A Couple Weeks ago, While I Was Cleaning, I Came Across Sub Loose Issues of Grendel that i didn’t do i had’s put back away. These were Mostly from The Early 2000s PERK DARK HORSE was reprinting the second Comic series as a set of mini-series (Devil’s Legacy, Devil Inside, God & The Deviletc.). Among Them, Though, was The Two-Issue Series of New Material That preceded The Reprints. This Book As a Bridge Between The Hunter Rose and Christine Spar Eras, and It’s One of The Few Mainline Grendel Stories That Wasn’t Written by Series Creator Matt Wagner Himself.

Grendel – Devil Child by Diana Schutz, Tim comes out, Teddy Kristiansenand Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Wes Abbott Follows Hunter Rose’s adopted Daughter and Christine Spar’s Mother, Stacy Palumbo, and Her rather complicated, Probletic Life. Dealing with Her Mental Issues, Guilt, and Abuse that She suffered the Years. And How the Legacy of Grendel Sp pread ITS Shadow Across The Lives of Many, Seemingly Tainting Everything.

“For as long as I can remember, I have felt a Dark, empty place deep inside me. It is a place only and know. Through The Years, It has kept me … Serious. You haven’t been touched it. “

This is not an easy read. It Makes Sense Why Wagner Would Ask Longtime Grendel Editor Diana Schutz from Back Even in the Comico Days to Write This. Dealing with a Woman’s perspective on Physical Development and Abuse.

Stacy Palumbo is a Vray Complicated Character. One who withnessed Death Early in Her Life with Her Parents, and Her Uncle Barry, and was Traumatized by that, But This Story Hints at Problems Even Deper. That She Might Not Be as Sympathetic, Jealous of Others Affensions, and The Prime Instigator in The Death of Her Adoptive Father and Best Furry Friend in the Werewolf, Argent. How Dealing with It Through Therapy Leads to More Manipulation and a Child. But it Becomes Harder When You see What She’s Dealt With In Abuse and Abandment On Her Own, What Looks Like A Split With Reality, and How She Handles Her Own Child.

The Harrowing Narrative Broucht Incredibly to Life with Tim Sale’s Inventive Artwork. There’s an Interesting Motif of the Grendel Devil Eyes Pattern That He Works into Many Pages, Into Blood, Into Shadows, Into The Design for A CAT, Evoking Menacing Feel Everywhere. Also Playing with the Layouts at Times, Emphasizing The Journaling That Palumbo Is Doing Herselt Devil by the deed. The Darkness and Mood of the Work Enriched by the hat of Teddy Kristiansen’s Painted Colours.

And solid letters from Starkings and Abbott. PARTICULARLY WHEN WE see an interplay of dialogue and narration, highlighting at disconnect Between Thought and Action, Want and What Actually Happens.

“At night and listen to the crickets. “

One of these days, i’m going to have to do a full deep dive re-read of the Grendel series It’s one that radically changes over time, Going from the original Hunter Rose Era, Dealing With Essentially A Supervillain Type Running A Criminal Organization, Through to an Empire That Was Inspired by Him, and a Grendel-Prime Robot Protting the Heir To The Empire Across Weird Sci-fi Adventures. With More Vigilantism, Religious and Sociopolitical Commentary, Resistance Fighters, and Other Stuff in Between. With Two More Major Segments with Tim Sale Artwork (Inking Over Hannibal King in One and The Doing Art Himself in Devil’s Reign) But also a Plethora of Other Phenomenal Artists.

In the Meantime, Re-Reading Grendel – Devil Child From Schutz, Sale, Kristiansen, and Starkings & Abbott Reminding Me of How Deep The Series Could Go. How it’s not Afraid to Tell a Difficult and Disturbing Story, with a problematic star. Dealing with Murder and Abuse in A Way That Makes You Think about the issues, Wondering About Nature versus Nurture, and Whether Stacy Palumbo’s Actions Are Part of A Cycle of Abuse.

Classic Comic Compendium: Grendel – Devil Child

Grendel – Devil Child
Writer: Diana Schutz
Artist: Tim comes out
Colourist: Teddy Kristiansen
Letterers: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Wes Abbott
Publisher: Dark Horse
Date release: July – August 4 1999 (original ISSUES)
Available collected in Grendel Omnibus – Volume 2: Legacy