270 GRENDEL
a Kabuki vampire who has stolen her son. Brian Le Sung, stage manager for the kabuki
troupe, who believed himself possessed by the sprit of Grendel, succeeds her.
At this point, Grendel takes many catalytic turns, from thematic, creative, and
business perspectives. After publication by Comico from its inception, the title
moved to Dark Horse following Comico’s bankruptcy. During the Dark Horse
run, Wagner off ered writing innovations, occasionally returning to the artwork as
well. However, other artists served during much of this run, notably the Pander
Brothers on the Christine Spar storyline.
Th e most important evolution in the series has involved the perception of the
central character. Rather than an inherited mantle, like Th e Phantom, Grendel
became a consciousness, a force of aggression and malevolence, akin to the contem-
porary mainstream Christian perception of the Devil. Th is was a catalytic point in
the narrative.
Captain Wiggins, who ends Li Sung’s Grendel role by shooting him, writes several
Grendel novels, garnering commercial success in his retirement from the police force.
However, as Wiggins’s cybernetic eye gradually fails, he sees people’s emotional states
manifested in their appearances. Written and illustrated by Wagner, this series of
stand-alone Grendel stories incorporates visual elements of German expressionist fi lm.
Rather than becoming a new Grendel, Wiggins tells stories of a past Grendel, Hunter
Rose. Th is alludes to the evolving nature of the Grendel persona.
Grendel resumes in a corrupt post-Apocalyptic theocracy in the 26th century. In
God and the Devil , a demented factory worker dresses as Grendel, is deluded by the in-
fl uences of a designer drug (also called Grendel) to believe that God hates him. A thorn
in the side of Pope Innocent XLII, the new Grendel is confronted by a Vatican police
force led by Church lackey Orion Assante. Pope Innocent is revealed as the vampire
Tujiro, Christine Spar’s original nemesis. Th is brings the story full circle, reinforcing the
concept of Grendel as an eternal force. Th e art in this and subsequent storylines echoes
the aggression of the narrative, whether by Wagner or others. Notable artists on the
title from this point include Bernie Mireault , Tim Sale, and John K. Snyder III.
Subsequent storylines manipulate the Grendel concept further. Grendel becomes
a Paladin, Grendel Prime (who was in turn a cyborg), educating a royal heir in exile,
who is in training to assume the mantle of the Grendel-Khan. Numerous Grendels,
pretenders to the mantle, are encountered during the pair’s travels and lessons. Th ese
and subsequent storylines off er bloody post-Apocalyptic battles, tinged with battle,
survival, and metaphors despairing the human condition.
Replete with political intrigue and convoluted plot twists, the storyline of Gren-
del: War Child culminates in the apprentice, Jupiter Assante, assuming the mantle
of Grendel-Khan. After discovering a piece of the Sun Disc, a powerful weapon and
communications device, inside him, Grendel Prime rides into obscurity, leaving the
newly installed Grendel-Khan controlling the remains of the world.
Wagner wrote and drew two Grendel/ Batman crossover stories, each in two parts.
Th e fi rst narrative, Devil’s Riddle/Devil’s Masque , involves a direct confl ict between the
