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Grendel Vs. The Shadow (Hardcover)

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    Ian Jane
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  • Grendel Vs. The Shadow (Hardcover)



    Grendel Vs. The Shadow (Hardcover)
    Released by: Dark Horse Comics
    Released on: May 20th, 2015.
    Purchase From Amazon

    Written and illustrated by Matt Wagner with colors by Brennan Wagner, this three issue prestige format limited series event starts off in modern times (pre 9/11 at least) day as we're told a story that took place in the 1930's. We hear of a 'notorious Tong boss…imagines himself a direct descent of Genghis Khan! Also something of a sorcerer!' Turns out this cat is trying to augment his evil powers by smuggling an urn into the states but something goes wrong and that something is The Shadow. Twin nickel plated .45's are unleashed along with a torrent of laughter and that urn winds up on the bottom of New York Harbor.

    It turns out that Grendel, or Hunter Rose if you prefer, has been approached by a pair of treasure hunters who have retrieved this urn and are interested in selling it to him. He's already got quite a collection of historical artifacts and this might make a nice addition. A deal is struck but the two men are incinerated after they leave along with the eighty grand in cash he gave them, even if his assistant Larry finds that move frivolous. But what of the urn and its contents? It's opened and inside is a scroll in ancient Mandarin containing the 'Eternity Codex.' Hunter reads it and he's swallowed through some sort of rift that opens up. He travels back to the 1930's and is understandably confused as to how this happened but soon enough he puts on that familiar black and white mask and decides to take advantage of the situation.

    On the other side of town, playboy Lamont Cranston exits a limousine and heads into a night club with his lady friend Margo Lane. They discuss how prohibition has only created a wealthy class of criminals and how should the law be appealed, it would be chaos should a criminal mastermind swoop in and take control of the ensuing chaos. Cut to a warehouse where a group of gangsters are interrogating a man. A familiar man, if you can call him that, shows up clad in black and red. The guns erupt, the laughter starts and justice is served out in the form of hot lead. The Shadow frees the man and recruits him as an agent.

    In a fancy apartment elsewhere, a Jewish mobster named Rubenstein discusses business with a Mafioso named Lorenzo Valenti. A Don is dying from cancer and this provides opportunity for a power grab. Lorenzo's daughter, Sofia, shows up and makes a scene. Grendel, however, has already started planning his takeover by slaughtering a group of mobsters at a loading dock and claiming the contraband booze as his own. One of The Shadow's agents witnessed it and reports back to his boss with his findings. Lamont and Margo discuss the massacre while the local mobsters assess the situation and try to come up with a plan of their own and a dashing new man about town named Hunter Rose makes the scene at a nightclub attended by none other than Sofia Valenti… until she's summoned by her father to accompany her to a meeting with Grendel himself.

    The second issue of Grendel Vs. The Shadow, written and illustrated by Grendel creator Matt Wagner, picks up directly where the first issue left off. Didn't read it? Get caught up here and come back when you're done. On the opening page, The Shadow has his pistols drawn on Grendel and is ready to dish out cold, steely justice! Grendel makes a few quips and they fight, you know that was coming and just as The Shadow gains the upper hand, he runs out of bullets. He's got more than just pistols to use in his war against crime, however, but when he tries to hypnotize Grendel with his ring, the masked villain proves powerful enough to overcome his influence. Grendel escapes, but barely, and The Shadow manages to steal away his twin blades.

    Grendel, impressed with the fact that he just almost lost a fight, heads back to talk to the Valentis, the mobsters he had coerced into doing business with him for details on his most recent foe. They tell him what they know and then let him know that if the warring Luppino family finds out that they've thrown in with Grendel, that there will be Hell to pay. Grendel reassures them that he'll take care of it and asks Lorenzo to call a meeting of the remaining mafia family leaders. Meanwhile, Margo is tending to Lamont Cranston's wounds. He too was impressed with the fight that was put up.

    Sofia Valenti goes to visit her friend Frannie and finds that she's been beaten by her boyfriend, Billy Santini. The Shadow calls on the Luppino boss and finds he and his men slaughtered. The news explodes in the papers and Cranston ponders not only Grendel's unusual affection for blades but his ability to take down such powerful and well-armed opponents singlehandedly. As he thinks, Grendel acts - meeting with the four remaining family heads and essentially telling them they shall now remain loyal to him. Don Genovese speaks up in protest and is promptly killed in front of the others. He tells them that their loyalty will be rewarded by the vast increase in profits they will see under his leadership, and soon enough they do. He uses his knowledge of history to guide this criminal empire into making every right step. Profits soar, investments pay off and simultaneously Hunter Rose's writing career takes off, making him the toast of the town… something that doesn't go unnoticed by Sofia. When Margo and Lamont arrive at a social event to celebrate Rose's charity work, the two alter egos meet again for the first time.

    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.

    So does this collected edition offer up anything 'extra' aside from the three issues that made up this mini-series? Yes! First up is an introduction from Patton Oswalt. It's only a single page but he expresses his admiration for the two characters and definitely makes the case for the crossover to exist in the first place. It's a little thing, but it's a good intro. Additionally we get a nice cover gallery that shows off the variants that were produced for the book - there are four pieces here, the Baltimore Comic Con variant and then the three different variants that Wagner did for the run.






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