Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Noble Ventures

      Tristram Taylor
      October 21, 2002
      Ambidextrous
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Interview: Mitch Gerads and Tom King Bring Sheriff of Babylon to Life

      Tristram Taylor
      November 3, 2015
      DC Comics, Interviews
    Recent
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • Collecting Profile: Jack O’ Lantern

      nguyen ly
      October 31, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • 3.0

      Review: Witchblade #2

      Tristram Taylor
      January 10, 2018
      Image, Indie, Reviews, Top Cow
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.0

      Review: HELLMOUTH #3

      Tristram Taylor
      December 15, 2019
      Boom! Studios, Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Steve Lieber & Jeff Parker: Tell a Story of Park Rangers in Underground

      Tristram Taylor
      September 21, 2009
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Frank Miller's Ronin Pt. 1: 'You Are Not Without Purpose'

      Tristram Taylor
      July 8, 2016
      Classic Comics, Classic Comics Cavalcade
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Comic Book People: Photographs from the 1970s and 1980s

      Tristram Taylor
      February 21, 2014
      Kickstarter Spotlight, News
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Hope Larson On The Knife's Edge

      Tristram Taylor
      May 25, 2017
      Books, First Second, Interviews
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  • Collecting Profile: Transformers
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

ADVANCE REVIEW: Baltimore: The Curse Bells #1 (Tristram's review)

Tristram Taylor
August 9, 2011
Reviews

ADVANCE REVIEW! Baltimore: The Curse Bells #1 will come out on August 10, 2011.

I could tell almost immediately that I’m going to really enjoy Baltimore: The Curse Bells, which follows Lord Henry Baltimore’s single minded hunt for one particular vampire through Europe in 1916. Baltimore’s motivations are very personal, though that doesn’t stop him from taking time out to destroy any other unholy creatures that cross his path, and apparently Europe is riddled with them.

In this alternate history, the Great War was ended abruptly by the emergence of a plague that swept the planet. With the plague came the emergence of vampires and other demonic monsters. Whether the vampires caused the plague, or the plague awoke the vampires, is a topic of debate among the people who are willing to admit that vampires even do exist. This sets up one of the many nice little mysteries that this issue presents, along with what the actual history is between Baltimore and his prey, Haigus. Between Baltimore’s narration and the dialogue, it’s obvious that his quest to destroy Haigus is all consuming, and he’ll stop at nothing until it’s accomplished. It also seems like Haigus is afraid of Baltimore, as he is constantly running, hiding, and setting traps instead of facing him.

This promises to be an fantastic series. The world that has been created here is dismal and creepy while simultaneously beautiful and fascinating, which is classic Mignola. Baltimore himself is also a classic Mignola protagonist; strong and stoic without being one-note or cliche. He is a man on an unalterable course who is lethally efficient, but not cold. I do have one minor quibble. A personal pet peeve of mine is when the hero is in a dire situation, but the very next time we see him he is free and well, with no explanation as to how he escaped. This always bothers me, mainly because I want to see the action. I know that this is really just a matter of personal opinion, and this doesn’t affect my score at all.

The art here is damn near perfect. I applaud Stenbeck for being able to draw a dark and shadowy world while still including a beautiful amount of detail. Whether it’s a battle with dozens of vampire, or a close-up of a pock marked drunkard at the tavern every scene is intricately detailed, which is not always the case with horror books of this nature. A lot of the time, shadows dominate the art, but here they enhance it. There’s one scene in particular, where Baltimore and his quirky sidekick-to-be are having a conversation with a beautiful woman in the tavern. In one particular panel, the shadowing of Baltimore’s face telegraphs his next move so well. This is a man who is obviously about to strike, though there is very little detail to the face but the shadows. Beautiful work.

I am completely invested in this series, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. The dark nuns that we saw only briefly here are incredibly creepy, and I look forward to Baltimore’s inevitable encounter with them. Mignola and Golden have created an intriguing world here that is ripe for great stories.

Ray Tate also reviewed Baltimore: The Curse Bells #1 Read his thoughts, too!


Tristram Taylor lives in Scranton, PA. No, he does not work for Dunder Mifflin. He occasionally writes stuff at Delicious Zombie Food and can be found on Twitter as @TristramAugust.

, Dave StewartBen StenbeckChristopher GoldenDark HorseMike MignolaTristram Taylor

Share On:
Tweet
The Glory of "Morning Glories"
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies, Vol. 2: 1930-1932

About The Author

Tristram Taylor
Tristram Taylor

Tristram Taylor is a writer for Comics Bulletin

Related Posts

  • Dark Horse Presents: THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

    Ashley Hurst
    May 30, 2020
  • Top 10 Comic Universes Outside the Big Two

    Daniel Gehen
    May 1, 2020

Latest Reviews

  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
  • 4.5

    TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    October 29, 2020
  • 4.5

    Micro Review: Commanders in Crisis #1

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    October 12, 2020
  • 3.0

    Review: GHOST WRITER Fights the Spectre of Unevenness

    Daniel Gehen
    September 3, 2020
  • 3.5

    Review: Strange Skies Over East Berlin

    Yavi Mohan
    August 11, 2020
  • DRAWING BLOOD: A Hyper-Stylized, Fictional Autobiography

    Ben Bishop, Brittany Peer, David Avallone, Drawing Blood, Kevin Eastman, Tomi Varga
    August 9, 2020
  • 3.0

    Alien: The Original Script #1 – This One’s For The Fans

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    August 7, 2020
  • Singles Going Steady: Why? Lettering!

    Daniel Gehen
    July 28, 2020
  • 4.5

    X-MEN/FANTASTIC FOUR #4 is a Finale of Moral Questions

    Daniel Gehen
    July 22, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders