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GRENDEL: RED, WHITE & BLACK #2
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Dark Horse Comics/Maverick imprint
"Devil Dreams"
Artist: Kelley Jones
Letters: Jason Hvam
"Chase The Devil"
Artist: Mike Hawthorne
Letters: Sean Konot
"Devil's Karma"
Artist: Andi Watson
Letters: Jason Hvam
"Roulette Du Diable"
Artist: Dan Brereton
Letters: Cary Grazzini
"Devil Crossed"
Pencils: Phil Hester
Inks: Ande Parks
Letters: Sean Konot
Writer: Matt Wagner
Editor: Diana Schutz
Price: $4.99 US/$7.99 CAN |
I've read most of the Grendel material available, but I still consider myself more or less a casual Grendel fan. The concept is strong, and the talent almost always impressive as well, but the nature of the protagonist seems to keep the reader at arm's length, and Wagner's storytelling style is not always the most inviting, leaving the reader to try and interpret what is going on rather than actually explaining it on the page. While this makes for some deep and psychologically affecting stories, it also means that I'm not always sure what I just read. That's true of many of the stories in this book, and it can be a little frustrating. What's also true, though, and what really draws my attention, is that the artwork is across the board gorgeous.
It does seem like maybe a quick "Grendel primer" might not be a bad idea for this book. For those who don't know Grendel, Argent, Stacy, and the other important cast members of this era of Grendel, these stories aren't going to make a whole lot of sense. A basic rundown (Grendel's a crimelord, Stacy's his adopted daughter of sorts, Argent is hunting him on behalf of police) would clear things up immeasurably. But the thinking may be that anyone reading this book is already a hardcore Grendel fan who knows the story anyway.
Easily my favorite story in the issue is "Chase the Devil" with art by Mike Hawthorne. Hawthorne's work, although uniquely his own style, reminds me of Mike Oeming in one respect, and that's how fiting the seemingly cartoony "animated" style is for such a dark and gritty street story. Although Grendel is a stylish and smart criminal, Wagner has never shied from showing that he is a villain, and this story's sympathetic portrayal of a pair of doomed police officers shows Grendel at his most frightening. Hawthorne does a great job with the fluid and ever-changing nature of the chase, as well.
The artwork throughout is fantastic. Whether it's Kelley Jones's unusually restrained take on Argent in "Devil Dreams," Andi Watson's almost poetic style on "Devil's Karma," Dan Brereton's painted and reflective look at Stacy Palumbo or Hester's angular take on Argent, Grendel and the rest in "Devil Crossed," the book is gorgeous to look at. I did wish for a more even application of color; the red used in Hawthorne's work is sometimes a little garish, and there's little to no red in the stories by Jones and Hester, but when the color works (as it does, beautifully, in Brereton's work) it looks fantastic.
All of these stories keep the reader on the outside to some extent. We're never really let into the characters' heads, instead being forced to guess at what's going on through the emotions in the artwork, and I found Wagner's haiku-style writing on Watson's piece to be more frustrating than enlightening. There's such a range of stories to be explored in the epic struggle between Hunter Rose and Argent, and it seems that this short story format is often used for relatively inconsequential stories in between the unexplored major story beats.
This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
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