Grendel: Past Prime

Grendel #13

by Greg Rucka, Matt Wagner (Illustrations)

In a broken and ravaged future whose denizens are intent only on survival, the name of Grendel evokes both horror and awe. A one-time military elite, the ranks of Grendel warriors have now disintegrated into leaderless anarchy. But a savior exists, and one lone Grendel seeks the key to restoring the empire—and she won't take no for an answer.

Writer Greg Rucka (Keeper, Finder, Smoker, Shooting at Midnight) tells this compelling story of one woman's search for salvation. With over eighty striking pen-and-ink illustrations by Grendel creator Matt Wagner, Grendel: Past Prime is fast-paced, hard-edged adventure laced with thematic depth and visual firepower.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction

207 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2000

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 3 out of 5]

La experiencia de Greg Rucka en los nichos del crimen y la ciencia ficción le permiten abordar sin dificultades a la creación de Matt Wagner. Al menos en su versión futurista, que se convierte en figura secundaria de este relato donde la protagonista - Susan - encarna los cuestionamientos nacidos de optar por la lealtad y el honor en un mundo complejo. Que el volumen se acompañe de dibujos realizados por el propio Wagner suman interés paraa los seguidores del personaje.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sort of wish this had been in comic book form, because it's so much a sequel to War Child, telling the next story in the Grendel universe. Nonetheless, Rucka does a great job of converting the comic book to prose, telling a story that's just as exciting as any of the Grendel comics, but one that allows deeper characterization of both Susan and Prime thanks to the prose form. Overall, a terrific story. As usual, I'd like to see what comes next.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, Dark Horse started releasing original prose novels featuring their most popular characters. Greg Rucka is a terrific comic book writer. He's also written a bunch of novels, both with his own characters like bodyguard Atticus Kodiak or extensions of Queen and Country along with properties he doesn't own like Grendel. This is the next story in the Grendel cycle after Grendel: War Child. Susan Veraghen is the main character. She's been searching for Grendel-Prime for the last 3 years after he disappeared at the end of War Child. The Khanate is in a downturn as the Grendel's are becoming more thugs and gangs than any kind of stabilizing force. Susan and Grendel-Prime seem to be the only two Grendels left with a sense of honor. A lot of this book is her search for Grendel-Prime throughout Tibet while being pursued by rebels. The second half is something of an extension of that but I'll let you read that for yourself.

The book also features a bunch of illustrations throughout by Matt Wagner. It is included in the 4th Grendel Omnibus, Dark Horse is releasing this year. It's a bit odd to have a prose novel in the middle of a comic book collection but I think it works here.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is a sequel of sorts to some of the Grendel graphic stories, and for the most part it works. The sex scenes were just a tad gratuitous, but not outrageously so. They gave Matt Wagner an excuse for some very sexy illustrations, a change from the usual stark violence of this future series.
For those of you who have never read the original Grendel saga, this would be a TERRIBLE jumping-on point. At the very least, you would have to read the Devil's Reign and War Child volumes of the comic in order to make any sense of this story.
That said, this is a powerful story about disillusionment, about the collapse of empire, and about how the non-combatants view the "honor and glory" of war.
In the stories that take place earlier in the saga, mankind is united by the power and charisma of one man, who saves the human race from a terrible fate, but ends up creating an unstable empire as a result. When it comes crashing down, as it must, bad things happen. In Past Prime we see what some of those things are. Think of all of the bad sides of the Samurai period of Japan and the European middle ages, along with the fall of the Roman Empire, and you will notice echoes here. The central character's quest to bring back a legendary hero and fix it all doesn't go exactly as hoped.
The story ended as if there would be an immediate sequel, but no such book seems to have ever been released, which is disappointing.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel based on the comic series created by Matt Wagner. It is written by Greg Rucka and accompanied by illustrations from Matt Wagner. The story follows Susan, a grendel who has a past highly involved with the empire, including having been lovers with the sister of the empire and part of the rebellion to bring Jupiter to power. This book follows her after the empire has once again collapsed at Jupiter's murder. She is looking for the Paladin, the Grendel-Prime, that once protected Jupiter as a boy. The story was good, but at times rather predictable. There were a few instances of cliched plot points, so that was a little disappointing, but overall it was good.
The illustrations by Wagner were a nice addition, mostly done in a fairly loose style. One thing I found odd was he seemed to have a desire to Always illustrate any nude scenes, even if there was something much more interesting on the page.
Overall, a decent book but not spectacular.

[Lawrence Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew of the Grendel series of comics but had never actually read any - too many comics published at the time and one more was a luxury too far. So I bought this half novel and half graphic comic many years back and not knowing the previous storyline ventured to add this sci fic affair to my reading scalps. Was taken aback at the language and the gore - does the written word give more meaning than comics or was this series always 18+ ? Not really complaining because it was a good romp with a rather predictable ending. The story actually hangs together very much on it's own although an introduction might have helped. There are points where it moves at exceptional speed either in place or incident/conflict but I suppose that is the comics effect which you frequently get where each story is often curtailed and needlessly highlights the fight or escape or danger. A pity there appears to be no follow up novel as you probably could predict countless sorties!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story - as opposed to other "Grendel Tales" written and drawn by other authors than Wagner, this one actually uses (some of the) characters created by Wagner.
It's a good story, though I did think it ended a bit too abruptly... is there a sequel in the work? - not that I know of.
Wagner's art in this is more simplistic than we're used to from him - or maybe the fact that it's in black and white and not color makes that difference stand out.
Still. as a "Grendel-completist", I,m happy I finally got around to reading this, and should a sequel ever be written, I'll be sure to read that as well.

[Elizabeth Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I ordered this book I'd THOUGHT it was one of Matt Wagner's graphic novels, and at first I was disappointed to find it's an "illustrated novel" (heavy on the text, light on the illustrations.) But then I ended up reading it in about a day, because it's a very fun read, and sucks you in pretty quickly. For all the violence and mayhem, it's also, in a teeny tiny way, a bit of a love story. Two love stories actually. One's pretty erotic, the other...isn't. Greg Rucka does a wonderful job, very vivid descriptions and lots of excitement. Worth a read, definitely.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting to really like this one when I started it. I'm a huge fan of Matt Wagner, so I figured that the story by Greg Rucka would just be a framework to enjoy Wagner's drawings. But the book was good. Really good. You get to find out a LOT more about Susan Veraghen (I remember thinking that she'd been treated pretty shabbily in the end of "War Child"), and about the generally cruddy situation that the world has fallen into after the disappearance of Grendel Prime. I'd like to seem more of Rucka's take on the Grendel series; perhaps he could be talked into writing another book.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was part of a larger series when I picked it up. My love of all things Rucka led me to it. It has good characterizations and a strong, queer female lead, which is enough to get me on-board. I was conflicted about their mission, the empire, and their desire to quell a seemingly much needed rebellion. I chalk that conflict up to the lack of context given in this prequel of sorts as to where the story would eventually go.

[Matt Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legendarily epic dystopian cyber-punk adventure.

A badass lesbian warrior treks across the brutal wastelands, looking for the legendary Grendel Paladin. She and the unstoppable cyborg work together to overthrow warlords, in an effort to create a new empire among the ruins of mankind.

[Marc Goodfellow · Rating 3 out of 5]

First prose by Rucka I have read and is was not bad for being based on someone else's work.

[Heather V ~The Other Heather~]

Couldn't finish this one. Just not my thing, I think, thus no star rating.

[Nathan Bussa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was happy to finally see another follow up to Grendel Warchild. If you're a fan of Matt Wagners Grendel, then I feel you'll enjoy this book.