Grendel: Black, White and Red #1

Written by: Matt Wagner

Art by: See below

This is the first of four issues of Grendel: Black, White and Red, an anthology about the further exploits of the first Grendel, Hunter Rose. The art is done in stunning black white and red, allowing each artist to show off their skills for better or worse. I love anthology books like this. It's a comic full of shorter comics. What a bargain! This particular issue contains five short stories:

Devil's Advocate - Tim Sale

This twisted tale is about Grendel's personal lawyer. Tim Sales art, as always, is awesome and the story of a honorable man being twisted to Grendel's will really shows the character's ruthless nature.

Devil's Mate - D'Israeli

This is a nicely constructed parallel story: on one side we see Hunter teaching young Stacy the subtleties of chess and on the other we see Grendel breaking up a child prostitution ring. I enjoyed the story but I'm not really a fan of D'Isreali's art work so I left feeling a bit unimpressed.

Devil's Toll - John Paul Leon

This is a simple story of give and take between Grendel an a rival mob boss - I like the art, really dark and brooding, especially when Grendel takes the guy's finger. I also enjoy the three wide-screen panels per page and the use of single word captions as opposed to word bubbles. All around good stuff here.

Devil's Tongue - Duncan Ferredo

This story is just plain awesome; it's about a torture session with Grendel. The art is spectacular and the story is chilling. It shows just what a heartless bastard Grendel can be. A must read for any fan.

Devil's Thrush - Ho Che Anderson

This is definitely the weakest story in this issue. I HATE the art work; it is far too sketchy. The story is hard to follow and just plain mediocre. I would pass on it.

All in all, this was a worth while read.

That sums up the first issue of tales of the first incarnation of Grendel, Hunter Rose. For more of his exploits, keep reading. Copies of this issue can be purchased here.