Baltimore: The Widow and The Tank (one-shot)
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden
Artist: Ben Stenbeck
Colors: Dave Stewart
The time for another installment of Baltimore is here! His family decimated by vampires, Lord Henry Baltimore has taken up the fight against any and all supernatural beings, but especially vampires and the one who took his family from him! In this newest one-shot, two stories from his adventures await!
The first tale is about a widow who gets a visit from Baltimore. He’s inquiring about her husband, a man who supposedly died in the war. Baltimore believes he came home from the war a changed man. Or, no longer a man, but now one of the undead. She tells him that he’s wrong, but he knows otherwise. He lies in wait for the evening, when he knows that her husband, and others, will stalk the night!
The second story involves a small town that is plagued by a vampire who dwells in an abandoned tank that was left behind from a war. Baltimore finds the tank and has a conversation with the vampire in it. As night draws closer, Baltimore finds out that there are things that can make even a vampire afraid. Will Baltimore and the vampire survive the onslaught of creatures that is bearing down on them?
OK, so, this series is very predictable in the manner that you can always count on it to deliver a solid story, or in this case two! Mignola and Golden have a pretty good formula going for this series, and hopefully it will continue. This issue showed more of the same, though, so if you’re getting bored, maybe it’s time to jump ship. If not, then be ready for the usual horror themed slice ’em up action as before.
Ben Stenbeck has been at this from day one, and it would be a crime to ever have anyone else draw this book. Or have anyone other than Dave Stewart on colors, either. This combination is absolute perfection on this title, and reading it from cover to cover is all the proof you’ll need. The covers have been nothing short of spectacular, too. The action scenes when Baltimore is doing his dirty work are usually the best, but in this one, the page where Baltimore confronted the soldier’s wife near the end of the story was easily the best. Rating 4.5/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
