DC’s Beowulf Dragonslayer #1 (April-May 1975) is honestly my favorite Sword & Sorcery comic from the 1970s. There are many reasons for this though nostalgia is not the only factor. Some of the reasons include: it was the first comic I came across about Beowulf. (It’s not the first), the artwork by Ricardo Villamonte is horror-oriented as well as filled with action. I love John Buscema and Barry Smith and Howard Chaykin and the others but Villamonte has that European flavor that works so well for dark fantasy. And lastly, Michael Uslan‘s writing is off-the-wall nuts at times. Beowulf versus UFOs! Just wait.
The comic was edited by Denny O’Neil, a guy who knew S&S comics from his early days. He and Joe Orlando had the job of bringing S&S to DC, who now saw that Conan the Barbarian at Marvel was a big deal. Other S&S characters included Claw the Unconquered, Stalker and Hercules Unbound. Unlike Claw, Beowulf would be cancelled because of poor sales, not the DC Implosion. (There simply weren’t enough Beowulf nuts like me out there. Sigh.)
The first issue is special in that it is the only one that tries to adapt any of the original 6th Century epic. As in the Old English poem, Beowulf and his men come to the drinking hall of Hrothgar to slay the demon haunting it. Unlike the poem, Uslan introduces a female character into the story (that’s if you don’t count Grendel’s mother who doesn’t show up.) Other changes: Grendel doesn’t get his arm pulled off, doesn’t die, and spends all his time trying to satisfy his boss, Satan.
Grendel hears the partying going on over at Hrothgar’s house. He decides to go do mischief for his own evil reasons, and to please his master.
We then meet the great warrior of the Geats, Beowulf. We also get to meet his companions including Wiglaf and Hondscio. Beowulf laughs at his enemies, the Franks, says they fight like women. Wiglaf warns him one day he will meet a woman who will make him regret that comment.
The warriors come across a wizard who tells Beowulf, in a riddling way, of Hrothgar’s troubles at Heorot. They chase him off then head for their boat.
Beowulf talks about fame and how his only desire is to be so famous he will never be forgotten. They head off to the land of the Spear-Danes.
We go to Heorot where Hrothgar and his folk are dining.
Someone we recognize is there– the wizard. The man talks in more riddles about the coming of Beowulf. Unferth is about to have him thrown out when–
— and uninvited guest shows up.
No one can stand against the monster Grendel. He kills and kills.
This is the point where the comic begin to go its own way. The warriors on Beowulf’s ship meet a beautiful siren who calls them onto the rocks and death. Beowulf dives into the water to stop her.
Beowulf knocks her out but she is only the bait…
The warrior is set upon by winged demons.
The woman kills the last of the monsters then introduces herself as Nan-Zee, a Scryling, or woman-warrior. Beowulf laughs at her and gets punched. The two scuffle in the mud but end up trading goo-goo eyes instead of punches. Uslan has introduced his love interest. Nan-Zee will be with Beowulf until the end.
Beowulf and his crew show up in Hrothgar’s territory. The guards welcome the great warrior.
From the shadows, Unferth sees them and knows he will be shamed for he could not kill Grendel.
Unferth uses magic to cast an illusion on the visitors. They find themselves suddenly in a swamp filled with monsters!
Depending on how familiar you are with Beowulf, all of this may seem like pretty conventional Sword & Sorcery. You have a hero, monsters, girls in skimpy outfits, etc. What I always found fun was the elements Michael Uslan took from the original poem. If you had lived back in elder times, you would have heard this story told by a scop, or minstrel. (Yes, toss a coin to your Witcher if you like.) There would have been no mention of Satan in that recital.
The monks who wrote the tale down later were Christians and added such elements as referring to Grendel as a child of Cain. Uslan ran with this to make Satan the main bad guy in the comic. Its a weirdly modern element but this was the 1970s. Supernatural comics like Marvel’s Son of Satan were competition in 1975. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1972) had an influence as did horoscopes, Bigfoot and crystals. It was a time of occult interest, so why not in a Sword & Sorcery comic?
Next time: “The Slave Maid of Satan”!
This whole series is wonderfully lunacy, beautifully drawn. My favorite running gag is how every “magic spell” is just some mundane phrase written backwards, like “Enoyna sinnet!”