GRENDEL Comic Origins: Who wore the mask of the fiend in “Devil’s Legacy”? …SHE did!

03/20/24 • 126 min

Steven and Chris obsess over issues one through seven of Comico’s ongoing GRENDEL series (1986), the “Devil’s Legacy” story arc, pondering the lasting resonance of Matt Wagner’s extraordinary exploration of evil.
SHOW NOTES:
00:32 - Intro to GRENDEL. Move over, Batman! The Dark Knight isn’t the only violent vigilante in town! Cue a valiant attempt to summarize the fascinatingly unique, complex concept of GRENDEL
03:12 - “DEVIL’S LEGACY” ...Christine Spar dons the mask of the fiend. SHE is GRENDEL!
20:39 - The amazing Pander Brothers! ...and the inking of their highly stylized work — touching on ‘80s fashion art, Aeon Flux, and Patrick Nagel. The Pander Bros = style AND substance, plus “They draw some of the best hands in comics!”
29:10 - The eye-popping sales of the first issue of GRENDEL — 68,000 copies!
30:54 - How to pronounce “Comico”
37:22 - DC Comics’ amazing BLUE DEVIL by Paris Cullins, Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn
38:42 - The cleverly titled TEMPUS FUGITIVE by Ken Steacy; NOW Comics, ASTRO BOY, SPEED RACER
40:17 - THE SACRED & THE PROFANE by Dean Motter & Ken Steacy
41:14 - The bizarre & mostly unnoticed WAR BEARS from Dark Horse Comics by Margaret Atwood (!) & Ken Steacy
42:38 - Our conjecture re: why Matt Wagner brought in other artists on GRENDEL and why modern comics artists are no longer able to do long-ass runs on a series
48:15 - The looser, more gestural art of Hayden Sherman and Ashley Wood — drawing awesome comics with styles built for speed
50:57 - The super dense verbiage of Matt Wagner’s writing in this run of GRENDEL
55:06 - “THE DEVIL’S LAIR,” the GRENDEL letter column — Diana Schutz responds to a critical letter about Matt’s “wordy” approach, defending his “intentionally complex” writing choices
1:01:15 - GRENDEL: WARCHILD, Grendel Prime, the exquisite art of Simon Bisley
1:04:33 - Great unfinished stories in comic books — THE AERIALIST, TYRANT, BIG NUMBERS
1:08:51 - Edvin Biukovic & Darko Macan, the brilliant Croatian artist/writer team that created GRENDEL TALES: DEVILS AND DEATHS
1:12:33 - The progressive, multicultural, racial dynamics in this run of GRENDEL
1:13:33 - “...There’s so much greatness in the idea of GRENDEL...”
1:37:57 - The similarities between the mask designs for GRENDEL and SPAWN

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Previous Episode

What is DC Comics’ most BRUTAL GANGSTER noir dystopian scifi comic book of all time, you ask?

Chris and Steven descend into the futuristic cesspool of gangsterism and “a little of the old ultraviolence” that is SKREEMER (DC Comics, 1989), a noir-styled postapocalyptic science fiction comic that makes A CLOCKWORK ORANGE look G-rated*. An explosive precursor to Vertigo Comics, this series was created by Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins, and Steve Dillion.
* Please Note: Our YT video imagery displays comparatively tame examples of SKREEMER art in order to respect YT guidelines concerning violence and graphic content.
CRYB! is a deep dive into ‘80s comics (plus a few notable exceptions) in a weekly podcast format.
SHOW NOTES
02:16 - A brief introduction to the world of SKREEMER — somewhere between James Joyce’s FINNEGAN’S WAKE and Stanley Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
12:08 - Celebrating the ahead of its time design of the logo and covers for SKREEMER. These are “pop comics”.
13:56 - An attempt to summarize the overarching narrative of SKREEMER
37:47 - Why you ought to buy the original floppies of SKREEMER (almost no ads!)
40:10 - The groundbreakingly transgressive nature of SKREEMER
40:42 - Dense, substantial storytelling in SKREEMER — a mark of the days before “decompressed stories”
53:47 - The poetry of Pete Milligan. Purple prose or evocative writing?
1:01:17 - Exploring the racial and sexual politics of SKREEMER
1:20:43 - The art of Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon on SKREEMER vs. Steve Dillon’s art on PREACHER; also, a discussion of Dillon’s early UK work for 2000 AD and DEADLINE magazine
1:22:44 - The extraordinary, nuanced, and sophisticated coloring choices of Tom Ziuko
1:40:19 - The modern day relevance of Vito’s evil masterplan
1:50:29 - Spoiler warning for Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s PLANETARY (Skip ahead 30 seconds if you haven’t read it!)
1:52:37 - Further discussion of the depiction of women and people of color in SKREEMER
1:57:02 - EC Comics’ “Judgement Day!” by Ray Bradbury, Al Feldstein, and Joe Orlando
2:16:58 - Final thoughts on the wildly ambitious SKREEMER — its place in the ‘80s comics canon and why it matters
2:25:50 - Grant Morrison and his love for the writings of Pete Milligan, specifically Vertigo’s ENIGMA
#alanmoore #batman #thedarkknight #stanleykubrick #2000ad #vertigocomics #grantmorrison #scificomics #sciencefiction #comicbook #aclockworkorange

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Next Episode

That time DC Comics gave HAWKMAN his own BATMAN: YEAR ONE… Katar Hol’s “Dark Knight” of the soul

Chris and Steven swoop in to the Downside of Thanagar to squawk about Tim Truman’s bold and impassioned re-imagining of Hawkman's origin story in HAWKWORLD (DC Comics, 1989). Is this Katar Hol’s BATMAN: YEAR ONE? ...Or his DARK KNIGHT RETURNS? ...Or both?
COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! is a deep dive into ‘80s comic books (plus a few notable exceptions) in a weekly podcast format. Screenwriters Chris Derrick (STAR TREK: PICARD) & Steven Bagatourian (AMERICAN GUN) discuss their favorite books, runs, and creators from the Bronze Age.
SHOW NOTES:
00:36 - Introduction to HAWKWORLD
6:30 - The singular career of visionary artist/writer Tim Truman — SCOUT, GRIMJACK, WILDERNESS and, of course, HAWKWORLD
13:36 - The ahead-of-its-time themes of HAWKWORLD: imperialism, subjugation, and cultural appropriation
27:16 - The dirty, lived in, alien worlds of Tim Truman — touching on Joe Kubert and the Kubert School
36:46 - STIG’S INFERNO + KELVIN MACE by Ty Templeton and Klaus Schonefeld
39:35 - NIGHT FORCE by Gene Colan & Marv Wolfman
42:55 - “The haunted, super sad feeling” of HAWKWORLD
45:30 - Tim Truman on the genesis of HAWKWORLD
1:00:01 - Tim Truman’s unique artwork and speculation on his chief influences
1:10:42 - How the success of WATCHMEN, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, and MAUS encouraged ambitious big swings from comic book artists in the late ‘80s
1:11:33 - Katar Hol’s exile on the island and the unrelenting, unapologetic brutality of HAWKWORLD
1:15:20 - The prescient nature of certain science fiction stories (including MINORITY REPORT)
1:17:07 - Metaphorical commentary embedded within HAWKWORLD: the outsourcing of American labor and industry
1:32:24 - Katar Hol leaves behind the lies he has been taught about Thanagar’s history, confronting the horrific reality of the actual history
1:40:37 - Tom King; THE SHERRIFF OF BABYLON, BATMAN
1:54:19 - COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! exists for this reason

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Comics Rot Your Brain! - GRENDEL Comic Origins: Who wore the mask of the fiend in “Devil’s Legacy”? …SHE did!

Transcript

[Intro Music]
STEVEN: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of COMICS ROT YOUR BRAIN! — the show where professional screenwriters talk about comic books that we love ...mostly from the 1980s. I'm one of your hosts; I'm Steven Bagatourian—
CHRIS: And I'm your other host, Christopher Derrick.
STEVEN: —And, Chris, we talked about a book in this episode that is arguably the single greatest indie comic book series of all time: Matt Wagner's GRENDEL. And if you love BATMAN,