The epic tale of the great warrior Beowulf has thrilled readers through the ages — and now it is reinvented for a new generation with Gareth Hinds’s darkly beautiful illustrations. Grendel’s black blood runs thick as Beowulf defeats the monster and his hideous mother, while somber hues overcast the hero’s final, fatal battle against a raging dragon. Speeches filled with courage and sadness, lightning-paced contests of muscle and will, and funeral boats burning on the fjords are all rendered in glorious and gruesome detail. Told for more than a thousand years, Beowulf’s heroic saga finds a true home in this graphic-novel edition.
2007 Candlewick Press, 120 pp. full color, reinforced binding – ORDER A SIGNED COPY
paperback $12.99 ISBN 978-0763630232
hardcover ISBN 978-0763630225 (out of print)
The Collected Beowulf (self-pub edition, see below) $12.99 ISBN 978-1893131040
Praise for Beowulf:
“ A first-rate horror yarn… Hinds stages great fight scenes, choreographing them like a kung-fu master… Visceral.”
– The New York Times Book Review
“Gives young readers the Geatish warrior as the hypermuscular, hard-hitting proto-comic-book superhero he’s always been… With treatments like this available, honors English may never be the same.”
– Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“ Retells the old tale as a series of dark, bloody, chaotic clashes… A strongly atmospheric alternative.”
– Kirkus Reviews
Sample pages:
Beowulf was originally self-published and later reissued by Candlewick Press. The primary difference is in the choice of translation: Candlewick uses a more straightforward prose translation by AJ Church, while the self-pub uses a more archaically-flavored verse translation by Francis Gummere. Candlewick’s book is also printed on heavier paper, with french flaps and an embossed spot-lam cover, so it has a more deluxe look and feel. The self-pub edition is titled The Collected Beowulf because it was originally published in three comic-format issues. Compare the two editions. See Amazon “Look Inside” samples for the self-pub edition.
Medium:
The three sections of Beowulf are done in different materials. Part 1 is drawn with ink using a dip pen and brush, then colored digitally.
Part 2 is drawn and painted on wood panels using technical pen, watercolor, acrylic, and color pencil.
Part 3 is drawn like part 1, but colored using Dr. Martin’s dye and white charcoal.