Grendel #40

This is the final issue in this arc, and in this series. It is followed by several mini-series under the Grendel Tales title. They all take place in this same time period, however.

Now that Orion has control of the world, he shrinks back from daily governance. A woman named Laurel Kennedy rises through the ranks and quickly manages to gain great influence. Orion is getting old, and Fadi persuades him to have an heir before she dies. The manipulative Kennedy steps up and quickly marries him. However, it turns out she can't have children any more, so Orion gets himself pregnant using the technology of the time.

Cross goes more and more insane, but most of the other vampires are too blinded by their religious devotion to him to notice. Zebra, can't take it any more, and decides to assassinate Orion, but fails. The attempt reminds everyone about the vampires, and Orion has VEGAS flattened. Some vampires escape, however, and bring the semi-comatose, blood-drunk Cross with them.

Orion's child, Jupiter, is born. Orion dies of old age, and Laurel Kennedy takes over until Jupiter is old enough to rule.

This arc has a very unique storytelling structure. Each of the comics in this arc are divided into two stories, each of which continues through the arc. The first half of each issue is about Orion, and is told using multiple small rectangular panels of the same size, usually 8 to a page. The text is often placed in large paragraphs the size of the drawn panels. The second half of each issue is about the vampires, and is told using a more conventional panel/text layout. Each of the vampire stories are themselves made of two parts: one about Cross, Kierch, and Zebra, and another about one of the "everyday" denizens of Grendel's Palace. They are narrated by either Zebra or Kierch.

In addition, this issue has an entirely separate story that is printed upside down and begins at the back of the comic. It fits in the Grendel Tales line of stories, which are written by guest writers instead of Matt Wagner.

It tells the story of Marcus Brand, who is studying the history of Grendel for his Ph.D. He gets involved with some campus activists, but their politics get the attention of the Grendel Corps. The Grendel Corps kills the activists and Brand runs off. His brush with real death and violence makes him lose interest in his Grendel obsession.