Sunday, November 09, 2008

Oh Hellsing, How Nice To See You Again

Yes, it's Hellsing, Volume 9! And it's here with me a scant 15 months after Volume 8! You think I'm being sarcastic, but seeing as there was a 21 month gap between Volumes 7 and 8 reaching my hands, this is a welcome occurrence indeed. Whoo! 

So what to say? Last volume left Alucard in seemingly dire straits against his rival, Father Alexander Anderson, who had become some sort of holy beast by impaling himself with a piece of the true cross. Well, that conflict resolves rather more quickly than I had expected, and Alucard spouts off some line about how only humans can kill monsters, which is supposed to be Anderson's mistake I suppose, turning himself into a monster. That raises the question of how Alucard would be able to dispatch Anderson, seeing as they are both monsters and all. Perhaps best not to think about it. 

Of course, things aren't done there, as a rather ugly betrayal rears its head. And this, apparently, is all part of a bigger plan by the evil Major. Assuming he's right, it's nice to know there is actually some way to kill Alucard. Between all the shooting, being stabbing with blessed silver and holy thorns, being hacked to pieces, and everything else, I was starting to wonder if there was. I think that's why I'm not annoyed that the Major is teetering on the brink of becoming an Omniscient Foe, which, as I've mentioned in various horror movie reviews, is a character I generally dislike. In this case though, it's a result of the Major realizing the difficulty of the victory he desires, and thus he's been setting everything up for the last fifty to sixty years, so it bothers me less. 

I'm curious as to what the Major is. He says he's not a vampire, that he's human, but he doesn't look old enough to have been a Major during World War 2. It's interesting though, that he has outright rejected the opportunity to become an immortal monster of the night. He's surrounded by these creatures, who have become that way for one reason or another (fear of death, sense of duty, desire for power), but there he is, just a frail human. Which is why it's fitting he may be the one to finish Alucard, and that he'll probably be finished by Integra in return. I'll have to wait for Volume 10 to know for certain. 

I'm conflicted with regards to the art. Hirano does some beautiful wide angle scenes of cityscapes, both as they're being destroyed and in the aftermath. He can draw some truly gruesome scenes, and some of his facial expressions are wonderfully expressive. Still, this is a book drenched in dark inks, and Hirano also seems to love having frenetic lines of motion jumping all around the panels. 

As a result, I often find myself at a loss to figure out what exactly just happened. Sometimes a character's movement is represented solely by a solid white or black line, but there are no features indicating which character it is in that specific panel. So too much movement for me at times. Still, it's all building up to something pretty wild for the next (final?) volume. I do enjoy those stories where there are three simultaneous battles happening in different places. Adds to the sense of the battle being large, bigger than a simple grudge match. 

Not likely to be any posting tomorrow or Tuesday. So see you Wednesday, I guess.

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