Wearing his priestly robes and gloves that bear the inscriptions “Speak with Dead” and “Jesus Christ is in Heaven”, Anderson confronts Alucard with swords and scripture. They don’t like Protestants mucking about on Catholic soil and so they contact Father Anderson, a devout Irish Catholic priest. When Alucard is sent into Ireland, the actions of Hellsing catch the attention of the Vatican. It defends Britain from the likes of vampires.
Hellsing, for instance, is a Protestant organization. This certainly doesn’t sound like anything new in the world of manga, but Hirano fills his story with a number of fine nuances that elevates Hellsing above the other titles that share its genre. He’s got a big pistol filled with special silver bullets and enough ungodly will to destroy the most deadly of foes. This organization’s most powerful weapon against these creatures is Alucard, a vampire souped up by generations of study and refinement by Hellsing. That agency is Hellsing, which has the knowledge, personnel and weaponry to handle the problems that arise when vampires and ghouls crawl out from the darkness. There’s an organization in England created to defend Queen and country from monsters. This is important because there are lots of opportunities for action in Hellsing. Being able to follow the action makes for an intense read. The scenes, therefore, flow from one another, allowing the story to progress through the images. Where Scryed and Trigun would lose detail and coherence in scenes of action, Hirano always maintains his vivid imagery. The real beauty of the art is in such details. For all his power and age, Alucard is a bit of a fashion plate. I especially like the red scarf tied loosely and jauntily about his neck. The police girl / vampire-in-training, is both sexy and scary. Where character designs of Trigun are inconsistent, Hellsing’s are always striking and true to form. Sure, the protagonist Alucard looks a lot like Vash from Trigun (I think it’s the red jacket, big gun and youthful, triangular face), but it’s hard to call one a knock off of the other considering the original manga ran alongside one another in Young King Ours. I really enjoy the look of Hirano’s characters. Hellsing has two things going for it that those other two manga did not: 1.
Both of those manga use both action and humour just like Hellsing, but those two series failed to put any sort of smile on my face. This action and gore-packed horror comic has just enough sly humour to take the edge off the guts and guns, putting this manga in the same territory as Trigun and Scryed.
BW, 208 pgs, $13.95 US / Higher in Canada
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