Chris has to follow up the Wagner trail with his take on the Mage trilogy...

War Child featuring Grendel Prime was likely the best story arc of all. I think the first three issues had cover art by Simon Bizley. They were so good I had them up on the wall. Matt Wagner remains one of the greats of course!

Man, every episode of these deep dives on comics are SO good. This is by far my favorite channel focusing on comics.

This is my favorite comic series of all time which I grew up with and I am very glad you covered it as there is no channel I would trust to do a better job giving it an overview.

Before I ever had even an inkling that this existed, I had an idea for a comicbook called Grendel about a character who was conceptually very similar that took the idea of Grendel as a corrupting evil force and personified it as the main character of the story. And then I find out there's already a book called Grendel and now in this video, I learn that it's basically exactly what I imagined and was conceived more than a decade before I was. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.

I would love to see a video like this on Matt Wagner's other important work: Mage! That was one of my all-time favorite comics.

Grendel and the Maxx are two books i discovered this year and I love them so much. I noticed the late 80s and 90s have alot of my favorite stuff.

I hope that in 20 years or so, people will talk of youtube channels in the same way people talk about tv shows, and in that people will talk about comic tropes- love your stuff man

Grendel is certainly one of the gems in comic world. Really enjoyed War Child in particular.

It's interesting to see how the creative process matures and grows; it takes us, sometimes, to some unforeseen destinations. Very cool!

Thanks for this one! I find Grendel underrated or almost forgotten by most current comic fans.

Grendel has been my favorite comic series since I was in high school. Thanks for bringing attention to it!

I've almost finished the 4th Omnibus, and having watched this video, I've got a greater appreciation of the Grendel saga. It's time to look at the crossovers next.

Yes thank you. I've never read Grendel and now I can understand why people love it so much. Please cover more indie creator titles. Would love to see Nexus, The Rocketeer, Madman... and more Hellboy.

Grendel Tales Devil's and Deaths is one of my favourite miniseries of all time

Thanks for the education, this was something I heard about in the late 90's, early 00's but could never find at my local comic shops.

Matt is one of the great geniuses in comics. He expertly conceived and crafted one of the most unique characters and stories conceptualizations ever translated to the comics visual medium.👍 Outstanding body of work so often copied that it seemed to have been lost for it's freshness and bold undertaking.

The complete Grendel epic, including the crossovers, deserves to be collected in some nice hardcovers.

I was introduced to grendel in batman vs grendel. It lead to me reading devil by the deed and grendel tales. Eventually i got omnibus 1 & 2 and able to see the whole story in order. Hunter was an interesting character. He may have been a criminal but he was noble in that he never was involved in drug trafficking, child pornography and prostitution. He did have a code of honor making him noble. When i saw stories through his accounts i realized stacy’s account is accurate based on the sources she has and she never got answers to the missing pages that grendel ripped out and burned. Very key to understanding hunter and the real grendel monster. To see how it infects society is easy when you consider the law often is limited in what it can do. In many ways grendel can do what cops can’t. It took grendel to take down the church and evil vampire. The real reason i feel grendel grew in influence being more effective than cops and restoring order. The heart of grendel is always violence. Hunter more for the thrill and excitement. Christine for vengeance grendel prime for loyalty to his ward and master the grendel khan.

Having been a hardcore Grendel fan for many years (even have the skull from Four Devils #6 as a tattoo) and I have a lot of thoughts on the series' individual statements and how they work as reflections on a primary theme. Would love to see a video presenting some of the Tales, because we really get to see the larger essence fleshed out there, while getting glimpses into varied and far-flung corners of the dystopian world the main series doesn't touch on. Additionally, how the individual creators playing in Wagner's world use their art style (whether visual or literary) to emphasize or enhance each story's underlying conceit. I am very curious to hear how some of their tropes are either carried over or left aside when working on Grendel stories. Of course Devils and Deaths/Choices probably deserves its own video series, the masterpiece that it is, but there are some very unique and interesting stories in the rest of the Tales, too. During the section on BLS you brought up the inclusion of Grendel itself having a voice, but it also has a very chilling presence in Devil's Hammer. Four Devils, One Hell does a great job of using its own literary device to present different perspectives and in-universe takes on the spirit of A Grendel, and yet furthers the story of Hunter's legacy and cross it over to Batman vs Grendel II. I love the world building in Deaths & Devil May Care (it might feel the least like a Grendel story despite the setting, but its still a great one all around), and ultimately Apprentice. Every story feeds into the larger universe and I think you expressed it well - the sum does even exceed the parts. All that being said, there's still something extra special about revisiting Hunter in a one-shot or crossover. Whether it is his style, his swagger, his sheer bad-assery, or his disdain for lesser forms of evil; the character stands alone as almost aspirational anti-hero. I had never heard the Hannibal Lecter quote but it makes a ton of sense. The reflections on power, corruption, morality and drive are too dense even to begin to break down in a KZfaq comment. Finally, since we have to consider Grendel (HR at least) a Batman villain - I contend that forever galvanizes the argument that Batman has the best baddies, sorry Spidey.

