Bea Wolf

Not to be confused with Bea-wolf.

Bea Wolf is a 2023 middle-grade graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem Beowulf, written by Zach Weinersmith, illustrated by Boulet, and published by First Second. Zach considers it his magnum opus, saying in Bea-2 "it's the best thing I've ever written so please go buy it". The book covers about 40 percent of the original epic.¹

The story began as a way for Zach to hold his daughter Ada's attention on the commute to and from school.² It was promoted through the comics Bea-wolf, Algo, Bea, and Bea-2, and referenced in Sympathy and Care-2.

Synopsis

In a land of children known for their feats of fun, the tree house Treeheart is besieged by the middle-aged Mr. Grindle, whose touch can bring a fate worse than death: adolescence and adulthood. To face this foe comes a child warrior: Bea Wolf.

Plot

The epigraph is a quote from Such, Such Were the Joys by George Orwell:

...the child thinks of growing old as an almost obscene calamity, which for some mysterious reason will never happen to itself. All who have passed the age of thirty are joyless grotesques, endlessly fussing about things of no importance and staying alive without, so far as the child can see, having anything to live for. Only child life is real life.

fitt 1.

The book opens with a cloaked child narrator, who introduces a band of rowdy, fun-loving children. He describes several of them in turn, then tells of their king Carl, who finds buried treasure with a metal detector and uses it to buy a hoard of toys for everyone to share, taking none for himself. When Carl reaches puberty, he reluctantly leaves his childhood behind. He and his friends wade to a nearby island to burn a funeral pyre of toys. Carl becomes employed at a local grocery store, and remembers his wild childhood fondly.

He passes his crown on, and the royal line continues until the eleventh monarch, Roger. King Roger uses the kingdom's amassed fortunes to construct Treeheart, a treehouse paradise for his people. Treeheart faces threats from safety inspectors and envious teenagers, but the worst of them all is Mr. Grindle.

fitt 2.

Mr. Grindle is the dullest of the dull, a nosy neighbor to Treeheart determined to thwart any and all fun. He has the power to instantly turn young animals and children to adults with a touch of his finger. Disturbed by the noise nextdoor, he first politely asks the kids to be quieter, but is hit by a stray firework. Enraged, he sneaks in at night and turns most of the the sleeping children to adults, then begins shaping the treehouse to his own will.

fitt 3.

Roger awakens to a sparkling clean, safe, and funproof Treeheart. He rouses the survivors into rebuilding, but Grindle attacks again and turns fifteen victims to teenagers and adults. Wendy, hall-guard, protects Roger and holds him back from facing Grindle. Twelve days later, Roger unsuccessfully attempts to plead with Grindle, and the kids instead take refuge in a local rec room. They grow depressed and bored, ceasing all play. Grindle takes to cleaning Treeheart each morning, but can never approach the throne. Of the kids, only Wendy and Roger are brave enough to visit.

fitt 4.

To the north is the Hold of Heidi, the residence of warrior Bea Wolf, five-year-old cousin of the first king Carl. Bea Wolf gathers thirteen others and journeys to Roger's kingdom to support him in battle, and claims her strength alone to be that of "sixty and sixty" kids. Though suspicious, Wendy allows them to enter. Bea Wolf meets Roger and informs him of her intentions to battle Grindle. He says that he befriended the Hold of Heidi before Bea Wolf was born, and begins to tell a story.

fitt 5.

"Five Halloweens ago", newborn queen Heidi had a nightmare of a crying puppy. She woke to find an anguished boy, horrified by a farm filled with puppies in horrid conditions. Heidi, then-two-year-old Roger, the boy, and six others break into the farm that night to free the puppies, but discover pigs instead. The kids flee drones sent by the angered farmer, and Heidi prepares to face the blow from a charging pig, but king Kai (predecessor of Roger) helps her and her army escape into tunnels built long ago by Carl. The tunnels are stocked with mounds of candy, and the kids gorge themselves.

In the tunnels, Heidi says they must replace the pigs and pay reparations for their mistake, but Kai doubts it can be done. Roger hatches a plan to stockpile unwanted vegetables at dinner and use them to lure the pigs back into the pens, which they do, and leave five coins as apology. Confused, the farmer retires the next morning without telling the kids' parents what happened. Grateful, Heidi swears aid to the dynasty of Carl.

Back in the present day, Roger remains hopeless despite the sworn aid of Bea Wolf and her army, who were sent in fulfillment of that very oath. Bea Wolf rejects his pessimism, boasts of her victories, relishes the prospect of an enemy strong enough to challenge her, and spurs king Roger into action.

fitt 6.

Encouraged by Bea Wolf's presence, kids return to Treeheart to celebrate that night. However, an envious six-year-old attempts to undermine Bea Wolf, claiming that she and another girl Becky competed to see who could remain longest in the forest lake. He says Bea Wolf remained for five nights, but still lost to Becky and was humiliated. Treeheart begins to doubt Bea Wolf's prowess.

Bea Wolf rejects his version, and tells her own version of the story. She and Becky were best friends, and actually came to the lake to play dodgeball. She dodged Becky's strikes for five days, but they were interrupted by a group of annoying teenagers, who immediately knocked Becky out of the forest with a dodgeball. Bea Wolf dodged their blasts, but was still overpowered. During the battle, hideous beasts awoke in the lake.

fitt 7.

Nine devils emerged from the lake, a saber-toothed shark, snake-tentacled squid, ghost submarine, antlered serpent, seven-headed snapping turtle, two reverse mermaids, and an enormous alligator. The teenagers fled, and Bea Wolf battled the devils into submission with her dodgeball.

fitt 8.

Back in the present, Bea Wolf's doubter leaves the table in shame. The kids resume celebrations, and Roger gives his crown to Bea Wolf, declaring her that night's queen.

An enraged Grindle breaaks into the treehouse for a third time, but the kids are now ready. Wendy blocks his first strike with her shield, and Bea Wolf clings to his back. Grindle's weapon-proof nightshirt deflects the others' attacks, but Bea Wolf manages to pull off his tie, reverting Grindle to a playful child. He leaps from the treehouse and disappears into the night.

fitt 9.

Hundreds of kids return to celebrate the night's victory. Bea Wolf restores the crown to Roger, who rewards the heroes with toys and candy. The narrator describes many of the night's heroes, then warns of Grindle's mother, who binds kids into crochet cocoons to be hung in her house till they reach adolescence, and has discovered her son and is beginning to hatch a nefarious plot. But that is a tale for another time.

Afterword

Zach gives an afterword about the original epic poem of Beowulf, how it was popularized by J.R.R. Tolkien's love for the story, and how Bea Wolf came to be. A few pages of character design and sketches are featured before the book concludes with acknowledgements.

History

Zach conceived the idea in Christmas of 2018, and later began telling it to his daughter Ada on the drive to and from school. Over the course of months, he made up the story on the drive and wrote it down that night. After the story was finished, he contacted his friend Boulet, a French cartoonist, who loved the idea and began sending him concepts for character designs and locations.² They got a publishing deal with First Second, and the book was released March 21, 2023.³

The writing style is heavily influenced by Old English poetry, sometimes emulating the half-lines in those poems with commas, and making heavy use of alliteration and kennings.⁴ Kennings are a type of figure of speech that uses a compound word in place of a noun: examples from the book include "tongue-punisher" for bell peppers, or "sea-chasm" for the forest lake.

The book was praised by Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Mary Roach,² and others.

Zach told Ars Technica that when they received the author copies, his daughter Ada grabbed one and read it in one sitting, then started talking in some of the epic language that the book uses. He also said that he's planning a sequel involving Grindle's mother and the dragon.¹

Bea Wolf was a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.⁵