What do you think?
Rate this book
Baltimore #1-4
Baltimore Omnibus, Vol. 1
Lord Baltimore's story returns in a deluxe omnibus edition!
After a devastating plague ends World War I, Europe is suddenly flooded with vampires. Lord Henry Baltimore, a soldier determined to wipe out the monsters, fights his way through bloody battlefields, ruined plague ships, exploding zeppelins, submarine graveyards, and much more on the hunt for the creature who's become his obsession.
This omnibus collects original Baltimore hardcover volumes 1-4, with supplemental sketchbook material and an all-new cover by Mike Mignola!
After a devastating plague ends World War I, Europe is suddenly flooded with vampires. Lord Henry Baltimore, a soldier determined to wipe out the monsters, fights his way through bloody battlefields, ruined plague ships, exploding zeppelins, submarine graveyards, and much more on the hunt for the creature who's become his obsession.
This omnibus collects original Baltimore hardcover volumes 1-4, with supplemental sketchbook material and an all-new cover by Mike Mignola!
568 pages, Hardcover
First published October 22, 2019
45 people are currently reading
429 people want to read
About the author
Mike Mignola
1,865 books2,533 followersMike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.
In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.
In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.
Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.
Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.
In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.
In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.
Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.
Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
November 9, 2020
The first half of Lord Baltimore's tale all collected in one volume. All the death and misery of World War I has awakened vampires from their long slumber. When Lord Baltimore fights back against one on the battlefield he awakens its mind as well. Now vampires along with other creatures have returned to Europe under the cover of the plague. Baltimore is on a quest to kill the vampire he awakened that day, Haigus. This omnibus collection collects Baltimore's trek as he hunts down Haigus across Europe.
Mignola really gets horror. This series is terrific. Ben Stenbeck is a fine choice of artist. His art hems close to Mignola's while still being its own thing. I love the character designs and mood set with the art. You really can't go wrong picking this up.
Mignola really gets horror. This series is terrific. Ben Stenbeck is a fine choice of artist. His art hems close to Mignola's while still being its own thing. I love the character designs and mood set with the art. You really can't go wrong picking this up.
October 21, 2021
Baltimore is a great comic, and this is a fantastic collection of the first four volumes of it. It’s everything a Mignola fan could wish for — awesome early 20th century Europe setting, cool protagonist, great mythology and characters, lots of horror and action. Chris Golden’s actual writing is surprisingly solid and very much on par with Mignola, and Ben Stenbeck is one of the best artists in the roster, so it was especially great seeing that he did the entire book on his own. As is standard with all Dark Horse collected editions, the book is filled with extra sketchbook material with commentaries, as well as great pinups and covers. Overall, this omnibus is a fantastic pick that any Mike Mignola fan will appreciate. Can’t wait for volume 2 to find out how the story of lord Baltimore ends!
February 14, 2020
My first "Perfect 10" that I've read in....a long time.
This book is sheer perfection for Horror fans. Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, beautifully aided and abetted by artist Ben Stenbeck, have crafted a story which is like the best film that Hammer never made, a perfect confection of gothic horrors, Vampires, religious madmen, cults and cultists, creepy castles, Zombies, giant Spiders, witches, monstrous Crabs...you name it, this book has it.
Mignola & Golden posit a world where the horrors, bloodshed, and inhumanity of World War I have awakened things that have been asleep for thousands of years, and, having been awakened with a new sense of purpose, set about crafting the fall of mankind, and the rise of their still-sleeping master, The Red King.
Mike Mignola has always been worth double and triple dipping for me...I will buy anything that he creates, in as many different editions and formats as they may publish, because I feel that, in his epic Hellboy universe, he has created the greatest Horror mythology since Lovecraft's Great Old Ones. And, in BALTIMORE, Mignola may have just topped himself.
I can't recommend this series enough.
This book is sheer perfection for Horror fans. Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, beautifully aided and abetted by artist Ben Stenbeck, have crafted a story which is like the best film that Hammer never made, a perfect confection of gothic horrors, Vampires, religious madmen, cults and cultists, creepy castles, Zombies, giant Spiders, witches, monstrous Crabs...you name it, this book has it.
Mignola & Golden posit a world where the horrors, bloodshed, and inhumanity of World War I have awakened things that have been asleep for thousands of years, and, having been awakened with a new sense of purpose, set about crafting the fall of mankind, and the rise of their still-sleeping master, The Red King.
Mike Mignola has always been worth double and triple dipping for me...I will buy anything that he creates, in as many different editions and formats as they may publish, because I feel that, in his epic Hellboy universe, he has created the greatest Horror mythology since Lovecraft's Great Old Ones. And, in BALTIMORE, Mignola may have just topped himself.
I can't recommend this series enough.
October 26, 2019
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Have you ever taken the time to sit down and reflect on folklores and mythologies, and how they always hold some kind of mythic sense and wisdom? Amongst the strange creatures and the eerie atmospheres, there’s an underlying layer of supernaturalism that keeps you tethered into its realm, craving for more of the bizarre as you get sucked into the unusual world. Some writers simply have the imagination to think them through, while others have the penmanship to bring them to life. As rare as they come, a harmonious unified vision of these two kinds of people is what the world needs more of.
Known for the creation of Hellboy, Mike Mignola is the mastermind behind one of the greatest vampire hunters of all time, known as Lord Henry Baltimore. Originally created by him in 2007 for an illustrated novel, called Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, Christopher Golden ended up being the one to pen it to life. Together they then conceived a comic book series based on that novel that has gone down as one of the most beautiful joint efforts in the business.
