It's tricky to review a graphic novel that you've read multiple times and know the future stories as well, but here goes..."Grendel: Devil by the Deed" is an early masterwork by a comic book storytelling genius at the launchpad of his career. Matt Wagner's writes and draws a multi-layered narrative that's both nuanced and bold. His prose is crisp, smart, and never drags. Yes, that's right. The entire comic is told in prose with big, colorful art-deco illustrations. It shouldn't work, but it does...

I was first exposed to Matt Wagner through his Mage comic in the early 1980's. I was 12 when I began reading that book and it made an impression The back up story, GRENDEL made me realize comics were so much more than superheroes fighting villains. It had been over 30 years since I read this graphic novel. The feeling of the 80's returned to me as I read each page, the hair, clothes, the apartments, the colors. The story seems so much darker to me as an adult than it did when I was a teenager. I...

Found the 25th anniversary hardcover edition of this in a discount bin at NYCC, so I picked it up. I already had an earlier edition, but it seemed like a nice hardcover and a reasonable excuse to re-read it.It's still very good. Wagner manages to make it almost a fable, and his design-heavy artwork really makes for a timeless, classic feel. Good, good stuff.

What a weird story. Extremely dark and messed-up. Beautiful layouts and artwork, though.

As a backup story in his other series, Mage (1984–1986), Wagner reworked and retold Hunter Rose's story in its entirety. It was collected by Comico in 1986. A new edition, recolored by Bernie Mireault, was published by Dark Horse in 1993. In 2007, it was released in hardcover colored only in black, white, and red. An experiment in illustrated fiction, the panels combine to form something of a static whole on each page, often likened to a stained glass window. Each page is both one picture and se...

Grendel: Devil by the Deed was my first exposure to Grendel way back in the late 80s/early 90s. It's actually an illustrated text, rather than a comic book, but it is the lynch pin to the whole Grendel mythos. I highly recommend that anyone thinking about giving Grendel a try read DbtD first because a) It's what the author intended, and b) it will help put any stories of Hunter Rose, as well as the events of Devil's Legacy, into context.

I've got a copy of this that's not on Goodreads which is neat. Published in the back pages of independent comic Mage; Grendel is the work of Matt Wagner where he transforms a noir crime lord into a symbol of violence and evil. Grendel is an experiment in comics where the villain is center stage in the story, rather than how comics have usually pandered to audiences by giving a title to a villain which fold as it becomes obvious that the villain has little to do without a nemesis. Grendel changes...

Beautiful art and fantastic prose are why Grendel is considered a game-changer in the comics industry. Any fan of noir should give this a look, and comic fans will want to read the story of Hunter Rose for sure.

Interesting read, I really liked the format of it and the layout of the imagery. Intrigued to see what the other volumes hold

The original Grendel, Hunter Rose's, tale told by his ward's daughter. The story is entirely in prose, the daughter taking an analytical approach to reading Grendel's lost diaries. Matt Wagner's lush illustrations are gorgeous. He makes every page look like an illuminated manuscript with deft use of limited colors, only using red, black gray and white.

Art Deco Noir? Elegant, distanced, alluring, very dark. Very well-written, with perfect art deco imagery.

PERFECTION.

This is the first Grendel tales, the hunter Rose Grendel. He is a writer/artist who takes over the crime gangs and bosses in the city. I feel this is one of the ultimate anti-heroes in comics, and it is one of the titles you won't see made into a movie, cartoon or tv series. This was hard core noir when it was written and these collections are pure gold. Really enjoyable and Matt Wagner is an amazing creator. various artists drew the books and to be honest, this is one of those stories where the...

Art Deco Noir down as an illustrated novel. While the Grendel Cycle/Saga is far from perfect, its a more realized and explored concept than say most creations from the big two.Not at insane as say, Cerebus, it is nonetheless as reinventive and reflexive examination of violence, trauma and those left in its wake.Hunter Rose is the most solidly Matt Wagner creation. As while we wrote all the other series (other than Grendel Tales) he let the subsequent genre and artist influence the evolution of t...

I've never been a big fan of Matt Wagner and certainly don't get the fascination with his longest-extant original character Grendel. Even so, I find myself in possession of THREE Grendel books, all of which I've read several times and none of which makes enough an impression for me to remember much about them from one reading to the next (although, with my memory, the importance of that latter fact is debatable).This book, Devil by the Deed, serves as our introduction to the mysterious figure kn...

I'm not quite sure how to explain my love, as that is what I have, for the Grendel series without seeming somewhat odd. After all it is a dark and strange series I am expressing my love for and had the little boy who picked up his very first superhero comic known that one day his favorite characters would be the devil himself I can guarantee he'd have believed you.I first found Grendel at the bottom of a grab-bag and within its pages I meet Hunter Rose (the 1st Grendel). He was terrifying underw...

Compared to many of comic books' biggest fans, I'm relatively new to comics. As of the time of reviewing this book, I am in my mid 20s. My first big comic book was an Ultimate Spider-Man omnibus, which I read early on in high school. I didn't jump onto the bandwagon until a couple years later, right as I was starting my college education. From my understanding, a large chunk of comic book readers have been reading them since the 80s and 90s, long before I can even remember. To say that I am unfa...

The original Grendel story, created by Matt Wagner. Dark & slightly disturbing, but by no means the best Grendel story, this book is none the less a pretty thorough introduction to Hunter Rose, the first of many to adopt the Grendel identity. This hardcover may be hard to find (as with most Grendel books), but Dark Horse is releasing the complete Grendel epic in 4 massive omnibus collections (at a rate of one every six months or so), the first 2 of them being already available. From a financial

I feel a bit torn for rating this book just 1.5 stars:The art work certainly has style. The black-red-white colour palette fits the overall mood quite well. The way pictures and text are intertwined/arranged is definitely innovative.Making an 'evil' character the focus of a comic book may even have been innovative in principle. Unfortunately he has no story of it's one: in this book Grendel story can not exist without it's opponent.But... It reads like a brief summary (plot-skeleton) of an epic

This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.Hunter Rose, a child protege, becomes an unstoppable assassin, Grendel, leading the criminal world of the entire East Coast, all the while being a famous author and father to an adopted young girl. This book documents the final battle between Grendel and his rival, Argent, the mysterious wolf who battles against him across the city at night.This comic was lent to me by a friend who said it was one of their...