Baltimore : The Widow & The Tank (One-Shot)

by lucstclair on February 20, 2013

Vampire killer Lord Henry Baltimore continues his vengeful hunt for the creature known as Haigus with two blood soaked tales of terror!
 

The Team

Written by Mike Mignola (The Amazing Screw-On Head & Other Curious Objects, Witchfinder Vol. 2 : Lost & Gone Forever) & Christopher Golden (Baltimore Vol. 1 : The Plague Ships HC, Joe Golem & The Drowning City). Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck (Witchfinder : In The Service of Angels, Baltimore Vol. 2 : The Curse Bells HC) & coloured by Dave Stewart. Published by Dark Horse Comics.
 

The Pros & Cons

This one comic features 2 short stories with more bang for your buck. “The Widow” takes Lord Baltimore to a rural town in England where a middle aged woman’s soldier husband has returned from the war a very changed man. Guess what he is? Haigus’ influence is everywhere it would seem.
 
The second story is entitled “The Tank”. In a little French village, there are rumours of a vampire that has killed children & livestock and has taken shelter into the belly of an abandoned tank in the middle of a field. But not everything is what it seems, as the world has many different types of creatures that go bump in the night.
 
This one shot has everything you’d come to expect from a Baltimore comic, blood, guts, action, vampire slayings & a straight forward stories. What I like about these series and what differentiates the protagonist Baltimore from the other more modern vampire/supernatural hunters like Buffy, Blade and the B.P.R.D. is that Baltimore doesn’t need high tech weapons or even modern day technology to hunt down vamps. He uses his wits, his weapons and his need for vengeance to fuel his mission. He’s even missing a leg, now that’s bad-ass!
 
Ben Stenbeck seems to be the illustrator of choice for every chapter of Baltimore and on one hand, it would be nice to see a different penciller every once and a while, but on the other hand, I’m just so used to his style that I can’t imagine the series without his influence.
 

The Outcome

Another fine addition to the collection of Baltimore. Kudos to Mignola, Golden, Stenbeck & Stewart.
 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside