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adelaidemetzger_robotprophet's review
5.0
Damn! This was SO GOOD!
I haven’t read a solid graphic novel that tickles my fancy in a while and this sure did it. I knew that Matt Wagner was like the successor to Alan Moore when I first read Devil by the Deed, but for some reason I really, truly felt the weight of that after reading Batman vs Grendel.
How do Batman and Grendel end up in the same proximity? (Also, how is there a Gotham City AND a New York City in the same universe?) I don’t know how to answer the second question, but Hunter Rose/Grendel finds himself on a little business trip to Gotham City and ends up extremely bored. So he wreaks a little villainy masquerading as The Riddler from afar until he comes face to face with both Bruce/Batman as well as Commissioner Gorden. There’s also a parallel B and C plot following two women who are connected to Hunter and Bruce both through their work, but they get tied up in the mayhem and actually become a major part of the conclusion.
Just like with Alan Moore, Scott Snyder, and Frank Miller I feel like I’m reading a piece of classic literature when diving into a Wagner story. The way he introduces each character and weaves their stories in and out of each other until the climactic final convergence at the end reminded me very much of Charles Dickens.
This was also the first Grendel related book that made me hate Hunter/Grendel. I get that he’s a villain. Hunter is a kingpin in New York City and kills or saves depending on what he needs for his crime empire. But I was always on his side and against Argent’s even though Argent was helping the police—it was always about sinful beauty vs hideous righteousness. I loved Hunter’s snobbish, educated, entitled, genius, and violent character. But after seeing him standing next to Batman/Bruce Wayne I absolutely hate the arrogant little b*tch. Next to the Dark Knight who constantly and vigilantly defends those with less and inspiring others to do good, Hunter looks like (and truly is) an arrogant little punk who thinks he’s better than everyone else and let’s his intelligence amplify his narcissism. So what if he has a soft spot for protecting children! He still put one in danger in this volume and accidentally almost got the kid killed.
I wanted to see Hunter defeated in this book, but if you’ve read any Grendel you know this isn’t the last battle for Hunter. This volume makes me want to hunt down other Matt Wagner creations. Maybe I’ll go get into The Shadow and then I can read Grendel vs The Shadow.
I recommend this book if you like either Batman or Grendel. Or both.
I haven’t read a solid graphic novel that tickles my fancy in a while and this sure did it. I knew that Matt Wagner was like the successor to Alan Moore when I first read Devil by the Deed, but for some reason I really, truly felt the weight of that after reading Batman vs Grendel.
How do Batman and Grendel end up in the same proximity? (Also, how is there a Gotham City AND a New York City in the same universe?) I don’t know how to answer the second question, but Hunter Rose/Grendel finds himself on a little business trip to Gotham City and ends up extremely bored. So he wreaks a little villainy masquerading as The Riddler from afar until he comes face to face with both Bruce/Batman as well as Commissioner Gorden. There’s also a parallel B and C plot following two women who are connected to Hunter and Bruce both through their work, but they get tied up in the mayhem and actually become a major part of the conclusion.
Just like with Alan Moore, Scott Snyder, and Frank Miller I feel like I’m reading a piece of classic literature when diving into a Wagner story. The way he introduces each character and weaves their stories in and out of each other until the climactic final convergence at the end reminded me very much of Charles Dickens.
This was also the first Grendel related book that made me hate Hunter/Grendel. I get that he’s a villain. Hunter is a kingpin in New York City and kills or saves depending on what he needs for his crime empire. But I was always on his side and against Argent’s even though Argent was helping the police—it was always about sinful beauty vs hideous righteousness. I loved Hunter’s snobbish, educated, entitled, genius, and violent character. But after seeing him standing next to Batman/Bruce Wayne I absolutely hate the arrogant little b*tch. Next to the Dark Knight who constantly and vigilantly defends those with less and inspiring others to do good, Hunter looks like (and truly is) an arrogant little punk who thinks he’s better than everyone else and let’s his intelligence amplify his narcissism. So what if he has a soft spot for protecting children! He still put one in danger in this volume and accidentally almost got the kid killed.
I wanted to see Hunter defeated in this book, but if you’ve read any Grendel you know this isn’t the last battle for Hunter. This volume makes me want to hunt down other Matt Wagner creations. Maybe I’ll go get into The Shadow and then I can read Grendel vs The Shadow.
I recommend this book if you like either Batman or Grendel. Or both.
gungnir's review
4.0
There are only three true long-form comic book stories about Hunter Rose, not counting Devil By the Deed, which is essentially a summary of an epic saga that doesn't exist in fully developed form. Of those three, his encounter with Batman is the first, and perhaps the most stylistically ambitious. It's also the first real Matt Wagner Batman story, and it demonstrates right out the gate that this is a man born to write and draw Batman comics.
The sequel pits Batman against Grendel Prime, who I find less interesting as a character, but this gives Batman a peak at the nightmarish future of the Grendel timeline, where the world is reshaped by nuclear war, vampire popes, and finally Devil-worshipping samurai cultists, and that has some juice. It also has Wagner depicting a more mature, superheroic version of Batman; the first story feels like it could be a direct sequel to Batman: Year One, and the second feels like a Batman who could be part of the Justice League, hanging out with Martian Manhunter and fighting alien invasions.
The sequel pits Batman against Grendel Prime, who I find less interesting as a character, but this gives Batman a peak at the nightmarish future of the Grendel timeline, where the world is reshaped by nuclear war, vampire popes, and finally Devil-worshipping samurai cultists, and that has some juice. It also has Wagner depicting a more mature, superheroic version of Batman; the first story feels like it could be a direct sequel to Batman: Year One, and the second feels like a Batman who could be part of the Justice League, hanging out with Martian Manhunter and fighting alien invasions.
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