Grendel - Behold the Devil #2

Tonight's review is the next issue of Matt Wagner's latest black, white and red Hunter Rose mini-series Grendel - Behold the Devil.  It also happens to be my son's second birthday, so I will indulge in a breif post script about my life outside of the long box.

This issue opens with our titular character poised on a sky-light eaves dropping on two mob bosses; they are discussing the demise of their colleague from the previous issue.  All of a sudden, Grendel's hand squeaks on the glass and the men are tipped off to his presence.  Needless to say, Grendel makes short work of them in his signature surgical manner.  On the other side of things, Lucas (our reporter friend) and Liz (our cop friend) talk about how neither one of them has any idea who Grendel could be.

Hunter and Larry - Grendel's willing right hand man - talk about the power vacuum problem that has recently come about at Grendel's blade.  They agree to let it fill itself and Grendel calls a meeting on the leaders of his underworld.  We learn that later than night a large shipment of heroine is being brought into New York under the protection of the Koreans.  Many wonder whether they can be trusted, so Grendel says he'll see to it personally.  Lucas also finds out about the shipment and makes his way to the docks too.

At the close of the issue, we see Grendel sitting on a rooftop, feeling like he's being watched.  Little does he know, there is a wolf lurking over his shoulder.

This issue lacks the action of the previous one, but it is building with Argent (the wolf) coming to the table.  When Grendel or Argent are around the body count is high, but with both of them on the scene it goes off the charts.  The art is great - the action isn't present like the last issue, but Wagner handles the dramatic scenes well too.  He's a wonderful story teller and the tension that's building is sure to break in the next issue.

On a side note - today was a great day.  It was my son Finn's second birthday.  I got home from work at 4:30 and asked Finn what he wanted for dinner.  He practically screamed "Pizza", so I drove to Domino's to fetch dinner.  After the feast (he was covered in sauce) we sat on the floor and played with his new wooden train set.  All of a sudden he stood up, ran to the DVD rack and pointed to the Spectacular Spider-man DVD.  We sat and watched the Doctor Octopus episode and he asked for Batman instead.  We watched the Joker Fish episode and the Harley and Ivy one.  Then it was off to bed.  I am so proud of that young man - he's so cool.

So, until tomorrow - happy reading!