I am now the proud owner of … a goodly portion of all the “Grendel” comics Matt Wagner ever wrote.  What you see in the top row are “Grendel Omnibus” Volumes 1, 2 and 3.  (I believe I actually shared my review of Volume 1 on this site a while ago.)  These would comprise a nearly inclusive history of Hunter Rose, Christine Spar, Brian Li Sung, Orion Assante and Eppy Thatcher.  All that remains for me to collect is the fourth Omnibus trade-paperback, chronicling the possibly immortal Grendel Prime and his imperiled charge, Jupiter Assante.

The Omnibus editions do not include crossovers with heroes such as Batman and The Shadow, as those characters are obviously owned by other companies.  Nor do they include the diverse dystopian future tales depicted by various artists in the 1990’s “Grendel Tales.”  But I am in heaven with what you see below — or maybe hell, considering these books’ central motif.

To top it all off, that hefty tome beneath the comics is W. H. Auden’s “Collected Poems,” edited by Edward Mendelson, with the poet’s work between 1927 and his death in 1973.  It’s 927 pages.  It weighs 30 pounds, probably.  And it is indexed by both the poem’s titles and their first lines.  That is what you call a lifetime investment.

The comics will be excellent summer reading; as will Auden.  But I’ll focus more on the Briton when fall arrives.  Like his countryman, Doyle, he might be best enjoyed outdoors on a gray and increasingly brisk Autumn day.

I need to buy books more often.