The Art of Grendel

Grendel

by Matt Wagner

Over two and a half decades, what began as the story of Hunter Rose, the talented young author who became the city's most feared assassin and criminal overlord, evolved into a prolonged examination of authority, society, and that dark mechanism of nature - violence. Now, take a step inside one of the most daring comic book projects ever created as Matt Wagner guides you through the artwork that changed contemporary comics forever. As beautiful and graceful as it is thrilling and surprising, each piece - many seen for the first time or previously long out of print - brings you deeper into the seductive mystery that is Grendel.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Art, Comix

200 pages, Hardcover

First published December 5, 2007

About the author

Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist. In addition to his creator-owned series' Mage and Grendel, he has also worked on comics featuring The Demon and Batman as well as such titles as Sandman Mystery Theatre and Trinity, a DC Comics limited series featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

Reviews

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't rate Matt Wagner as the best penciller ever but as far as design and storytelling are concerned the guy's good. Very good.

And he's never been as good as on his masterpiece : Grendel.

Grendel being a collaborative book-Wagner quickly focused on scripts, leaving art to others- this one's not exclusive on him. Following every series in order it presents various pieces of art : covers, inked pages, promotional pieces, etc. from the artists involved (Pander Bros, Bernie Mirault, Tim Sale, Teddy Kristiansen, JK Snyder, etc.)

Problem is, if you don't like a particular artist-say, the Pander Bros-tough luck for you.
There are also some magnified panels here and there-the same as in the original books-which don't add much value to anything.

A nice enough book, to be reserved to hardcore Grendel fans only.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic compilation of Grendel as interpreted by the various artists (incuding, but in no way limited to Wagner) celebrating the first 25 years of the characters existence.

The art is also presented in a somewhat chronological order, so you also get a synoptic (though far from complete... but then again that wasn't the purpose of the book) history of the character. I liked that they also added the Batman/Grendel books as part of the character's history and presented some of the artwork.

Non-Grendel fans might be left a little confused as there are so many versions of the character that it can be a little daunting to keep up.
True Grendel fans will be left with the appropriate sense of Wonder, anf if they're like me, will want more stories to be written and drawn so that we may get another one of these big beautiful books in 2032, when we celebrate Grendel's 50th anniversary ;-)

[Gamal Hennessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful art book about one of my favorite characters in the history of comics. What's not to love?

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere as near as exhaustive or unseen as I'd have liked but it's still a nice art book.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, broad overview of Matt Wagner and his GRENDEL character. There's some rare art and commentary here, along with some new art done just for the book. It's a fast read, but pretty essential for fans of the creator or the character.

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

The Art of Grendel celebrates twenty-five years of Grendel with a selection of artwork. There are layouts, splash pages and sketches. The paintings done on Bristol board looks really great with all the texture and paint. I thought there was a certain manga element to the Matt Wagner's style in some of the character portraits and backgrounds.

The book doesn't just feature art from Matt Wagner but other artists as well. We get to see interesting stuff like Ashley Wood's ink splatter style as well as Clint Langley's nitty gritty muscle bulging Grendel.

Right at the end is a guest gallery with artists like Frank Miller, Darwyn Cooke, Paul Pope among others providing their own style of Grendel. Same character, different sensibilities.

There are plenty to reminisce in this nice tribute, but recommended more for Grendel fans.