Vivat Grendel! I am a big Grendel fan, as well, and must brag a bit: one of my favorite stories is by my fellow Croatian: Darko Macan & Edvin Biuković - "Grendel Tales: Devils & Deaths" - which depicted a civil war between different grendelian eastern Europe gangs - harrowingly echoing the local civil war we endured in the Balkans. Hope you got to enjoy it as well!

Ran into a mini (size A5) comic of Grendel way back during my teens. It looked cool, so I picked it up. Didn't quite yet get it back then, yet recognised immediately this wasn't an average run of the mill comic. Came to appreciate it a lot over time, still have it.

I've been aware of Grendel since the 80s, but never read any because I had no idea where to start. I'm definitely curious now thanks to this video. This story seems huge and epic in scope. On a side note, are you thinking of doing a video for Grimjack? Curious to see your take on it. Thanks!!

I'm new in the Grendel comics and i'm so stunned and amazed. Grendel is more than a comic. Specially I love the Orion Assante part, but ive appreciate all the different sagas. Thank you for the video!!

I started reading Grendel when it was picked up by Dark Horse and loved it. Grendel/Batman is still probably my favorite crossover of all time. The tone, the overall quality and the art stand alone for me.

Whoa. Never thought you get around to Grendel or Matt Wagner. So cool! One of my favorite comics for several decades.

Great video Chris! It was tastefully done and so was the choice of a background track. It's just right in that it adds some fitting atmosphere yet it's not distracting. I find that some of my previously favorite KZfaq channels overdo the soundtrack or pick a wrong one which makes their admittedly interesting videos hard to watch. I prefer silence but if you have to add some sound other than your own voice, some ambient type and fitting sounds are way better than actual music. Some channels use actual music during the talking and my brain gets confused. I actually stopped watching those channels. Here's hoping you continue to make the right choices. Thanks. edit: I also like your diction. You probably are reading from a script, but it's great that you maintain that conversational rhythm and tone. Some other creators sound like they're rattling off their text as if it's a speed reading contest. Your way is so much better. Thanks again.

I absolutely LOVED The Fork from Devils Legacy. I wanted one sooooo bad!

My grandfather owned a color printing company that did contract work for Comico. A few years before he died he gave me his giant box full of Comico comics, including quite a lot of Grendel. I loved the whole concept of the kind of anti-Bruce Wayne type, and the entirely new take on legacy characters. It's sad what happened to Comico, because they were publishing some pretty interesting stuff. You mentioned Matt Wagner's "Mage" which he also started at Comico, and later finished at Image after Comico went defunct. It's also definitely worth checking out.

I’ve collected and read every single Grendel story, as well as Grendel Tales and crossovers, and let me tell you, it is one of my favorite fictional timelines of all time. Such a cool universe Wagner made.

I actually got started back in comics as an adult with back-issue bin hauls that included every Grendel book I could find (also Sin City, Sandman, The Invisibles, Stray Bullets, Hellboy, Cerebus, Preacher): I got most of the Grendel Tales series - the 6-or7-issue series drawn by the late, great Edvin Biukovic & written by Darko Macan, 'Devils & Deaths', remains my favorite - the 'Black, White & Red' books, 'War Child', both 'Grendel/Batman' crossovers, and most of the later Comico issues with Eppy Thatcher & Orion Assante. The Grendel Tales mini-series remain the best of the Grendel-bunch. 'Devil's Hammer' by Rob Walton & 'Homecoming', with painted art by Dave Cooper, are both incredible. So is the story about Grendel biker gangs ('Devil of a Chance'?), terrorizing the townsfolk, with great ligne claire artwork by Pete Doherty (now known more as an excellent colorist). I also highly recommend the Grendel Tales series 'Four Devils, One Hell' ('Five Devils'? 'Six'? It's been a long time since I looked in those long-boxes), primarily for the painted Teddy Kristiansen art.

