An updated Beowulf character began as a back-up feature in Sword of Sorcery #0 in November of 2012 and ran through issue three, then finished the story arc in D.C. Universe Presents #19 in June of 2013. These series were published as part of a relaunching of a number of D.C. comics titles and the Beowulf stories, written by Tony Bedard and with art by Jesus Saiz (Sword of Sorcer #0-3) and Javier Pina (D.C. Universe Presents #19), were quite different from the earlier Uslan and Simone versions. The first four issues are set in a dystopic future and Beowulf is a cybernetic fighter who is released from suspended animation when a sensor is tripped outside of his chamber by Wiglaf and a group of Hrothgar’s men who have come to recruit him to fight Grendel.
The story features a number of characters from the poem and, despite its futuristic setting, the characters and buildings are illustrated to show them as being from the time of the original poem. Grendel’s mother is a scientist who explains to Beowulf that he is part of an experiment from the 21st century, one of a number of soldiers who were created to bridge the gap between homo sapiens and the super powered heroes and villains of that era. At the end of the first four issues, she has destroyed her lab and Beowulf and Wiglaf return to Hrothgar’s mead hall as heroes. In the story in D.C. Universe Presents #19, a scientist unwittingly brings Beowulf back to the 21st century while he is in the middle of a chase with a shape shifter, and after a protracted battle wherein the creature takes on the shape of numerous D.C. heroes, the scientist sends herself and Beowulf to his future world. Whether or not this version or the earlier version of Beowulf will be reused is left vague at the end, but it seems likely that some variation of Beowulf will be seen in a D.C. comic in the future.
The story features a number of characters from the poem and, despite its futuristic setting, the characters and buildings are illustrated to show them as being from the time of the original poem. Grendel’s mother is a scientist who explains to Beowulf that he is part of an experiment from the 21st century, one of a number of soldiers who were created to bridge the gap between homo sapiens and the super powered heroes and villains of that era. At the end of the first four issues, she has destroyed her lab and Beowulf and Wiglaf return to Hrothgar’s mead hall as heroes. In the story in D.C. Universe Presents #19, a scientist unwittingly brings Beowulf back to the 21st century while he is in the middle of a chase with a shape shifter, and after a protracted battle wherein the creature takes on the shape of numerous D.C. heroes, the scientist sends herself and Beowulf to his future world. Whether or not this version or the earlier version of Beowulf will be reused is left vague at the end, but it seems likely that some variation of Beowulf will be seen in a D.C. comic in the future.