So close yet so far.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Wagner
Art: Matt Wagner
Colors: Brennan Wagner
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
What They Say:
Matt Wagner! Grendel Prime’s crusade as the ”White Warrior” becomes legendary on the planet known as Bojan Feq. But his campaign of nonviolent resistance to overturn and eradicate the practice known as ”the Ordeal” eventually brings him into conflict with the leader of that world’s largest caste—a ruthless despot known as Gama Gorach!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The world of Grendel is long and vast but it’s surprising at times how little really gets referenced when it comes to that expansive past. A lot of it is easy to not bring up because it was different characters inhabiting the mantle at that time but with Prime, well, Prime has been around a long time and involved in a lot of things. So it’s nice that even as dialogue we get him remembering a conversation with his Kahn in the past that reflects some of what may be going on here in this current storyline. It’s a good piece to the story and one that Wagner weaves in well at the right time without making too big of a thing over, all while illustrating some really delightful material that reminded me of his work from the 80s era more than any other within this series so far.
With Prime’s journey around the world in his effort to end the cycle of violence that comes from the Circle encounters, he’s now made is way to what’s basically the capital. His “herald,” Naz, is taken aback by all of it having come from a small town and Prime promises to keep him safe, a promise he can’t keep, as they work to end the violence of this society that has normalized in a terrible way. With this part of the journey, hopefully the big final part of it, Prime intends to challenge the Gama Gorach to a fight so that he can end things as he’s done elsewhere. What makes this fight different is that Prime isn’t going up against a Rashur or Kennig but rather a Glieb, your bureaucrat that you see everywhere else and never in the circle. The nature of the Circle means the challenge must be accepted, however, and that’s what Prime is counting on in addition to the reputation that precedes him here as the White Warrior.
There are some interesting aspects to getting to the actual arena itself with Gama’s captain of the guard essentially orchestrating everything and setting it so that Prime is “captured” and an easy kill for Gara, which everyone in attendance accepts. Gama, for his part, is this time Fraggle of a character that’s pompous and clear but it’s here that we get what may be the truth as Prime remembers that conversation with his Kahn about those that wield power and maintain tight control may be doing so in order to prevent a bigger evil from happening. Is that what the Circle represents? A compromise for smaller and simple kills instead of the three races tearing each other apart? Quite possibly, and I love that this is touched upon but not sussed out as Gama has bigger plans to ruin Prime’s reputation, which leads to a brutal death and Prime forgoing all his work – and this world – with a brief bout of revenge that feels decidedly earned.
In Summary:
This series has delivered in spades for me since the start of it but this one is probably the strongest story/character one yet in terms of giving us a world that’s more nuanced and complex than the others. I really like what we get here and how the story has flowed since Prime got here and the path that he ended up on. The artwork was great as always with interesting characters and designs to bring it all together that resulted in engaging storytelling. There’s a ton to like here and I’m excited to see how it concludes in the next issue – and to race to the last page to see news about another series that I hope will be coming after this.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 16th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