What is Baltimore Omnibus Vol. 1 about? Following a devastating plague that ends World War I, Europe faces a surge of vampires that have overtaken the cold nights and have blindly taken innocent lives whenever they can. Driven by a deadly desire for vengeance, the determined soldier Lord Henry Baltimore is searching the European lands for a vampire that has ruined his life, even if it means battling hordes of monsters while recklessly putting his life on the line. This omnibus edition collects half of the comic book series—four out of the eight volumes that have been released in the past—that is The Plague Ships, The Curse Bells, A Passing Stranger and Other Stories, as well as Chapel of Bones.
Within this omnibus, each story arc is structured so that each chapter allowed subtle world-building and character development with the vampire hunter, while also exploring other points of view, from citizens to enemies, giving the reader an idea of everyone’s motives and their uncontrollable destiny that is often felt like a legend in the making. While Lord Henry Baltimore travels by sea or land, and is frequently stopped by countless distractions within different towns where evil has come to corrupt the land and its people, he’s also hunted down by others who only see the darkness growing within him and wishes to relay God’s righteousness and rid the world of such evil by themselves. As you progress through this series, you come to see that the vampire hunter isn’t only seeing red, craving for vengeance, but is simply sacrificing himself for the greater good while allowing his desire for vengeance to be his driving force.
Ben Stenbeck’s artwork, reminiscent of that which can be found within the Hellboy franchise, allowed this comic book series to embrace a unique vision that works wonderfully with Mike Mignola’s and Christopher Golden’s story. Sparingly utilizing action-oriented sequences with zero dialogues to capture the goriness of Lord Henry Baltimore’s cause was also played out quite perfectly throughout this omnibus. Although his penciling isn’t intended to convey disgust in its purest form within readers, it does portray the unnatural and horrifying context and setting in which the story takes place, making the reader grasp the bleak reality in which Lord Henry Baltimore lives in. To further capture this impression, Dave Stewart’s colouring helps immensely in giving the story a dark tone that illustrates the gloomy world and its dreadful abominations.
Baltimore Omnibus Vol. 1 is a bewitching collection of stories following a vampire hunter’s quest fueled by vengeance in a world plagued with rot and death.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
June 30, 2020
This is the second time I am reading Baltimore from start to end and I am just done with the first volume of the Omnibus.
I really loved it the first time I'd read it in trades and you know what's changed?Nothing. I really was looking forward for Baltimore to be in Omnibus format so that I could reread and enjoy it from start till end.. Mignola, Golden and Stenbeck has created yet another strong character and a very intriguing story to back him up. This first volume is almost relentless in achieving that, a true page turner. There were some slow moments towards the middle of the book but it still from there on it yet again picked up pace and although I have read the full arc before I am still excited to read through the second volume asap.
I really loved it the first time I'd read it in trades and you know what's changed?Nothing. I really was looking forward for Baltimore to be in Omnibus format so that I could reread and enjoy it from start till end.. Mignola, Golden and Stenbeck has created yet another strong character and a very intriguing story to back him up. This first volume is almost relentless in achieving that, a true page turner. There were some slow moments towards the middle of the book but it still from there on it yet again picked up pace and although I have read the full arc before I am still excited to read through the second volume asap.
April 28, 2021
Lord Baltimore destroys evil where he finds it but he hunts only one creature -a vampire named Haigus who murdered his family. In a world ravaged by a contagion, Baltimore wants to be left to his vengeance but somehow he never does. Not really. New horrors hide in every shadow and he makes them vanish in a spray of blood.
I loved this graphic novel, with its dark tones, and self-contained stories being part of a larger story.
Longer review to come, I guess.
I loved this graphic novel, with its dark tones, and self-contained stories being part of a larger story.
Longer review to come, I guess.
November 16, 2025
Baltimore omnibus vol.1, foi meu primeiro contato com as obras do Mike Mignola, e não poderia ter sido melhor. Baltimore foi uma leitura estupenda! Ela consegue ser dinâmica, instigante e fluida, que mescla o horror, mistério, ocultismo, podridão e ação. Foi o tipo de leitura que eu comecei e não conseguia parar de ler.
Nesse primeiro volume, vamos acompanhar o Lorde Henry Baltimore, que durante a 1ª Guerra Mundial, teve um embate com um vampiro, que até então, eram monstros que estavam presentes no mundo, mas estavam “adormecidos”, vivendo de restos humanos. Porém, quando Baltimore corta o rosto de um desses vampiros, a raça desperta, e têm noção do real potencial que eles possuem. Assim, uma praga é espalhada pelo mundo, como uma espécie de peste que contamina as pessoas, as mata, e depois as revivem como uma espécie de vampiro inferior – meio zumbi – que ataca as pessoas e dissemina a praga, deixando um cenário de devastação e podridão por onde ela passa.
O Vampiro que Henry desperta, chamado Haigus, se torna o grande nêmesis do Baltimore nesse primeiro volume, tendo em vista que após o despertar do vampiro, ele declara que Henry iniciou uma guerra entre eles. Assim, o vampiro vai atrás da família de Henry, assassinando todos, inclusive sua esposa – de maneira fria e revoltante – a fim de provocar e destruir Baltimore. Porém, o que Haigus não esperava é que ele, na verdade, criou o seu maior inimigo. Baltimore a partir daí, se torna um caçador de vampiros e monstros, que carrega diversas armas e impiedosamente mata os monstros que aparecem em seu caminho.
