I just finished reading Grendel: Devil Child last night.
In a word: CREEPY... but in a good way.
This isn't your typical Grendel comic where the character is going around killing his adversaries and raising all kinds of Hell.
This is the story about his adopted daughter and how she's coping (not very well, as evidenced in this story) with being the "daughter of the Grendel".
The Tim Sale art is very appropriate to the story and Diana Schutz's writing moves along quite smoothly. Not too slowly, that you'll be wanting to skip ahead. And not too quickly, that you'll be thinking you missed anything.
A word of warning, though. This is NOT a book for children.
The main character, Stacy Palumbo, recounts her life as Hunter Rose's adopted daughter and her relationship with men in general. Up to (and including) sessions with bondage and dominate male fantasies, which all relates to how she became so unstable as she grew older and why she was never really connected to her own Daughter, Christine Spar (who also becomes an incarnation of Grendel).
It's good reading if you like Matt Wagner's Grendel character, but it's definitely a different take on one of the supporting cast of that series.
The Comic Stop just got a few copies in this week.
If you want to pick it up, now's a good time. (But I'm sure the guys... and gal... would be happy to order one for you if they are out.)
5 comments:
Is this a good book for Grendel noobs like me, or is it too deep in continuity and character history?
Hmmm... good question.
I haven't read all the Grendel books myself, but based on what I have read so far I would say it's in continuity.
It's basically just telling the story of what happened to her after her adopted dad died, but before her daughter became the Grendel.
If you read the other books and not this one you wouldn't miss anything. Likewise, if you only read this book and not the others, it's a great "one-shot" with a very dark theme.
If all the Grendel stories were a big, frosted cupcake... this book would just be a few extra special sprinkles on top.
Grendel compared to a cupcake? That is probably more twisted than the actual book!
Cool...I looked at it when I was up at the shop today, but didn't buy it. May pick it up next week now. Thanks!
T - I hope you enjoy it. I got into the Grendel stories rather late, but I've really enjoyed them.
My favorite was the Batman / Grendel books that came out (also my first exposure to the character).
M - I find most things can stand up to the 'cupcake analogy'. Albeit in this case, that cupcake is filled with shards of glass and razor blades.
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