Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Dark Horse Comics | Tagged: grendel, matt wagner

Matt Wagner On The Return Of Grendel In 2024

At the end of Grendel: Devil's Odyssey, a trilogy of four-issue mini-series was announced, Devil's Crucible. Matt Wagner has laid it out.

Published Mon, 28 Aug 2023 08:57:08 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Grendel is a long-running comic book series and character created by Matt Wagner over the last forty-one years. First published in 1982 by Comico, and then Dark Horse after it had been rescued from, what began as a story of an assassin and violent vigilante in the style of Diabolik, has become a more intellectual study of the nature of aggression.

At the end of 2019-2021's Devil's Odyssey series, a trilogy of four-issue mini-series was announced, Devil's Crucible – Defiance, Devil's Crucible – Sedition and Devil's Crucible – Necrotic. Two years later, we have a better idea of what is coming… and when. Matt Wagner posted to X, saying;

"Hey gang…someone recently posted a question about when the next GRENDEL series will be released so I wanted to give everyone an update what you can expect to see from me in the coming months. I've been hard at work for quite a while now and there's a real avalanche of new material coming from me soon. Here's a list of what that includes:"

"My all-new expanded re-telling of Hunter's Rose tragic tale, DEVIL THE DEED: MASTER'S EDITION, hits stores this November. I couldn't be happier with how this return to the seminal GRENDEL storyline turned out and both Brennan (who colored the book in Hunter Rose's trademark B,W&R palette) and I are totally anxious for everyone to finally get to see it! DBTD: ME will be published in a standard hardcover edition as well as a limited signed & numbered edition and the sold-out, hyper-imited deluxe edition from Darkhorse Direct. You can preorder the first two editions I mentioned at Amazon and various other booksellers as well as, of course, your Local Comic Shop. The photo I posted here is me laying down my pen after completing all 121 pages of new art for this exciting reimagining of GRENDEL's origins."

"The next series featuring Grendel Prime…the direct sequel to DEVIL'S ODYSSEY…will actually be three 4-issue series written and drawn by me and collectively titled DEVIL'S CRUCIBLE. Each series will be distinguished by their sub-titles; DEFIANCE, SEDITION and NECROTIC. I have seven issues completed out of the total twelve and I'm having loads of fun with it. This storyline is an action-packed adventure through the drastically changed society Prime discovers upon his return to Earth. The narrative contains some incredible surprises for Grendel fans and will see publication in the summer of 2024. Colored (of course) by @BrennanWagner3 and both of these GRENDEL projects will be available (of course) from @DarkHorseComics."

"More immediately than either of these blockbuster events will be an upcoming announcement as of this October about an absolutely incredible and all-new project that I've hinted at several times over the past year or so. This ambitious series of original graphic novels is a collaboration that I'm writing and featuring art by a legendary and ultra-talented artist. We're both absolutely thrilled to be working oth groups of our readers are going to be blown away by the final results. Like I said…the official announcement for this is coming soon and, in fact, it'll be kinda hard to miss it. This one's gonna seriously rock your asses, folk…a new pinnacle for both of us."

"Annnnnd, on top of all these other goodies, I'm also providing the art for a 20-page story that will be announced soon as well. This will see publication in a somewhat surprising anthology and concern a subject that's near and dear to my heart—a historical story about the early days of punk rock, which most of my readers know is my kinda groove from way back in the day. As I said, I'm only drawing this story and, considering that I've only worked with a handful of other (and highly notable) writers over the course of my lengthy career, that makes this one something of a rarity. This story should also be on shelves before the end of the year and is also being colored by Brennan. All together, that amounts to nearly 500 pages of new content you can wxpect to see from me over the space of the next year. Last year was my 40th anniversary as a professional comics author and, as should be evident from the above…I ain't slowing down yet, gang!"