Embora tudo isso pareça muita coisa, tais informações são expostas ao leitor logo de começo, por meio de flashbacks, tendo em vista que o omnibus foca em mostrar o Lorde Baltimore já atuando como caçador de vampiros e realizando sua jornada de vingança em busca de Haigus pela Europa.
Dessa forma, acompanhamos Henry durante 9 histórias que estão presentes nesse volume, as quais ele está seguindo pistas sobre a localização de Haigus, mas sempre acaba se deparando com algo além, desviando-o de seu objetivo. Todas as histórias possuem começo, meio e fim, sendo uma boa opção para realizar a leitura em momentos diferentes, caso não consiga ler tudo de uma vez.
Apesar de as histórias sejam fechadas, os elementos expostos, são reaproveitados em outras histórias, deixando o universo conectado e bem amarrado, mostrando que o desenvolvimento foi muito bem feito e não transpareça uma sensação de que você está lendo um filler. Todas as histórias do omnibus são, no mínimo boas, com bons personagens e bons roteiros, trazendo diferentes desafios ao protagonista.
Ainda que a HQ possua como destaque os elementos de caça aos monstros, vingança e ocultismo, as reflexões sobre humanidade, vingança e “fazer o bem” estão presentes nas histórias e permeiam as ações e escolhas do Baltimore. Ele enfrenta dilemas morais como: priorizar sua missão ou ajudar um povo que está sofrendo? A sua vingança é mais importante que a vida das pessoas? Deixando o quadrinho ainda mais profundo.
Além disso, o omnibus mesmo contendo suas 510 páginas, os textos e a narrativa não são pesados, sendo algo que flui naturalmente e não é mais do mesmo. Os diálogos são todos importantes, e muitas vezes complementados com os desenhos. Ou seja, se algo já está sendo mostrado, ele não precisa ser dito, e assim, os desenhos contam muito da história, por exemplo: cenas que focam nos pescoços de pessoas para mostrar que eles estão infectados (algo que não é dito), ou momentos em que o Baltimore ou outro personagem está posicionado no fundo do quadro e na sequencia já aparece realizando alguma ação. Tudo isso compõe uma narrativa bem desenvolvida e gostosa de ser lida. E somado ao âmbito de que nada é por acaso, os títulos das histórias são bem interessantes e valem a atenção do leitor, pois, os títulos não representam apenas um tema a ser trabalhado, possuindo também um significado importante para a história.
Por fim, destaco que as 9 histórias presentes aqui encerram um ciclo do Lorde Baltimore, com uma revelação impactante no final e serve para mostrar o rumo que o personagem vai tomar em seguida, mas que concretiza uma jornada de vingança.
Nesse primeiro volume, vamos acompanhar o Lorde Henry Baltimore, que durante a 1ª Guerra Mundial, teve um embate com um vampiro, que até então, eram monstros que estavam presentes no mundo, mas estavam “adormecidos”, vivendo de restos humanos. Porém, quando Baltimore corta o rosto de um desses vampiros, a raça desperta, e têm noção do real potencial que eles possuem. Assim, uma praga é espalhada pelo mundo, como uma espécie de peste que contamina as pessoas, as mata, e depois as revivem como uma espécie de vampiro inferior – meio zumbi – que ataca as pessoas e dissemina a praga, deixando um cenário de devastação e podridão por onde ela passa.
O Vampiro que Henry desperta, chamado Haigus, se torna o grande nêmesis do Baltimore nesse primeiro volume, tendo em vista que após o despertar do vampiro, ele declara que Henry iniciou uma guerra entre eles. Assim, o vampiro vai atrás da família de Henry, assassinando todos, inclusive sua esposa – de maneira fria e revoltante – a fim de provocar e destruir Baltimore. Porém, o que Haigus não esperava é que ele, na verdade, criou o seu maior inimigo. Baltimore a partir daí, se torna um caçador de vampiros e monstros, que carrega diversas armas e impiedosamente mata os monstros que aparecem em seu caminho.
Embora tudo isso pareça muita coisa, tais informações são expostas ao leitor logo de começo, por meio de flashbacks, tendo em vista que o omnibus foca em mostrar o Lorde Baltimore já atuando como caçador de vampiros e realizando sua jornada de vingança em busca de Haigus pela Europa.
Dessa forma, acompanhamos Henry durante 9 histórias que estão presentes nesse volume, as quais ele está seguindo pistas sobre a localização de Haigus, mas sempre acaba se deparando com algo além, desviando-o de seu objetivo. Todas as histórias possuem começo, meio e fim, sendo uma boa opção para realizar a leitura em momentos diferentes, caso não consiga ler tudo de uma vez.
Apesar de as histórias sejam fechadas, os elementos expostos, são reaproveitados em outras histórias, deixando o universo conectado e bem amarrado, mostrando que o desenvolvimento foi muito bem feito e não transpareça uma sensação de que você está lendo um filler. Todas as histórias do omnibus são, no mínimo boas, com bons personagens e bons roteiros, trazendo diferentes desafios ao protagonista.
Ainda que a HQ possua como destaque os elementos de caça aos monstros, vingança e ocultismo, as reflexões sobre humanidade, vingança e “fazer o bem” estão presentes nas histórias e permeiam as ações e escolhas do Baltimore. Ele enfrenta dilemas morais como: priorizar sua missão ou ajudar um povo que está sofrendo? A sua vingança é mais importante que a vida das pessoas? Deixando o quadrinho ainda mais profundo.
