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Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: November 27, 2013
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Author/Artist Mike Mignola and co-artist/co-authors Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon continue to mine the rich vein of the world of Hellboy, here following another agent on his quest for vengeance and closure.
Bold, disruptive and bloody frames fill the story's opening pages as the characters of The Sisters are introduced after their vampiric transformation. Cut next to the B.P.R.D. offices in Connecticut in 1948 - Agent Simon Anders is plagued by vicious memories as apparently the senior agent, The Professor, had the Sisters locked inside Anders' brain. Through them, Anders can witness a gathering place where all the vampires once met, to worship their queen, Hecate. He figures that if he's able to locate this actual place he can finally locate the actual vampires and put an end to all this madness. The Professor, for his part, begrudgingly provides him with information to get him started.
The place Anders is headed is tied further to an old story of one Princess Eleonora who had been suspected of contracting a “vampire disease.†She lived out her earthly days in a village in Czechoslovakia so Anders finds himself soon there. He's met upon his arrival and then aided with backstory by Hana Novarov, a young local woman who knows more than Anders suspects. She's soon filling him in the princess' association with Wilhelm von Rosenberg who supposedly died in the sixteenth century. But as the princess' husband, in 1693, he was spotted off and on again for many years afterward, always bringing dark times for the local village.
As he's being told this tale a mysterious old woman interrupts and gives Anders some old vampire rings and clues/warnings. The Sisters inside his head are very intrigued with this, telling Anders he'll need them to prove himself to the count, once he finds him. This sets Anders on to the next phase of his story, following the old river to an ancient ruin. Hana accompanies him and together the search deep into the old castle ruins, The Sisters leading him on.
Soon enough, then, Anders is able to find and confront Wilhelm at last. During their confrontation, though, Wilhelm informs Anders that he never murdered his wife but that, rather, she had traded her soul to Hecate to find and save Wilhelm's. Yet it's The Sisters that point out Wilhelm's ignorance about saving his dear departed and Anders, now fully-powered by The Sisters, is able to destroy Wilhelm but at the cost of becoming something far more menacing.
As he's leaving the ruined castle Anders is suddenly surrounded by a coven. Learning that Hana was part of their number and that they wish to destroy him now, he and The Sisters become completely one and a fierce battle ensues. Hecate's true, untrustworthy nature is revealed as well and now Anders is the monster he used to be. And so, in the concluding chapter of the story, The Professor sets out to finish him and put a final end to the tragedy. But Anders is too far gone, too powerful, to tied into the spirit world. The ending is just another beginning, then, as the surviving vampires know Anders will come for them and The Professor knows that the B.P.R.D. will have to fight them all, even a former friend and agent of theirs.
Rich, dark visuals compel the story, deftly moving it in and out of the physical-world shadows that echo the recesses of Ander's soul in this story. It's another excellent entry in a great line of stories related to the B.P.R.D. This trade is filled out nicely as well with many sketches and concept art pieces, too, so if you're a fan of this team's work this publication will not disappoint.
