Character History

Teddy Ciccone is an established mob boss. His girlfriend is Porsche Heinz, an ex-porn star. He works to have a legitimate role in society as well, donating money to orphans and mixing with clergy as an influential "businessman."

His best hitman comes back from a job only to say that he didn't complete it, because someone else killed the target first. Ciccone is angry, but then Grendel (Hunter Rose) shows up, spouting verses from Alice in Wonderland, and kills the hitman. Ciccone hires Grendel as his new assassin, and he quickly gains a dreaded reputation among criminals and police.

What happens next depends on the story. In the first volume of Grendel, which is considered to be slightly out of canon as some of its stories were retold in new forms later on, Teddy sets a trap for Grendel. He leaves out a ledger with a gas canister inside. Grendel knows it's a trap but opens it anyway. He pretends to be knocked out, and when Teddy's lackeys come in, he slaughters them. Grendel then says that he is taking over Ciccone's crime family, but that he will leave Ciccone in place as an underling organizer. Grendel also removes certain activities from the gang's roster, including child prostitution and certain kinds of drugs.

In Grendel: Black, White and Red, the story is told a little differently. Grendel finds out that Ciccone is the target for an agent of Mossad due to some illegal arms shipments that involved Israel. The agent tries to farm out the hit, but Grendel finds out. He kills the agent, kidnaps Porsche Heinz, and blackmails Ciccone into giving him leadership of the mob.

The Ciccone gang continues to be Grendel's main criminal organization for years, even after he gets control of the other New York mobs and eventually all of organized crime on the East Coast.