Além disso, o omnibus mesmo contendo suas 510 páginas, os textos e a narrativa não são pesados, sendo algo que flui naturalmente e não é mais do mesmo. Os diálogos são todos importantes, e muitas vezes complementados com os desenhos. Ou seja, se algo já está sendo mostrado, ele não precisa ser dito, e assim, os desenhos contam muito da história, por exemplo: cenas que focam nos pescoços de pessoas para mostrar que eles estão infectados (algo que não é dito), ou momentos em que o Baltimore ou outro personagem está posicionado no fundo do quadro e na sequencia já aparece realizando alguma ação. Tudo isso compõe uma narrativa bem desenvolvida e gostosa de ser lida. E somado ao âmbito de que nada é por acaso, os títulos das histórias são bem interessantes e valem a atenção do leitor, pois, os títulos não representam apenas um tema a ser trabalhado, possuindo também um significado importante para a história.
Por fim, destaco que as 9 histórias presentes aqui encerram um ciclo do Lorde Baltimore, com uma revelação impactante no final e serve para mostrar o rumo que o personagem vai tomar em seguida, mas que concretiza uma jornada de vingança.
October 26, 2020
Some of the best Mike Mignola stuff that I have read for quite a while. The only detractor I have is that it is very grim and that tone never changes. Hell, the main character loves to repeat how he is damned as often as possible. So, although I like the main character, he is still very one-note. The draw is story, the art, and the monsters. Now I hate to write a recap of anything, but this simply boils down to is: main character is plagued by vampires who kill his family and help spread the plague across Europe. Lord Baltimore is cursed in that he is now a vampire killer who cannot be killed and kills these monsters by the dozen. And what is great is that vampires in these stories are actually kind of the lowest form of monster. But there are also different types of demons, witches, and ancient vampires who provide a much bigger threat. None stand a chance to our protagonist. Some really entertaining stories. And this book is entirely done by one artist, Ben Stenbeck, who is very good. This may sound like sacrilege, but I would argue that he is better than Mignola himself.
October 9, 2020
All right, this is fucking amazing.
Baltimore is just a wet dream for all fans of Dracula and the macabre in general. It has literally everything to this aspect: spooky post-WWI European towns and villages riddled with plague, occultists, vampires, monsters of all kinds, cursed bells, infernal trains, mad priests, submarine wrecks full of the living dead, Edgar Allan Poe's head in a jar (Futurama style) feeding its ideas into an Italian theater, undead nuns, and then some.
Yes, there are SFX, which I hate and consider childish, but there's not that many of them and they are only present in the fight scenes which are thankfully short and to-the-point (of a sword) since Baltimore is just this ultimate badass who is basically unkillable and would probably keep on in his quest for revenge even if he was killed. Also the plot is pretty interesting with full of great visual and story ideas. But mostly it's just the atmosphere that does it. Unknowingly, I have just discovered what is the quintessential autumn comic.
And I really liked the resolution of the Haigus story arc which was not bombastic at all but pretty mellow and fitted nicely to the overall tone of the series.
Baltimore is just a wet dream for all fans of Dracula and the macabre in general. It has literally everything to this aspect: spooky post-WWI European towns and villages riddled with plague, occultists, vampires, monsters of all kinds, cursed bells, infernal trains, mad priests, submarine wrecks full of the living dead, Edgar Allan Poe's head in a jar (Futurama style) feeding its ideas into an Italian theater, undead nuns, and then some.
Yes, there are SFX, which I hate and consider childish, but there's not that many of them and they are only present in the fight scenes which are thankfully short and to-the-point (of a sword) since Baltimore is just this ultimate badass who is basically unkillable and would probably keep on in his quest for revenge even if he was killed. Also the plot is pretty interesting with full of great visual and story ideas. But mostly it's just the atmosphere that does it. Unknowingly, I have just discovered what is the quintessential autumn comic.
And I really liked the resolution of the Haigus story arc which was not bombastic at all but pretty mellow and fitted nicely to the overall tone of the series.
May 24, 2025
This is the paperback edition of the collected series and I have to say its a weight tomb but so much fun reading it. It has a very distinctive style that those familiar with Hellboy will instantly recognise.
The story is pretty much captured in the books description so no real worry for spoilers for once although I think that is part of the appeal.
You know what is going on and I think to the majority you can guess what happens - the real interest is in how you get there, what happens from such a different and creative take on the whole vampire hunting trope.
There is a second omnibus out there which yes I pretty much picked up straight after finishing this one
The story is pretty much captured in the books description so no real worry for spoilers for once although I think that is part of the appeal.
You know what is going on and I think to the majority you can guess what happens - the real interest is in how you get there, what happens from such a different and creative take on the whole vampire hunting trope.
There is a second omnibus out there which yes I pretty much picked up straight after finishing this one
Read
December 15, 2019This just isn’t the book for me. I love Hellboy and the work Mignola has done for DC that I’ve read has been good, but I just can’t get into this one.
October 16, 2021
If I had known how good this was, I'd have read it a long time ago. This is a truly great horror comic. Set in the time of WWI, we find out that all of the death caused by the war has reawakened the monsters (mostly vampires but other things show as well such as zombies, giant spiders, etc.) that had been hibernating and relegated to myth for centuries. Then our protagonist Lord Baltimore makes the mistake of injuring one of the vampires and "awakening" him to his trust purpose: waking the Red King and bringing Hell to Earth.
The main characters is great, the art is stellar, and the story is awesome. Just a perfect storm of a horror comic. You could almost insert Hellboy into the place of Baltimore and have a great Hellboy story, but Baltimore is a great character in his own right.
Highly recommended for fans of horror comics, especially Hellboy.
The main characters is great, the art is stellar, and the story is awesome. Just a perfect storm of a horror comic. You could almost insert Hellboy into the place of Baltimore and have a great Hellboy story, but Baltimore is a great character in his own right.
Highly recommended for fans of horror comics, especially Hellboy.
December 6, 2020
A World War 1, but different, story. The difference in Baltimore is vampires. The setting of exploring through late 1910's Europe in search of vampires was fun, and the slow introduction of more and more monstrous entities is sure to have some good pay off in the second novel.
Lord Henry Baltimore himself is an interesting character, who fought in the Great War and was maybe accidentally the start of an entire real plague / vampire plague. We follow Baltimore on his rambling revenge quest and meet some friends and foes!
Great art also, as can be expected in most things with Mignolas name on it, even if he's not doing it.
Overall I enjoyed this book about as much as Witchfinder if not a little more. I am excited to read the second volume!
Lord Henry Baltimore himself is an interesting character, who fought in the Great War and was maybe accidentally the start of an entire real plague / vampire plague. We follow Baltimore on his rambling revenge quest and meet some friends and foes!
Great art also, as can be expected in most things with Mignolas name on it, even if he's not doing it.
Overall I enjoyed this book about as much as Witchfinder if not a little more. I am excited to read the second volume!
September 12, 2023
Generalnie nie jestem w stanie wskazać żadnych pozytywów ani negatywów. Myślałem o odpuszczeniu sobie oceny. Ostatecznie jest ona wypadkową tego, że większych, istotnych zarzutów nie mam. Poza tym, że czytanie mnie nudziło, fabuła bywała przewidywalna (jak np. z inkwizytorem). Mike Mignola o wampirach nie ma niczego ciekawego do powiedzenia. Zmarnowane pieniądze, ale należało mi się za brak pokory.
June 26, 2020
A battle between the badass Lord Baltimore and a vampire, set in a gothic world from comic book god Mike Mignola.. Take my money.
July 31, 2022
Excellent comic
June 22, 2025
Wonderfully sinister from start to finish
October 5, 2025
(Zero spoiler review) 2.25/5
Yet another painfully mediocre entry in the every growing pantheon of middling Hellboy spin off's. This was competent at it's best and amateurish at it's worst. The art was mostly acceptable, occasionally good, and it was nice to have the same artist for the entire time. But once again I have to repeat the same criticism I've had since day one with the extended universe, and that is the art is just too clean. It needed to be far darker and grittier, which would have done a much better job elevating the mediocre scripts that infest this tome. Sadly, Dave Stewart's colours don't do all that much to help matters either. They're not bad, they're just not that great, either. After all this time, I don't know they haven't managed to hit a winner by sheer accident. Just read the main Hellboy series and forget that anything else even exists. 2.25/5
OmniBen.
Yet another painfully mediocre entry in the every growing pantheon of middling Hellboy spin off's. This was competent at it's best and amateurish at it's worst. The art was mostly acceptable, occasionally good, and it was nice to have the same artist for the entire time. But once again I have to repeat the same criticism I've had since day one with the extended universe, and that is the art is just too clean. It needed to be far darker and grittier, which would have done a much better job elevating the mediocre scripts that infest this tome. Sadly, Dave Stewart's colours don't do all that much to help matters either. They're not bad, they're just not that great, either. After all this time, I don't know they haven't managed to hit a winner by sheer accident. Just read the main Hellboy series and forget that anything else even exists. 2.25/5
OmniBen.
April 30, 2021
It didn't take me nearly as long as I expected - no time at all, in fact - to get used to a horror comic with Mike Mignola's name on it that doesn't also have Hellboy. Baltimore shares a mood with Mignola's more famous series, but it's very much its own thing and that's nothing but positive.
Hellboy and the BPRD are cool targets at which Mignola can throw whatever horror he's interested in. Lord Henry Baltimore has a very focused mission hunting one particular vampire. And while he's sometimes delayed by other monstrous emergencies, he's never distracted. His adventures aren't random vignettes, but a slow, steady drive towards a goal as Baltimore travels from quaint European village to even quainter European village fighting vampires, fungus zombies, cultists, witches, religious zealots, and all manner of other monsters. I enjoyed each panel of every page and can't wait to dig into the second omnibus volume.
Hellboy and the BPRD are cool targets at which Mignola can throw whatever horror he's interested in. Lord Henry Baltimore has a very focused mission hunting one particular vampire. And while he's sometimes delayed by other monstrous emergencies, he's never distracted. His adventures aren't random vignettes, but a slow, steady drive towards a goal as Baltimore travels from quaint European village to even quainter European village fighting vampires, fungus zombies, cultists, witches, religious zealots, and all manner of other monsters. I enjoyed each panel of every page and can't wait to dig into the second omnibus volume.
November 15, 2025
Acabei comprando este quadrinho por causa do hype em cima dele. Mas sabe o que me fez não gostar tanto assim dele como o tanto que ele foi recomendado? O formato omnibus. Acredito que se ele tivesse sido vendido em pequenos arcos, as histórias fechadas ou sequenciais teriam mais impacto em mim. As aventuras de Lorde Baltimore e sua busca de vingança contra os vampiros iriam ter um descanso para eu elaborá-las na minha mente e aí sim, ir buscar mais. Mas eu tonteei, tomei uma overdose de uma droga que eu deveria curtir aos pouquinhos. Isso não quer dizer que os roteiros não sejam instigantes e aterrorizantes, ou que a arte e as cores não nos transportem para um mundo vil e desprezível, cheio de cadáveres e ruínas para todo lugar. Pelo contrário, Baltimore faz isso bem. Mas não nessa dosagem extra. O formato do suporte da mídia não deu certo comigo, principalmente por, diferente de Hellboy, ser um personagem de que eu não tinha conhecimento e nem contato nenhum. Não compararei a continuação.
September 10, 2024
Eye read 2024
9.5/10 Full colour, interesting episodic stories that happen along Lord Baltimore’s path of vengeance.
I’m not really drawn toward vampire stories but the ww1 sort of setting fit well with the carnage horrors of blood suckers and plague. I will definitely get around to reading the 2nd omnibus. It lost half a star because of the semi weak ending, and for the loss of certain characters i wished had kept alive.
9.5/10 Full colour, interesting episodic stories that happen along Lord Baltimore’s path of vengeance.
I’m not really drawn toward vampire stories but the ww1 sort of setting fit well with the carnage horrors of blood suckers and plague. I will definitely get around to reading the 2nd omnibus. It lost half a star because of the semi weak ending, and for the loss of certain characters i wished had kept alive.
Read
September 16, 2021Baltimore is one of my all time favorite characters. The art, plot, dialog- it's all great. I love Hellboy as a character and as a story, but I have to say Baltimore might have nudged him down a peg. This collection is amazing. Can't wait to read part 2.
October 15, 2025
hell yeah. blood soaked journey. wonderful multi faceted stories. would recommend.
October 5, 2023
Lord Henry Baltimore was once a happily married man, wealthy enough and fairly privileged. But then World War One happened, and his country called. But this was not quite the WWI you may have read about in history books, horrible as that was. On this Earth, vampires haunted the trenches, feeding on the dead and dying. Baltimore happened to be more alive than he looked, despite losing a leg, and slashed an attacking vampire across the eye with his bayonet. The vampire, Haigus, swore vengeance.
While Baltimore recovered in hospital, a plague began to spread across Europe, starting with the battlefields. Even more deadly than our world’s influenza, it killed so many people that the Great War just fizzled out. The surviving soldiers were needed in their homelands to care for the sick or try to carry on civilization. Even Lord Baltimore was released, once he could move on his new wooden leg.
He returned home to find that Haigus had arrived first and murdered his entire family, turning them into vampires. Lord Baltimore was forced to destroy all of them, including his beloved wife. Naturally he vows vengeance on Haigus, and the first volume of this series is about him pursuing that goal.
This horror comics series was first an idea by Mike Mignola (Hellboy) inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, plus a terrible horror film he does not name. This was turned into a novel by Christopher Golden, and they then adapted it into a comic book format, choosing Ben Stenbeck to do most of the art. (Mr. Mignola contributed character designs and covers.)
There are several major plot arcs in this volume, and a few standalone stories.
“The Plague Ships” takes place on the coast of France. After Baltimore frees a fishing village of most of their vampires, he is imprisoned by the locals. They fear that he too has been contaminated by evil and are calling in Father Duvic of the Inquisition to judge if this is the case.
Baltimore is sprung by Vanessa, the granddaughter of the local witch. She can get him a ship to his next destination, but only if he takes her with him. Baltimore knows anyone with him is marked for death, but has little choice. To no one’s surprise except Vanessa’s, the ship is wrecked and she and Baltimore wash up at Furiani, once a German submarine base. It turns out there are other horrors in the world besides vampires.
“The Curse Bells” takes us to Switzerland and a convent of vampire nuns. In a bit of a twist, Haigus has been taken captive so that his blood can be used by a madman to bring Madame Blavatsky back from the dead. Seems that madman has a plan that requires the undead spiritualist to use her powers on his behalf to ease his path to world conquest. Neither Haigus nor Blavatsky is enamored of the madman, or each other, but they find the plan somewhat amusing.
Baltimore and a journalist named Hodge investigate, and Baltimore is forced to put an end to the madman’s plans, which means Haigus manages to escape again. The madman’s identity, while never spoken, is easy to guess.
“The Inquistor” and “The Infernal Train” feed into each other. Father Duvic has been obsessively hunting Lord Baltimore all this time, torturing and killing witnesses in an attempt to track the vampire hunter. He catches up to Hodge, who manages to point out some cognitive dissonance on Duvic’s part, then arranges for the two hunters to meet in Budapest. In Budapest, Baltimore is investigating an odd train engine, which turns out to run on vampires. It’s a plan by one of Haigus’ rivals to please the Red King (the progenitor of monsters) and secure her a position of power in the new order. Baltimore must battle Duvic (who turns out to have secrets of his own) while trying to stop the train.
“Chapel of Bones” caps the volume with a seemingly final confrontation between Lord Baltimore and Haigus. The vampire has captured Baltimore’s few remaining living friends and uses them as bait for a trap. Haigus has grown weary of the chase and realizes it was a mistake to turn Baltimore into an obsessive hunter and doom them to a cycle of revenge. But he still blames Baltimore for wounding him, “awakening” Haigus from his previous bestial state to a thinking and feeling being, which did the same for the other vampires. (This is a little unfair. Statistically, someone, somewhere, was going to wound a vampire without killing it.)
With Haigus now apparently gone, Baltimore realizes that he is no longer human himself, and that he’s attracted the attention of the Red King directly, which can’t be good for him or the world.
The book concludes with an excellent art gallery of covers, layouts and character sketches.
The premise is interesting, the art outstanding, and I like many of the monster designs. Lord Baltimore isn’t a particularly likable character, but he doesn’t have to be for this kind of story. In this first volume, he’s obsessed with his one target, killing other monsters primarily as a means to that goal or in self-defense. He resents every time his conscience requires him to put off his primary mission to deal with other people’s problems. Still, he does have that conscience, which is enough to make him a watchable protagonist.
Content note: lots of gory violence, often lethal. Death of children. Body horror. Torture. Some rough language.
Lord Baltimore’s world is a bleak one, rapidly falling into darkness and terror. Small victories are won, but the larger picture appears to be doom. Most recommended to horror fans.
While Baltimore recovered in hospital, a plague began to spread across Europe, starting with the battlefields. Even more deadly than our world’s influenza, it killed so many people that the Great War just fizzled out. The surviving soldiers were needed in their homelands to care for the sick or try to carry on civilization. Even Lord Baltimore was released, once he could move on his new wooden leg.
He returned home to find that Haigus had arrived first and murdered his entire family, turning them into vampires. Lord Baltimore was forced to destroy all of them, including his beloved wife. Naturally he vows vengeance on Haigus, and the first volume of this series is about him pursuing that goal.
This horror comics series was first an idea by Mike Mignola (Hellboy) inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, plus a terrible horror film he does not name. This was turned into a novel by Christopher Golden, and they then adapted it into a comic book format, choosing Ben Stenbeck to do most of the art. (Mr. Mignola contributed character designs and covers.)
There are several major plot arcs in this volume, and a few standalone stories.
“The Plague Ships” takes place on the coast of France. After Baltimore frees a fishing village of most of their vampires, he is imprisoned by the locals. They fear that he too has been contaminated by evil and are calling in Father Duvic of the Inquisition to judge if this is the case.
Baltimore is sprung by Vanessa, the granddaughter of the local witch. She can get him a ship to his next destination, but only if he takes her with him. Baltimore knows anyone with him is marked for death, but has little choice. To no one’s surprise except Vanessa’s, the ship is wrecked and she and Baltimore wash up at Furiani, once a German submarine base. It turns out there are other horrors in the world besides vampires.
“The Curse Bells” takes us to Switzerland and a convent of vampire nuns. In a bit of a twist, Haigus has been taken captive so that his blood can be used by a madman to bring Madame Blavatsky back from the dead. Seems that madman has a plan that requires the undead spiritualist to use her powers on his behalf to ease his path to world conquest. Neither Haigus nor Blavatsky is enamored of the madman, or each other, but they find the plan somewhat amusing.
Baltimore and a journalist named Hodge investigate, and Baltimore is forced to put an end to the madman’s plans, which means Haigus manages to escape again. The madman’s identity, while never spoken, is easy to guess.
“The Inquistor” and “The Infernal Train” feed into each other. Father Duvic has been obsessively hunting Lord Baltimore all this time, torturing and killing witnesses in an attempt to track the vampire hunter. He catches up to Hodge, who manages to point out some cognitive dissonance on Duvic’s part, then arranges for the two hunters to meet in Budapest. In Budapest, Baltimore is investigating an odd train engine, which turns out to run on vampires. It’s a plan by one of Haigus’ rivals to please the Red King (the progenitor of monsters) and secure her a position of power in the new order. Baltimore must battle Duvic (who turns out to have secrets of his own) while trying to stop the train.
“Chapel of Bones” caps the volume with a seemingly final confrontation between Lord Baltimore and Haigus. The vampire has captured Baltimore’s few remaining living friends and uses them as bait for a trap. Haigus has grown weary of the chase and realizes it was a mistake to turn Baltimore into an obsessive hunter and doom them to a cycle of revenge. But he still blames Baltimore for wounding him, “awakening” Haigus from his previous bestial state to a thinking and feeling being, which did the same for the other vampires. (This is a little unfair. Statistically, someone, somewhere, was going to wound a vampire without killing it.)
With Haigus now apparently gone, Baltimore realizes that he is no longer human himself, and that he’s attracted the attention of the Red King directly, which can’t be good for him or the world.
The book concludes with an excellent art gallery of covers, layouts and character sketches.
The premise is interesting, the art outstanding, and I like many of the monster designs. Lord Baltimore isn’t a particularly likable character, but he doesn’t have to be for this kind of story. In this first volume, he’s obsessed with his one target, killing other monsters primarily as a means to that goal or in self-defense. He resents every time his conscience requires him to put off his primary mission to deal with other people’s problems. Still, he does have that conscience, which is enough to make him a watchable protagonist.
Content note: lots of gory violence, often lethal. Death of children. Body horror. Torture. Some rough language.
Lord Baltimore’s world is a bleak one, rapidly falling into darkness and terror. Small victories are won, but the larger picture appears to be doom. Most recommended to horror fans.
November 14, 2019
I give it 5/5. But for different reasons than I give maximum rating for BPRD and Hellboy. All in all this a more serious story, which can greatly benefit from knowing the history of WWI. How Europe looked back then and knowing the different cultures help a lot. I have the HCs too, but I think I will wait until the omni vol.2 comes out to finish the story. It will give me some time to think about it. I think not everyone who likes Hellboy/BPRD will like Baltimore, it's not as easily digestible.
