This is my first review of a comic. Does it have a place in “dualist gaming.” Perhaps not, but I believe the readership will be appreciative of this. To be truthful, the bulk of what I read is theology, which is odd considering I picked up a horror comic book. But I have Daniel Wade to thank for this, as he is a bit of a darker version of me and a close friend. I think he’ll like that assessment as well.
Regardless, Baltimore is described as thus:
After a devastating plague ends World War I, Europe is suddenly flooded with vampires. Lord Henry Baltimore, a soldier determined to wipe out the monsters, fights his way through bloody battlefields, ruined plague ships, exploding zeppelins, and submarine graveyards, on the hunt for the creature who’s become his obsession.
One of my favorite genres is horror. As a pastor, perhaps I will be judged by many people, but I am generally fascinated by the minds of those who come up with some of these stories. I find there to be a bit of truth sprinkled amidst the bloodshed and horrific horrors, knowing what I have faced in life and knowing what I know to be true in the Bible’s account of it. But comic books haven’t always fascinated me save an occasional stumble into the Walking Dead when it first arrived in comic book form. To be certain, that series definitely went into the minds of those who had very little to live for; somewhat like a few walking zombies I see around me today in the malls and movies of life.
But Baltimore gripped me from the beginning. Though I am only six books into the series (not sure how many comics are in each), I can say that the writers have definitely taken what they learned in catholic school and twisted it (no idea if they even went to Catholic school). The main character is a relentlessly driven man with an empty soul and purpose save revenge. Through a series of events while in the midst of the horrors of World War I, Lord Baltimore is entangled in a plot that ravages the countryside and is intertwined powerfully. Yes, there are vampires, zombies, and all manner of evil creatures reeking havoc, but what kept me wanting to turn the pages was Baltimore himself and how he coped with all of the carnage.
The Plague Ships is bonafide horror. Not only does our intrepid hero battle vampires, but he also battles Hessian zombies infected from nasty fungal blossoms! Baltimore is a relentlessly driven man with a soul full of vengeance and hurt. An act driven out of fear leads to his whole life being destroyed and the subsequent quest for vengeance against all vampires, and in particular one with a vicious scar on his face.
The writer, Mike Mignola, is incredibly imaginative in his expanse of going to the depths of nightmares and dreams walking and moving in this beautifully artistic novel. He has written Hellboy and the likes of other dark novels but here he seems to hold nothing back from true horror. But it isn’t an archaic work; it moves with a pace that kept me moving from page to page. For lack of a better word, it is exciting, and reads more like an action story than horror. Baltimore has an endless quest to destroy the very creature that took his heart by slaying his family creates a loss like many of us feel from our own precarious lives. The fact that he can never go home again, either physically or emotionally, is particularly powerful; what he has seen and experienced has rendered it impossible.
As much as the writing is a strength in the comic, so are the illustrations. They have a clarity and a succinctness to them, even though they are all almost void of true color save drabs and the sudden onrush of reds. Indeed, it reminds me some of the Walking Dead in that art and time is not wasted on the surroundings so much as conveying the feeling that the author attempts to portray. Therefore, the pictures themselves tell much of the story as entire pages hold very little dialogue.
Against better judgement, I have to recommend this work. I will be looking for more releases in trade paperback or hardcover versions as a part of me was able to walk in the creativity of Mignola. Knowing Baltimore can no longer call any place his home, being alone on a quest for justice and vengeance, not having clear black and white heroes, makes this worth anyone’s time. Where monsters are not human so much as evil, and where good fights against that evil, and where sometimes the evil we most fear lies within our beating chest, makes this a work close to all of us.
Comic Relief: Baltimore This is my first review of a comic. Does it have a place in "dualist gaming." Perhaps not, but I believe the readership will be appreciative of this.
