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Dynamite Entertainment's Savage Tales Winter Special 2025 brings together a collection of pulp stories with art by Kubert School graduates.
Posted in: Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: auction, comico, grendel, heritage, matt wagner
Glenn Danzig's First Appearance Of Matt Wagner's Grendel At Auction
Primer #2, published by Comico, is the first appearance of Grendel by Matt Wagner in 1982. Originally a noir comic in the style of European titles such as Diabolik, it has evolved into "a study of the nature of aggression." It's not entirely clear how much of the audience is aware of this. The character is a novelist-turned-masked-vigilante, proving that the sword is mightier than the pen; he works as an assassin before taking over control of New York City's organized crime. Wagner published a series at Comico, which was cancelled, before being rebooted in the back of Wagner's Mage comic and launching a more successful ongoing series, written and drawn by Wagner alongside artists including Pander Brothers, Bernie Mireault, Tim Sale, John K. Snyder III and more, as Grendel became less of an identity than a franchise. Dark Horse picked up the series, and more creators added to the world, including Greg Rucka, Paul Grist, Darko Macan, and Edvin Biuković. The most recent series, Devil's Odyssey, set in the dystopian future of Grendel-Prime, was published in 2019. But this is where it all begins. As part of Heritage Auctions' Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction 122129, a copy of Primer #2 CGC slabbed at 9.2 is up for auction, with the hammer going down on Monday. And not only that, but it happens to be Glenn Danzig's own personal copy which he is getting rid of for… unknown reasons.
Primer #2 (Comico, 1982) CGC NM- 9.2 Off-white to white pages. First appearances of Grendel and Argent. Story, cover, and art by Matt Wagner. Currently ranked at #10 on Overstreet's Top 25 Copper Age Comics list. Overstreet 2020 NM- 9.2 value = $340. CGC census 7/21: 101 in 9.2, 279 higher. From the Glenn Danzig Collection.
It currently has bids of $410, well ahead of its Overstreet 2020 value, with two days to go. They also have #1 for auction as well, for about a twentieth of the price.
Primer #1 (Comico, 1982) CGC NM- 9.2 Off-white to white pages. Bill Cucinotta stories and art. Overstreet 2020 NM- 9.2 value = $25. CGC census 7/21: 6 in 9.2, 14 higher.
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