I came across your channel only a few hours ago. Subbed immediately thanks to your hilarious "Dart and Ace" review. Went back to my regular KZfaq viewing, refreshed the page and what comes up? This! MW's Grendel is my favorite comic series of all time. Grendel is one of the two comic entities that I went out of my way to own everything I could find, the other being Lobo. I swear I'd give my next door neighbor's left (insert body part of your choice) to reclaim my collection that's been lost to multiple relocations, time, mental things, and booze abuse. But now I know what I'll be spending my "disposable extra money" on in the future.. rebuilding my collection of this highly intellectual, soul-expanding art. Minor side note: only slightly disappointed that you didn't mention the EPIC Batman v. Grendel crossover. I know it does nothing for either one's arc, but I know of at least a half dozen ppl who became aware of, and fans of, Grendel thanks only to this tiny little 3 (or was it 4?) issue classic.

This is one I'm going to have to revisit. I read the original run as it came out, and remember being blown away by the story-telling, the universe, and the themes. A kabuki opera vampire still stuns and amazes me.... The eyeballs. Damn. Time to go hunt it up in some boxes....

War Child has some of my favorite covers of any comic books ever

The highlight in the hair makes me think of Cybersix. Something about the blockyness of it

Grendel sounds like it would make a great live action adaptation with several evolving seasons. I wonder if Hollywood ever tried or considered adapting it.

If anyone hasn't already Wagner's "Sandman Mystery Theatre" is a fantastic take on the Goldenage masked detective

Thanks, I'm not a comic person, but I collected a fair number of the Grendel comics. What got me started was the Batman collaboration and the artwork. But as I read more and as I understood it more, I connected with the fact Grendel is an outsider, apart from society, from everyone else. I like how the story reinvents Grendel and doesn't just keep rehashing or adding to the Hunter Rose timeline. But it explores new stories and takes the whole thing to new places.

The summer before I left for college I bought 2 trade paperbacks to read on the trip there, from this tiny little comic shop that wasn't any bigger than a decent sized bedroom: Watchmen and Grendel: Devil's Legacy. They were the first non-traditional-superhero comics I'd read and they both just completely blew me away. Chapter 9 of Devil's Legacy, the 'As to the problem with Dominic Reilly...' silent issue, is still emblazoned practically panel-for-panel in my head.

Long live Grendel Khan. Im such a fan of the series that I even wear a perfume inspired by it. Mastermind by Black Phoenix Alchemy. All Grendels have their own fragrance inspiration

Ahh! I'm so glad to see Grendel covered! Got into the character from Batman vs Grendel and dove more into the lore thanks to the Dark Horse comics and eventually Mage!

Loved the Pander Bros. line. Loved the Pope Innocent line. A big fave finally analyzed. Thanks!

The entire idea of putting on a mask to "embrace evil" really reminds me of the Hotline Miami series

I could never adequately explain Grendel to others, and now thanks to this video I'll never have to. Good job!

The Last Time I was this early, Beowulf was fighting another Grendel in that CGI movie.

One of my favorite series ever. People are chronically sleeping on it. Their loss

I wish there were more stories with Eppy Thatcher because I think he was the coolest looking Grendel. Grendel is one of the few series (along with Mage) that I actually collected. Matt Wagner is definitely one of my favorite creators.

War Child is my favorite. It really gives you a full show of how powerful and varied the cult of Grendel has become. Prime was such a driven force who truly became the living will and fist of the Khan. Yet still gave you all that confidence of the original Grendel.

I watched your video, mainly as I remember the comic and Wagner’s art style. As its been over 25 years since I read the comics I own and I also don’t remember which ones own; I had to go into my attic and hunt out my small collection. I own more Grendel tales than simple Grendel. Probably due to the availability of comics in the UK, back in the 90’s. Comic shops opened and comic book shops closed, with frequent regularity; so it was hard to keep with one storyline especially with a comic book stores closing, just as I started reading a book. I remember loving the artwork and enjoying the stories. even though today I don’t remember the story so your video was a bit of an eye opener. Well that time for you.

Grendel was one of the first independent comics I discovered at the Forbidden Planet comic shop in Greenwich Village in NYC back in 1987. There were so many independent comics that have been forgotten. This episode was great and brought back memories.

I liked your overview of Grendel quite a bit. I remember back in 1989 thinking that Grendel's main story was about three things: Violence, Tragedy, and Interconnection. How each Grendel had to suffer to be either born or reborn accordingly, and the rebirth was always tied to blood either literally or figuratively.

Grendel is one of the crown jewels of my comic book collection. I came across War Child in 92 when I saw the awesome Bisley covers. I was hooked and went on a mission to hunt down all of the Comico issues. The whole series is fantastic. The crazy art styles and dark stories were so dense and engaging. The Grendel Batman crossover is fantastic. I hadn’t thought about Grendel in years. I’m about to put my phone down and dig up my books for a long overdue reread. VIVAT GRENDEL!