Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

1914-1918

Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

Mike Mignola, or at least his flagship character, Hellboy, achieved celebrity status with a highly successful underground comic series which spawned a highly successful series of movies which spawned a semi-successful series of animated movies and Superbowl commercials.
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Mignola draws equally upon the writings of Hans Christian Anderson and Bram Stoker to tell the fable of a World War I soldier who incurs the wrath of a powerful vampire. (By the way, you skipped that Hans Christian link, didn't you? Shame on you. Go back and check out that website. It's so worth it, trust me.) Mignola's recognizable artwork marks this as a graphic novel, but it is more of an illustrated novel, really. In terms of review, the novel hits the aura of gothic-ness it aims for right between the bloodshot and hypnotizing eyes, but it's format of seperate stories breaks up the flow and relies on a theme of overbearing misery which makes it hard for the reader to invest themselves at times.
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In terms of my timeline, this book is my only mark of the first world war. That being the case, it's important to mark WWI as a time of vampire infestation and plague. And only 21 years after Drac caught a boat to London.
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I know that Baltimore is reappearing in comics or other media, and I welcome it. Although the story is dismal and slowgoing for fans of Wesley Snipes at a blood-rave, the artwork and character of Lord Baltimore the Vampire Hunter is great horror-fun.

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