Baltimore and crew escort Sofia, the young woman who they saved from the undead monster in this first issue of this series, through the Estonian town. Villem, the monster, returns. The crew comes to arms while Sofia finds a solution to stop the creature (her undead husband) once and for all. Having thwarted Villem, the group realizes that the Witch of Harju watches atop a nearby roof. As Baltimore gives chase, the witch turns into a crow and heads into the woods. With no time to bury their fallen comrade Quigley, Baltimore’s group hunts the witch in the woods. Her power, though, may be too great for the hero who vowed to slay all the dark creatures. And none of the townspeople seem all that excited to lend a hand.

So many great elements go into making this a great read. First off, the unapologetic battle with undead creatures supplies a great deal of fun. Pages aren’t spent debating whether the creatures happen to be a hoax or some explainable adversary. No, this is pure, unadulterated monster hunting as it should be. Second, the setting makes for an outstanding departure from the rest of the tech-driven modern-day monster hunters. And, no, Baltimore does not create anachronistic future weapons to beat his enemies. He uses simple blades and bullets. Third, the “Young Goodman Brown” feeling of paranoia comes through quite well with the town that, for some damnable reason, doesn’t want to exorcise the demonic witch from their midst. Finally, the horror gets magnified with a great little story element that involves bell attached to strings leading into graves to avoid being buried alive. Read the book to see what I mean—I’m not spoiling anything.

I have covered a few of the chapters of the hero known as Baltimore, and I must say that this series has captured the monster-fighting sense of adventure better than its predecessors.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden Artist: Peter Bergting Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 8/27/14 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital