Evil Lurking In The Heart Of The Devil: Dynamite And Dark Horse Announce Matt Wagner’s The Shadow Vs. Grendel

Since taking over The Shadow license, Dynamite Comics has come out with what seems like a Bakers Dozen worth of Shadow titles, some good, some only okay. And I have taken or left them on a title-by-title basis without really getting excited about too many of them after Garth Ennis’s initial few issues… up until now.

Dynamite and Dark Horse Comics have announced that they will be producing a crossover: The Shadow Vs. Grendel. Colt .45-wielding Vigilante Lamont Cranston versus Wagner’s fork-bladed staff-swinging master criminal Hunter Rose.

Jesus. This idea is such a gimme that I’m almost okay with it being yet another project between Wagner and Mage: The Hero Denied.

So what does Wagner have in mind for the story? Well, here’s the official blurb from Dynamite and Dark Horse:

Best-selling author Hunter Rose is secretly the masked assassin and criminal overlord known only as Grendel.  When an arcane artifact comes into his possession, Grendel finds himself thrust into a world for which he seems destined, where style and violence intersect to form a dazzling golden age.  He will soon discover that this New York also has a fearsome protector—a dark and mysterious avenger whose name is spoken in hushed whispers, The Shadow!

Okay, so the smart money, just based on that description, is that Grendel’s gonna be doing a little time travelling. And, given that Hunter Rose is an elitist dandy fop who likes his clothes and his high culture, 1930s New York is gonna be one hell of a setting for him to fit into. At least until The Shadow tries to blow his fucking head off.

So does Wagner have anything to add about his plans for the story?

I’ve been a huge fan of The Shadow for many, many years and my love of the character finally saw fruition when I got the chance to literally re-define his origins by writing  The Shadow: Year One for Dynamite.  To have the chance to both write and draw The Shadow facing my own creation is something of a dream come true!  It’s also adds yet another instant classic to my long legacy of Grendel projects with Dark Horse Comics.

So the answer’s no then.

Still and all: the story’s gonna be a three-issue miniseries, 48 pages a whack in a prestige format, and will be released sometime in 2014. There will most likely be additional details released at the New York Comic Con this coming weekend, and while we won’t be there, if we come across any more information, we’ll let you know. Because this one has me excited, man.

Not as excited about a release date for Mage III, but I’ll take it.

(via Bleeding Cool)