Baltimore,

July 30, 2007
Mignola (HellBoy
) and Golden (The Myth Hunters
) create a haunting allegory on the nature of war, fusing the poignancy of Hans Christian Anderson's “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” the supernatural chills of Dracula
and the horrors of WWI and the subsequent influenza epidemic. Years after Capt. (and Lord) Henry Baltimore is infected by a demonic vampire bat while wounded near the Ardennes forest, he summons three friends to a mysterious meeting. Demetrius Aischros is the merchant sea captain who had taken Baltimore home to Trevelyan Isle, where they found Baltimore's family dead and his wife resurrected as a vampire. Thomas Childress Jr. is a nobleman and deserter who learns about the vampire infestation from Baltimore, his childhood friend. Dr. Lemuel Rose is the surgeon who treated Baltimore's war injuries. Together they help Baltimore face a final showdown with the terrible Red King. Stark monochrome illustrations from Mignola enhance this dramatic tale of war and fear.

Starred review from August 1, 2007
Lord Henry Baltimore lies wounded in no-mans-land on World War Is western front. As the carrion eaters come to feast, the injured soldier sees an impossibilitythe dead eating the dead. But the ravening monstrosity comes to him, further mangles his wounded leg, and claims Lord Henry as his enemy. Lord Henry realizes that a virulent plague that only he now knows about is hiding among the other plagues of the time. The vampirefor that is what the battlefield monster isdestroys his family, but Baltimore maintains steadfast pursuit of it. He summons three friends also experienced with the supernatural to await him at an old inn. They tell one another of their first meetings with Lord Henry, thereby disclosing what the vampire has inflicted on the peer since the incident on the western front. Lord Henry arrives with what is necessary to finally banish the vampiric plague. Even after a fight to near death, some damage cannot be healed. Prolific dark fantasist Goldens popular style is impeccable, and horror comics creator Mignolas copious illustrations confirm the tales dark atmosphere throughout, from no-mans-land to the old inn to the houses and graveyards where the vampire is encountered. A new classic of vampire literature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)