I recently passed this along to a friend — “Grendel Tales: Four Devils, One Hell” is easily one of the best comic stories I’ve ever read. I want to call it a limited series, but “Grendel Tales” was an ongoing 1990’s anthology series with individual stories that took place in the expansive “Grendel” universe established by the genius Matt Wagner.
The story is by James Robinson, the art is by Teddy Kristiansen. [Edit: the covers below actually were painted by Wagner himself.]
It’s a mixture of crime noir, drug-addled fantasy, apocalyptic fiction, a conspiracy mystery, good old vampire horror and a kick-ass New Orleans party story. It deserves a 10 out of 10.
It sounds like a hell of a fun fantasy novel. (Seriously, read the synopsis.) And grassroots marketing campaigns like this one are so important to independent authors.
I love Matt Davis’ cover design as well. It actually reminds me a lot of the work of one of my own favorite artists, Matt Wagner. (I actually thought it was a Wagner piece when I first saw the image via my Facebook’s newsfeed.)
… is when a friend texts you from an Arizona ComiCon to ask for advice about which books to buy. (Thanks, Len!)
Of COURSE I recommended the first “Grendel Omnibus” collection, ingeniously drawn and scripted by the amazing Matt Wagner.
I’d recommend viewing a few copies from a friend or the library before making a major purchase, though. It’s not quite for everybody — as you can see from the panels below, the Grendel books always were just a WEE bit violent …
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 