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Title: Grendel: Black, White, and Red by Matt Wagner, John Paul Leon, Tim Sale ISBN: 1-56971-493-2 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great, but Who Cares?
Comment: This is a collection of short stories about Hunter Rose, the first character in Matt Wagner's Grendel mythos to have been possessed by the dark force known as Grendel. Each of the short stories are beautifully illustrated in diverse styles by such talented artists as Teddy Kristiansen, Tim Bradstreet, Mike Allred, Matt Wager, etc. in a wonderfully clever black, white and red colour scheme. The black and white helps bring out the noir mood of the stories (and is well suited Grendel's black and white costume), while the red highlights such items as the blood and roses closely associated with Hunter Rose and Grendel. This technique is not fully innovative (see Miller's Sin City series and some arthouse movies), but is well done here. The stories are all by Matt Wagner and are, of course, well written. Unfortunately, some aspects of the stories rob them of their full power.
First of all, if you are nonfan and not familiar with Grendel/Hunter Rose, those stories whose purpose is mainly to flesh out his history are not very meaningful. You get a glimpse at his story, but that's it. Secondly, if you are a fan familiar with the characters, the fact that they were only around for a extremely brief, although brilliant run and are now a long dead and forgotten part of the mythos in more recent stories also renders the increased background of Hunter Rose less meaningful (and no new insight into the Grendel entity itself is offered). It is not unlike the black character in Kubrick's version of the Shining: sure, he was interesting in the beginning, but there was no point bringing him back into the story just to get killed by an axe. Mayber Wagner will prove me wrong when he finally takes back control of the series.
Fortunately, I believe it is still possible for readers, even casual ones, to get caught up in the short stories whose focus are more upon nonrecurring characters (thus we get their complete story). However, while those stories are effective examples of noir literature, they are all too brief for the reader to get as tied up with the characters as one would wish and the supernatural/superhero aspects of these stories also take away from their effectiveness.
Matt Wagner covered noir territory far more effectively in his Sandman Mystery Theatre series. Still, this collection is a rather handsome volume.
Rating: 4
Summary: My Second Grendel Book
Comment: This was the second of Wagner's works on Grendel that I picked up, the first being Devil By the Deed. Out of the two I'd have to say I preferred "Devil By the Deed". While "Devil By the Deed" is a completely self-contained story, "Black, White, and Red" is a series of short stories that build on and add greater depth to many of the characters in the former.
While I don't really think you'd need to read "Devil By the Deed" first, I think it would really give you the big-picture of the relationship between the characters and the context in which each of the short stories take place in. You should be able to find "Devil by the Deed" for around ..., so it couldn't hurt to pick it up at least in addition to "Black, White, and Red".
The first story in the TPB is "Devil's Advocate". I liked it so much I was really excited about the rest of the stories. Only later did I find out that it had in fact won an Eisner Award in 1999 for Best Short Story. While the rest of the stories are good, they pale in comparison to "Devil's Advocate". If nothing else you should pick up "Black, White, and Red" #1 just so you can read the first story in the TPB. Depending on how much you like the other material, you can pick up the entire series.
Rating: 5
Summary: A series of Wagner's short, stark, unforgettable stories
Comment: Matt Wagner's Grendel is a character created to explore and examine the nature of aggression and its impact on the individual and on the community. The first to wear the infamous Grendel mask and wield the peculiar two bladed spear was the ruthless, self-directed master criminal Hunter Rose. In Grendel: Black, White, & Red, we are treated to a series of Wagner's short, stark, unforgettable stories, each one illustrated by a different artist and all showcasing the dark world of crime, revenge, the human psyche, and a primal justice that bears no relationship to courtroom law. This is a "must" for graphic novel genre enthusiasts in general, and Matt Wagner fans in particular!
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Title: Grendel Cycle by Matt Wagner, Dark Horse Comics ISBN: 1569711380 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Grendel: Devil's Legacy by Matt Wagner ISBN: 1569716625 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Pub. Date: 07 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Daredevil Legends: Born Again by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli ISBN: 0871352974 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: April, 1990 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Grendel: Past Prime by Greg Rucka, Matt Wagner ISBN: 1569713987 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Pub. Date: 05 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Daredevil: Yellow by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale ISBN: 0785109692 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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