Review by Ian Keogh
After World War II many ranking Nazis fled to South America to avoid capture. Kohta Hirano uses that for his vampire saga, as they turned out to be behind the attack on the Hellsing organisation HQ in Hellsing 2.
The sample art shows recently turned vampire, the oddly named Seras Victoria about to take a shot over an insane distance, the middle of three similarly structured pages in which she features almost full figure. Hirano switches between a posed cartoon realism and liberating exaggeration for an extremely effective scene breaking up the more traditionally gothic illustration used for a conversation. While conversations tend to be heads and shadows, the violence is full figured and in great detail, dozens of people/victims pictured on every page, with almost every stitch on the uniforms drawn.
It’s believed Alcuard with Victoria accompanying him will be enough for a mission to South America to root out the Nazis, and after the set-up that mission occupies most of the volume. What’s intended as a trap raises the question of who’s trapping whom. Like the previous books, once Hirano sets up a confrontation, a splatterfest is inevitable, and is duly provided at great length and in great detail. Two chapters of slaughter are provided before a brief pause and a more restrained and shorter massacre. It all builds to a gruesomely staged finale. Point made, and a bigger battle awaits in Hellsing 4.
The ‘Crossfire’ back-up strip that’s been looking at past activities of Vatican assassins ends here, in suitably bloody style, which is Hirano’s stock in trade after all. Anyone who likes their vampire violence stylish, extensive and unrestrained will find fulfilment in Hellsing. In fact, those who like the look of it may want to head straight to the hardback Deluxe Edition combining the first four volumes.
It seems Hirano is very much a heart on his sleeve creator, prone to just pouring out his feelings on the pages. A bonus for the original Japanese readers was a footnote asking for an assistant to help out seven to ten days a month, promising on the job training open to all comers, which is one hell of an opportunity.
