Here’s the review safe run-down from Dark Horse:

When Baltimore and Duvic find themselves fighting side by side against a plague of vampires, our hero is captured and taken to a weird ritual where a witch plans to feed him to the ancient undead.

The idea of the vampire is by no means unique; however, Mignola and Golden put a most interesting spin on the genre.  Having the tale of Lord Baltimore take place in post-World War I Europe provides an interesting a unique setting.

For issue two of this series, the titular hero squares off with the obsessed and insane priest, Duvic.  The priest wants to purge the world of Baltimore, for Duvic feels the hero to be a curse and a sinner.

We open with the two dueling in a hotel lobby.  The fight escalates between the two, only to be heightened in conflict by the addition of the marauding vampires.  Thrown in the local garrison and a three-way fight erupts.

Mignola’s art style, simple with evocative colors and shading, shines through from the cover.  His artistry, now synonymous with horror-based comics, carries through via Ben Stenbeck’s depiction of Baltimore.  I particularly favored the way the artist captured just enough detail while being true to Mignola’s designs.  The climax at the train reveals just the right balance between artistry and functional storytelling.

There’s enough explication to fill one in on the previous events and to jump on board this issue.  However, the summaries never bog down the story.  Mignola and Golden keep the action going at an excellent pace.

All of the Baltimore series have been great fun to read and defied cliché by imbuing the hero with enough twists and turns to give readers a story that’s exciting and new each issue.  Hopefully the shocking cover will grab readers; if not, the story itself will.  Don’t miss this series.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden Artist: Ben Stenbeck Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 10/16/13