Grendel vs The Shadow #3
Dark Horse
Words and Pictrues:
Matt Wagner

While I’m sad to see this mini-series end (even though that’s what mini-series do) I couldn’t be happier with how it came to a close.

Matt Wagner crafted a very cool tale integrating his anti-hero Grendel very nicely into the pulpy world of The Shadow.  This third issue focused once again on how similar these two characters are yet how they are still worlds apart.  Both Hunter Rose and Lamont Cranston have a singular focus, crime.  They just happen to be coming at it from two completely different angles.  It’s this struggle that made their unlikely pairing work and still seem plausible.   The back and forth between Grendel and The Shadow was classic pulp hero/pulp villain exchange and was spot on.  It’s those touches that show that Matt Wagner has as much respect for the Shadow as he does his own Grendel. 

The confrontations between our two not-quite-heroes are stellar.  Matt teases out their mutual respect in a way that reveals more about each man than either would be comfortable showing the other.

Like any good pulp story, there’s a woman at or near the center.  In this case, both The Shadow and Grendel have issues with a women.  The women end up exposing both the inner strength of these characters, and the inner weakness as well. 

This story gives you action, romance, betrayal, and flat out pulpy goodness.  And if you’re like me and haven’t read a lot of Matt Wagners’ Grendel, then this should whet your appetite for more Hunter Rose action.  I came into this liking The Shadow and knowing of Grendel.  I came out of it completely digging Grendel, and liking The Shadow even more.  Kudos to you, Matt Wagner. 

4.5 out of 5 Knives in the back