Batman/Grendel - Matt Wagner - #1, p.45

Peak, top of the mountain Wagner for both story and art. This piece is so good it should be in a museum.

Thanks Simon! I agree, of course I heard "it should be in a museum" in Harrison Ford's voice, is that what you sound like? LOL!

More of a Marcus Brody accent, but that was the vibe I was going for!

Killer page! Big congrats!!

Thanks so much Rick!

Absolutely beautiful!

Thank you Eric!

Pure Wagner!!!

The concrete jungle is so varied here in design and material textures all very precisely constructed as a cage for Grendel to play in.  That blank window is like Grendel looking at a reflection of himself.  

Marcus your insights are always right on, the city as a cage and that last panel at first confounded me but it's so subtle, it IS a reflection of Hunter's soul which is dark, cold, and empty.

This page shows peak Grendel art by Matt and my favorite Hunter Rose Grendel look. Huge congrats!

Thanks Victor!

As good a page as you could hope for from this series!

Wow!

Killer page! This is all the goodness I remember from reading that book when it hit shelves. 

That middle right panel just screams noir to me. 

Congratulations!

Safe to say that this coud not have ended up in a better collection! Outstanding!

Thank you Chris, much appreciated!

Ooh, nice to see you actually got this page!  That second panel is actually my favorite with the shadow/lighting, but this is a fantastic looking page, and glad to hear it has sentimental value behind it too.  Congrats!

I also considered this series peak Matt Wagner. Glad it found such a good home. (And I'd never actually noticed that Hunter was looking at his watch.)

Sockamagee! (The only thing I don't like about this page is that it is not in my collection.)

Wow, wow, wow.

Atmosphere and surroundings spot on...beautiful

Josh, this is absolutely brain-meltingly gorgeous.  I'm right there with you in terms of what this book (and Matt Wagner as a creator) meant (and still means!) to me, and this is absolutely one of the finest pages from the entire series.  Grendel is like a coiled snake here, all potential energy, full of grace, menace, and danger.  One of the most frightening things about the character is, of course, the ease with which he detaches himself from any mooring to conscience or morality and him laughing at his own joke ("...or maybe she was just energy conscious?") as he casually waits for the moment to break in and continue to terrify his target is chilling.  Great writing!  And the ART here is even better, with Matt leaning into his considerable chiaroscuro skills, playing with light, shadow, and line weight...  Just so, SO good!  Mega congrats here, Josh, on locking down this treasure!  Wowza!!

awesome page

Excellent Hunter Rose page. A bit of a sweet spot for both the character and Wagner. The hunt remains to find my own...I'll admire this often in the meantime!

Thanks Felix! I agree it was a sweet spot indeed, and that time full of great memories of this book and comics in general.

I'd buy that for a dollar!

Wow, looks great!

The perfect page!

Wagner at his absolute best!! 

Very nice!