The first mainstream publisher to develop a version of Beowulf as a series was D.C., in its Beowulf: Dragon Slayer (April-May 1975), which others, especially Catherine A.M. Clarke (“Re-placing Masculinity: The DC Comics Beowulf Series and its Context, 1975-6”), have written about in some detail. Written by Michael Uslan and with art by Ricardo Villamonte, this series ran for six issues and, while it features a number of the characters from the poem, it makes no real pretense of accuracy in regards to the original. Over the years since this comic's publication, Uslan has gone on to establish himself as a movie producer, notably for the Batman franchise, and used his understanding of comics and world folklore to bring credibility to the study of comics on the university level. This merging of world mythology, popular culture, and the comic book format and traditions are apparent in this adaptation.
The characters one would expect to see, such as Wiglaf, Unferth, and Grendel and his mother, are present, but the series focuses more on the genre than on the original poem, incorporating elements of Lovecraftian supernatural suspense and Howard-esque sword and sorcery. As Clarke describes it, this series “[blends] the familiar myth of Beowulf the hero with other staples of the comic-book genre, such as dragons, demons – even Dracula, the Cretan Minotaur, and inter-planetary alien adversaries.” Purists will likely not be as positive in the way some characters and plotlines are developed, such as the incorporation of a Satan character for whom Grendel initially works while plotting to eventually overthrow, but again, Uslan is working with the concept of the epic hero, not necessarily the specific hero Beowulf. As he noted in a Facebook posting in 2018, "I wanted it to be something that Conan was not. It was the 70s . . . A time of 'Chariots of the Gods' and I was reading John Gardner's 'Grendel' and lots of other stuff that I could pour into this creative kitchen sink. It was meant to be a wild, fun, comic book roller coaster ride."
This version of Beowulf shows up as a D.C. character over 20 years later (2008) in issue 20 (volume three) of Wonder Woman, in a storyline written by Gail Simone, where he is recruited to join other D.C. sword and sorcery characters from the 1970s (Claw and Stalker) to fight the demon lord D’GRTH. Grendel (greatly changed in both appearance and bloodthirstiness since the 1975 series) appears briefly in issue 22 as the characters are preparing to fight in the past, then disappears until the end of issue 23 at the conclusion of the story arc, after finding his way to the present-day, and next appears in Simone’s Secret Six issue 12. Whether or not these specific versions will reappear in a D.C. comic is doubtful, since the company has since published a radically different version of Beowulf, as will be described later.
The characters one would expect to see, such as Wiglaf, Unferth, and Grendel and his mother, are present, but the series focuses more on the genre than on the original poem, incorporating elements of Lovecraftian supernatural suspense and Howard-esque sword and sorcery. As Clarke describes it, this series “[blends] the familiar myth of Beowulf the hero with other staples of the comic-book genre, such as dragons, demons – even Dracula, the Cretan Minotaur, and inter-planetary alien adversaries.” Purists will likely not be as positive in the way some characters and plotlines are developed, such as the incorporation of a Satan character for whom Grendel initially works while plotting to eventually overthrow, but again, Uslan is working with the concept of the epic hero, not necessarily the specific hero Beowulf. As he noted in a Facebook posting in 2018, "I wanted it to be something that Conan was not. It was the 70s . . . A time of 'Chariots of the Gods' and I was reading John Gardner's 'Grendel' and lots of other stuff that I could pour into this creative kitchen sink. It was meant to be a wild, fun, comic book roller coaster ride."
This version of Beowulf shows up as a D.C. character over 20 years later (2008) in issue 20 (volume three) of Wonder Woman, in a storyline written by Gail Simone, where he is recruited to join other D.C. sword and sorcery characters from the 1970s (Claw and Stalker) to fight the demon lord D’GRTH. Grendel (greatly changed in both appearance and bloodthirstiness since the 1975 series) appears briefly in issue 22 as the characters are preparing to fight in the past, then disappears until the end of issue 23 at the conclusion of the story arc, after finding his way to the present-day, and next appears in Simone’s Secret Six issue 12. Whether or not these specific versions will reappear in a D.C. comic is doubtful, since the company has since published a radically different version of Beowulf, as will be described later.