This post is brought to you by all the heroic fantasy being published at RAGE m a c h i n e Books. We have a fondness for swords and monsters. Our Swords of Fire anthology series will be four volumes later this year. G. W. Thomas writes the Bearshirt series about Arthan the Bear Man, while T. Neil Thomas is finishing his rollicking trilogy about assassins and a lone necromancer called Masterless Apex out soon. Jack Mackenzie has collected his tales of Sirtago & Poet in two collections Blades & Abominations and Blades & Alchemy with a third out later next year. These books have been popular and we know you will enjoy them.
I’ve looked at two of the best Beowulf comics before. My favorite is 1975’s Beowulf Dragonslayer from DC. The other is Franco Caprioli’s black & white from Europe. (There is also Wally Wood’s “The Ghost Beast”.) There are several graphic novels that I will get around to eventually but these ones today are more unusual. I use that adjective because you’d never expect to find Beowulf stomping around in these comics. See if you are surprised.
“Stuart Taylor” (Jumbo Comics #50, April 1943) begins with Stuart showing off a helmet and a sword from ancient times. Dr. Hayward sends Stuart, himself and his daughter into the past (Not quite sure how a time machine sends you to Europe as well? A time and space machine.) There Stuart gets to meet a three-headed dragon named Grendel. Hrothgar asks the strangers to help. Stuart is charged with a false claim and laid at the door where the monster will appear. Beowulf saves him, pulling off Grendel’s arm. Grendel’s mom doesn’t show up later. The time travelers return home. This odd version of Grendel sets a trend as you will see in the next comic. Art Peddy knows how to draw a monster!
“Beowulf the Mighty” (Conquest #1, 1955) follows the first tale of Beowulf fairly faithfully, though he is drawn as a giant compared to ordinary men. The big surprise is that Grendel is a dinosaur. I’m not all that convinced that throwing a T. rex into the sea would solve your problem. No idea why they substituted a dinosaur, perhaps dinos were hot then?
“Thane of Bagarth” (Hercules #1-13, October 1967- September 1969) was written by Steve Skeates, who penned the odd S&S tale for Warren. This continuing series about Thane guest stars an old Beowulf in some episodes. This is the Beowulf who has defeated Grendel and his mom but not the dragon yet. The story isn’t really concerned much with the old stories but it is unusual to see Beowulf as a side character.
“Beowulf and the Wizard” (Wendy Witch World #22, December 1967) This text story was written by an unknown author. I suspect that art is by Ernie Colon. This tale isn’t one of the traditional stories but a new one. Beowulf takes on a wizard who can turn himself into a dragon. Beowulf throws him in the lake, making the wizard turn back. No wizard gets his arm yanked off but another dragon. As Wendy says, “How awful!”
“Beowulf” (The Land of Prestor John #1, 1976) was written by John Stoker. This obscure semi-pro comic features a four page Beowulf piece which is mostly art by Gustovich.
“The Past Is Tense” (Underdog #7, June 1976) was written by Steve Skeates. That’s right, the guy who gave us Thane of Bagarth gets to have some fun with a Beowulf that is really a wolf. More time travel with Simon Bar Sinister inventing a time-projector. First Underdog meets Sweet Polly and her nephew who tells him about Beowulf. Underdog and Polly gets zapped back in time and meet the real Beowulf, who is, of course, a wolf. Beowulf hits on Polly before sending them back to their time with a giant slingshot. They return in time to stop Sinister from robbing a bank.
“Beowulf Duck” (Donald Duck & Co. #21, May 21, 2014) was written by Henning Kure and Martin Moulag shows that the European Disney creators aren’t afraid of some little Ango-Saxon heroics. This isn’t really surprising. Europe produced the Wizards of Mickey and a number of other Fantasy Disney classics. I wish I had a copy of this so I could tell you more but it will give me something to look forward to.
Conclusion
These comics are all side trips on the Beowulf voyage. Nothing as traditional as Jerry Bingham’s First graphic novel or as controversial as Neil Gaiman’s comic that became an animated film (not my favorite). What it does tell us is that Beowulf is part of our heroic heritage even if you are reading a Harvey comic. The classic hero versus the monster plot is part-and-parcel of every super-hero comic book.
I think old Beowulf has done better than some other heroes that deserve more attention. Consider Gilgamesh. That guy was the first hero to ever get written done (on clay tablets but written down all the same). There should be piles of Gilgamesh comics, which of course, there aren’t. I mean back in 2900 B. C. this guy was bigger than Conan. Unfortunately, he had to wait until 1849 to get back into the game. I can’t wait for The Savage Sword of Gilgamesh with a four-part mini-series about Enkidu. And that first issue where Gilg and Enki are fighting against each other before joining forces to take out Humbaba. Well, you can wait and read about it in Roy Thomas’s next comic…
Sword & Sorcery from RAGE machine Books
I can vaguely remember reading a terrible comic as a kid where young Beowulf and Grendel had adventures. Some cursory internet research tells me this was called “Kid Beowulf”, and it indeed follows “twin brothers Beowulf and Grendel, separated at birth and reunited by an extraordinary family”. It looks very similar to any number of Christian kids books but I can’t remember if there was an explicit theological component or not, though I’m leaning towards no. I’m nowhere near intrigued enough to track down a copy to find out, but I thought it worth mentionining at least.
I should have included that one. I will dig.