Summary: With the sisters slain and Anders safe back in the States, Professor Bruttenholm discovers that despite all his learning he is out of his depths in oractical knowledge such as how to heal Anders from his multiple vampire bites and so he summons his old mentor Father Ota Benga who is a skilled exorcist. Stegner is dismayed that Bruttenholm is entrusting Anders' life to a priest mumbling prayers and shaking talismans rather than a skilled physician but Ota points out that because of the supernatural nature of the injuries that there must then be a supernatural cure. As Ota chants over Anders' prone body his spirit mingles with Anders' own and he sees that the though their bodies were destroyed their spirits live on in Anders where they continue to torture him. As the prayers continue Ota produces a flaming sword and begins to force the spirits of Katherina and Annaliese through a door that he cuts into the void of Anders' spirit. However, just as it seems to be going Ota's way Hellboy enter's the room and his presence causes Ota to lose his focus and in the spectral plane the sister press their advantage and strike back at Ota, tearing off his hood and scratching at his face which causes wounds on the physical plane as well but with Hellboy scolded and escorted out by the Professor Ota regains control and forces the vampire sisters into the door way sealing them in with a stange symbol which also becomes carved onto Anders' chest. The exorcism complete Bruttenholm and Ota  retire to the professor's office where Ota reveals that the exorcism was not wholly successful as he only managed to cage them and he wasn't sure how long it would last. As they discussed the slippery slope of battling the supernatural with the supernatural Ota brought up Hellboy and his comments eerily mirrored Varvara's own from 1946 causing some concern for the Professor. However, as Ota's car left instead of shunning Hellboy as he had in both earlier occasions Bruttenholm went out and played baseball with his son.


Review: This is by far the best issue of the bunch; I loved the switches in the art between Ba' and moon, the way it switched from panel to panel as Ota prayed in the physical and did battle on the spiritual was amazing. We had seen the subtle changes early on, and clear divisions in the middle but here we get to see the two styles side by side and the contrast is very cool to see. Narrative wise I absolutely loved Mignola's take on vampirism, in the original lore the spread of vampirism is due to the simple exchange of blood and in modern stories its been shown to be both a virus and a parasite but in Mignola's version we see that people are turned by means of spiritual conquest. Where as a lot of modern story tellers try to bring science to Dracula Mignola goes against the current which not only creates a novel approach, but also adds a new layer to the mythos while still making it feel an old thread by adding a religious current to the story. On top of that we also got more on Hellboy's nature; though he denied Varvara's assertions at the end of 1946 he was shown to be distant from Hellboy through out 1947 and with Ota's further comments on Hellboy being dangerous it seemed that Bruttenholm might further distance himself but as Ota leaves we see father and son together again which provided a nice balance of light against all the darkness in this story.


Issue grade: A
Story grade: B+
 

Summary: After surviving his last encounter with the strange creature Grey is brought to the scene of yet another murder, only this one is different than the others; while the other victims were merely drained of all their fluids this victim was ripped apart and strewn about the room. Sir Edward Grey is baffled by this new development until a voice in the dark tells him that he can take him to a person who can shed some light on the situation.

Thus invited Grey gives his police escort the slip and follows his guide into a shady area of London where he meets a strange man calling himself only the "Captain". The Captain is a man who seems to have his fingers in many pies, knowing all about Grey and his various secret missions along with a great many other supernatural things he claims to have learned in the 200 years he has been alive. Although, all that said the Captain claims he doesn't know who or what is behind the killings he claims he has a contact who might; a medium named Mary Wolf. Grey is suspicious of this at first, having seen a great many "table thumpers and charlatans" but as Mary enters one side of a wooden confessional a spirit appears out of the other door and when Grey opens the first he finds Mary to be a withered corpse which gives him a start but he's soon quieted as the spirit says that she merely "borrows" Mary's essence and returns it when she departs.

The spectral woman first gives Grey a riddle filled warning about his future before calling forth the spirit of Donald Blackwood who was charged with destroying the bones. Grey is perplexed by the warning about a hooded figure but is not to be deterred and so demanded his answer from Blackwood but before an answer can be gained a great knocking is head and another creature bursts onto the scene, similar to the one Grey encountered earlier only much larger.


Review: Mignola goes for an all out penny dreadful feel here complete with whispers in the dark, a mysterious benefactor and a spiritual medium. And while all those trappings are fun what I truly enjoy about the issue is the celebration of story telling we get for at its heart that's what this issue is; there's action, true, but mostly its two men sitting in a dimly lit room telling a story. It's like a class on how to tell a story by Mignola; picking your stage, establishing your credibility with your audience before wrapping them up into a world that you build before their very eyes. It's a simple thing but it's fun none the less. 

On top that we get a fun bit of Victorian culture with their beliefs in spiritualism, which Grey writes off only to see for himself in the flesh. And that spirit was beautifully rendered. While the color pallet for the rest of the issue was on the muddy side, and the inks thick and moody, Zora(the spirit) was bright and the line work thin and delicate, clearly setting her apart from the rest of the world around her. That line between the natural and the supernatural is not metaphorical in the art of Mignola's books, it's a clear point of departure and the many different ways that he and his team continually employ to illustrate that point is always fun to see.


Grade: A
 

Summary: As the creature attacks Edward Grey notices that the scarring on the beast matches the wounds he inflicted in his last battle, meaning this isn't just a similar creature  but is rather the same creature only mysteriously larger. Although Grey, Salt, the Captain and Dan press the attack on the beast, it simply tosses them aside seemingly set on killing Mary Wolf but by using the strange sword he uncovered earlier Grey is able to drive the beast away. As the team recuperates they learn that not all of them have made it; Mr. Salt had his arm torn off by the fleeing beast and died before anyone could get to him.

The mission to see Mary wasn't a loss though, as her spirit guide was able to locate the bones and so they hire a team to dredge them out of the river. As the diver returns to the surface with the bag of bones Grey and Mary surmise that the reason the creature was so intent to kill Mary was because she knew the location of the bones which they now believe belong to the creature. As the two stand their piecing together how the creature manifests itself a man named August Swain comes forward claiming to represent a group called the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra which wishes to buy the bones and then threatens Grey when his offer is rebuffed.


Review: This issue probably has the best balance of action, character development and world building out of any I've yet reviewed. In a single issue we get a battle with a giant creature, we see a softer side of the hulking Dan as he mourns the passing of Mr. Salt and we get a great look at the deductive mind of Edward Grey as he draws a connection between the withered look of the explorers after being attacked and the way Mary looked as she released her spirit contact. And strongest of all we got a look at hyperborea and the difference between the usual view of Shembala and how the creature says it actually was; which was a subterranean hell rather than a paradise.  These three elements are all equally strong and they work together in a very fluid way with out any one part over shadowing another.


Of note, when the captain mentions that he has been observing the Brotherhood of Ra and other such cults we also see files labeled "L.E. Caul" which was Abe Sapien's former identity. 


Grade:A