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Grendel Vs. The Shadow #3

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    Ian Jane
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  • Grendel Vs. The Shadow #3



    Grendel Vs. The Shadow #3
    Released by: Dark Horse Comics
    Released on: November 5th, 2014.
    Purchase From Amazon

    The third and final issue of Grendel Vs. The Shadow, written and illustrated by Grendel creator Matt Wagner, brings that story that began in the first and second issues to a close. When it begins in The Shadow's sanctum, The Shadow has a pistol drawn and pointed at Grendel's head, while Grendel has his blades pointed at The Shadow's throat. They both know that if one makes a move, they'll both wind up dead but Grendel starts a fire and rather than give chase, The Shadow puts it out to prevent his chemical stash from blowing up a building in the middle of New York City. As he recounts this story to Margo, she takes a stand and tells him she's leaving him. Lamont says to her not a word, and so she does just that - she leaves.

    Cut to a drunken Billy Santini arriving back at his apartment to find what he believes Frannie, the girlfriend he mercilessly beat, looking to seduce him. He falls for it, and soon learns that it's Sofia Valenti out to avenge her friend. Santini looks to beat Sofia, but Grendel intervenes and his identity as Hunter Rose is revealed to her. Back at her father's office, however, the mobsters who handed over control to Grendel are wondering if they made a mistake given that The Shadow is all over their operations. He even shows up in the middle of a daring bank heist and leaves behind nothing but a pile of dead criminals in his wake. The thugs complain to Grendel but he likes the challenge that The Shadow provides him with even if he won't admit it to them, though he agrees to face The Shadow head on so that their criminal empire can continue unheeded. The Shadow, however, starts to figure out who Grendel really is and puts into motion a plan of his own, involving not only putting a stop to the masked criminal genius but setting things right with Margo as well. Of course, with someone like Sofia in the middle of all of this, neither plan may go as planned…

    Wagner does a great job of bringing the three part tale full circle with this big finish. There are some great plot twists here and the inevitable showdown between the two iconic characters does not disappoint in its execution. The artwork is once again fantastic, very few artists can lay out a page with as much class and art deco style as Matt Wagner can and his skills in that arena translate to The Shadow's time quite deftly. Brennan Wagner's coloring compliments the art beautifully and again pays nice attention to period detail in the tones and hues used throughout the book.

    The prose is also spot on. Grendel has always been an eloquent character and that tradition is continued here in a big way both in the way that he interacts with the different characters in this book and by way of his own internal narration in spots. Wagner also infuses in this issue a rare instance of humanizing Grendel/Hunter Rose, but to detail that would be a spoiler so just let it suffice to say that it's a nice touch. Showing a great feel not only for his own creation but for The Shadow as well, with this three issue mini-series Wagner has created a fairly instant classic of pop culture crossovers, rich in pulp tradition and put together with an obvious care and passion by all involved.








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