Beowulf is a fictional character of the swords and sorcery genre published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. The character debuted in ''Beowulf: Dragon Slayer'' #1 (May

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

), and was created by Michael Uslan and Ricardo Villamonte. The character is based on the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

mythic hero

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

, first depicted in the

Nowell Codex The Nowell Codex is the second of two manuscripts comprising the bound volume Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, one of the four major Old English literature#Extant manuscripts, Old English poetic manuscripts. It is most famous as the manuscript containi ...

Publication history

The tale of

' version of Beowulf starts out very close to the mythic Bēowulf, but later veers wildly away into the regions of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and faustian fantasy. The ''Beowulf'' title only lasted six issues, running from May

to March

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Fictional character biography

Under instructions from a being known as "The Shaper", Beowulf travels to Castle Hrothgar in Daneland, to fight the monster Grendel. On the way there Beowulf and his men take a detour into the Underworld where they rescue Nan-Zee, a Swedish scylfing warrior, from the Demons who have been controlling her. Beowulf, Nan-Zee, and his companions Wiglaf and Hondscio continue onwards to Castle Hrothgar, but are again detoured, ending up in a bog where they battle Swamp Men. Meanwhile, Grendel and his mother reveal to the reader that they are descendants of

Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...

. Somehow, Beowulf and friends fall through a dimensional gateway beneath a patch of

quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

into a fiery underworld they refer to as

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

. At a later point in the series Beowulf discovers that the only way to slay Grendel is with the nectar of the Zumak Fruit. Along the way he encounters

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

, a mysterious Lost Tribe of Israel, Ulysses accompanied by a troop of anonymous

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Warriors, Egyptian/

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ian space aliens straight out of Chariots of the Gods, and the lost city of Atlantis. In the final issue of the series Beowulf and Nan-Zee travel from Atlantis to

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, where they finally get their hands on some Zumak fruit in the labyrinth of King Minos where Beowulf fights a

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

which is being controlled by Satan. Because he has made Dracula his heir over Grendel, Grendel kills Satan by plunging a

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

into his back. The Minotaur dies, and Beowulf eats some Zumak fruit; the fruit grants him supernatural strength on par with Grendel. Beowulf and Nan-Zee then make their way back to Daneland in order to slay Grendel who has taken his place as king of the underworld.

Wonder Woman

Beowulf's first appearance in over thirty years occurs in ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' #20 (July

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

), where Wonder Woman and Stalker recruit him and Claw the Unconquered for a mission to slay the Demon Lord Dgrth

The New 52

Beowulf is featured in a backup story in the ongoing series '' Sword of Sorcery'' beginning in September 2012. The story is written by Tony Bedard. In this version Beowulf lives in a post-apocalyptic future where the society has reverted to ancient times. Created as a super-soldier he kills an entire group of warriors sent to find him, but spares a young kid called Wiglaf who explains that he is there with a message from King Hrothgar, begging Beowulf to come north and slay the monster Grendel that plagues his mead hall nightly. Beowulf is uninterested until he is told that the King is a great general. Upon confronting the creature Wiglaf and Beowulf discover the latter to be his brother and that both were created by Basilisk leader Regulus who had seen the threat of metahumans and aliens growing on earth, and schemed to empower average humans.

Powers and abilities

* After consuming the nectar of the Zumak Fruit, Beowulf gains superhuman strength and speed equal to the demon Grendel. * Beowulf is an accomplished swordsman and unarmed combatant.

Other versions

* A version of Grendel who is revealed to be the son of

Vandal Savage Vandal Savage (Vandar Adg) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is said to be a Cro-Magnon warrior who gained immortality and advanced healing abilities after encountering a strange meteorite during prehis ...

debuted in '' Secret Six'' #12.''Secret Six'' #12 (August 2009)

References

External links

Beowulf in comics

Fanzing: The DC Implosion
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DCU Guide: Beowulf
1975 comics debuts DC Comics superheroes Mythology in DC Comics DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics titles DC Comics fantasy characters Fantasy comics Fictional swordfighters in comics Works based on Beowulf Comics about dragons