Grendel: Devil’s Crucible – Defiance #1 possesses a fearsome appearance by any standard. Beyond Matt Wagner’s iconic, sharp-edged mask and savage style, it stands as the most recent installment in a 40-year comics saga covering millennia of time and more than a dozen protagonists utilizing nearly as many genres. It’s a daunting proposition for any reader, even a longtime fan of Grendel comics like myself, which makes the accessibility of Defiance #1 all the more impressive.
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Readers need nothing more than the brief recap page summarizing the conclusion of Devil’s Odyssey, in which Grendel Prime returns to a desolate Earth in the far flung future after failing to find an inhabitable alternative planet for humanity to colonize, to dive into this story. Fans of high fantasy and dystopian sci-fi alike are bound to find themselves enjoying this introduction. Centuries have passed since the crumbling empire sent Prime into space and what remains of humanity since its collapse bears more in common with medieval Europe than Prime’s energy weapons. He is a stranger in a strange land and his unique perspective serves to effectively introduce readers, both new and old, to this new world order.
Prime’s tour of this new Earth arrives in three phases across the first issue, laying all the groundwork required for the forthcoming defiance suggested by the title. There is an initial wasteland filled with corpses and anti-Grendel signage, then the discovery of isolated refuges still possessing electricity and dominated by “Necro Lords,” and finally an encounter with serf-like peasants beyond those walls. It’s a model of storytelling efficiency that lays out the setting, power structures, and conflicts to come. Even if familiarity with past Grendel stories enhances one’s appreciation, the story itself is entirely accessible to any reader with a passing familiarity of fantasy tropes.
Wagner fills these pages with details. Each new splash encourages readers to parse every inch before following Prime through these distinctive settings; much of the exposition is provided through visuals, rather than endless captions. The human encampment near the issue’s end reads like a less humorous MAD Magazine spread filled with unnamed characters, locales, and creatures all going about their own business. Even in the midst of desolation, humans remain active social creatures and readers get a sense of how life goes in this time through observation.
Prime proves an efficient protagonist as he primarily serves to reflect this new world, much as he did when discovering sentient species across the universe in Devil’s Odyssey. He is a singularly driven and capable warrior now lost without a clear mission and reduced to essential questions of survival. This places the emphasis on understanding how this setting functions and it does not take long for Prime to discover trouble, along with a pair of more talkative companions.
The arrival of companions and a new purpose also provides Wagner an opportunity to showcase the violent sequences that have defined Grendel throughout its many variations. It’s a stellar example of clarity in storytelling as every figure is carefully tracked and every action met with a consequence during a brief battle. Fast, unpredictable, and horrific – Wagner not only portrays violence well, but captures the terror accompanying it within these panels.
In many ways Grendel: Devil’s Crucible – Defiance #1 acts as prologue, (re-)introducing readers to Grendel Prime as a lone knight seeking purpose on an Earth only familiar enough to prove unsettling. Fusing elements of high fantasy and science-fiction together, Wager lays out this world with clarity that no extended exposition is required. Readers can immerse themselves in the never-ending battle between the powerful and powerless with the Grendel mask returning to alter that dynamic. It is a masterclass in effective comics storytelling and a surprisingly inviting issue #1 for any reader tempted to explore the Grendel saga.
Published by Dark Horse Comics
On July 3, 2024
Written by Matt Wagner
Art by Matt Wagner
Colors by Brennan Wagner
Letters by Rob Leigh
Cover by Matt Wagner and Brennan Wagner