December 9, 2019
This is a really fun, classic vampire story. The authors spiced up the traditional premise enough to keep me engaged and I loved the art style. Some of the one-shot comics kind of disrupted the flow of the story and a few aspects of the world were a little unclear to me, but this was a super entertaining read and I'm excited to read more.
January 24, 2020
Mignola's best work IMO. This first half of the Baltimore story sets up and knocks down many colorful and horrifying antagonists while building a dense and ever-darkening world of villainy. And in perfect Mignola fashion, the protagonist sways between his heroic inclinations and the abyss he stares into.
Perfectly executed and masterfully plotted. 5/5 hogs.
Perfectly executed and masterfully plotted. 5/5 hogs.
December 1, 2019
Absolutely fantastic! The Strain meets The Witcher meets Hellboy with its own unique face.
December 11, 2019
Another example of just how good and remarkably solid all the Mignola-verse books are.
April 1, 2025
In my ranking of comic book writers Alan Moore comes first with Mignola coming a close second. I have read and reread Hellboy at several different points in life - catching up as the universe expanded and updated itself over the past decade.
While Alan Moore’s storytelling is existential Mignola deals with existence itself - the myths that are the fabric of civilisation. Hellboy is a pulpy approach to myth but one that works well, with a lot of Lovecraft thrown into the mix.
Baltimore is minor Mignola - an offshoot of a collaboration between him and the author Christopher Golden. It was originally an illustrated book which Dark Horse decided to convert to a comic book miniseries that expanded upon Baltimore’s world and its lore. This world has now been labelled “The Outerverse” its history veering away from ours in the last years of the First World War.
The central figure responsible for this divergence is Lord Henry Baltimore, wounded in the Ardennes who wakes up at night on the battlefield and sees vampires feasting on the dead. He defends himself, wounding an elder Vampire Haigus, scarring his face and blinding him. Haigus’s consciousness , reduced to bestiality over the aeons is jolted back with this injury- he wounds Baltimore in his leg, causing a gangrene that requires it to be amputated.
The rivalry between Haigus and Baltimore forms the core of the story which is in essence a prolonged chase sequence over the battle scarred landscape of England and Central Europe in the aftermath of the First World War. A supernatural plague rages across the world, turning some of the dead into Vampires and others into zombies and revenants who prey on their own family. Ancient evil climbs out of the abyss , monsters long extinct from the world and Baltimore must combat them all as he wages a one man war on Haigus.
Baltimore is at its best when it covers the expanded story of the war. Ben Steinbeck’s bold lines and Dave Stewart’s washed out colours are essential to the atmosphere of these books. Colours are rarely visible and when visible they are large splashes of red on the page. This is an incredibly and joyously violent book and Baltimore is a one man army who cannot be killed - there are vivid explosions, stabbings and beheadings all of these a joy to read.
Where Baltimore falters is in its characterisation of peripheral characters and its climax. This is a comic series that is tied to a book and the climax feels limp and unearned for people like me who haven’t read the book. The final confrontation between Haigus and Baltimore feels anticlimactic and the entire omnibus ends with the promise of more to come - continuing Baltimore’s adventures in book 2. Baltimore’s companions appear in the final series “Chapel of Bones” with no context (unless you read the book). Why exactly are we supposed to care for these characters when we know close to nothing about them?
Mignola’s Baltimore is based on Hans Andersen’s fairy tale “ The Steadfast Tin Soldier”. Baltimore embodies those values , in his doggedness and obsessive pursuit of Haigus but what about his love for the paper ballerina? Baltimore’s wife Elowen is supposed to be the Ballerina but there is next to no effort to establish her as a distinct character or spend time describing her relationship with Baltimore. Which ultimately robs the ending of much poignancy.
My favourite segments were The Curse Bells and The Infernal Train - a testament to how creative and enjoyable this series gets when it’s unmoored from its source material. Everything that comes after this Omnibus is entirely new and I hope the second Omnibus is much more enjoyable.
While Alan Moore’s storytelling is existential Mignola deals with existence itself - the myths that are the fabric of civilisation. Hellboy is a pulpy approach to myth but one that works well, with a lot of Lovecraft thrown into the mix.
Baltimore is minor Mignola - an offshoot of a collaboration between him and the author Christopher Golden. It was originally an illustrated book which Dark Horse decided to convert to a comic book miniseries that expanded upon Baltimore’s world and its lore. This world has now been labelled “The Outerverse” its history veering away from ours in the last years of the First World War.
The central figure responsible for this divergence is Lord Henry Baltimore, wounded in the Ardennes who wakes up at night on the battlefield and sees vampires feasting on the dead. He defends himself, wounding an elder Vampire Haigus, scarring his face and blinding him. Haigus’s consciousness , reduced to bestiality over the aeons is jolted back with this injury- he wounds Baltimore in his leg, causing a gangrene that requires it to be amputated.
The rivalry between Haigus and Baltimore forms the core of the story which is in essence a prolonged chase sequence over the battle scarred landscape of England and Central Europe in the aftermath of the First World War. A supernatural plague rages across the world, turning some of the dead into Vampires and others into zombies and revenants who prey on their own family. Ancient evil climbs out of the abyss , monsters long extinct from the world and Baltimore must combat them all as he wages a one man war on Haigus.
Baltimore is at its best when it covers the expanded story of the war. Ben Steinbeck’s bold lines and Dave Stewart’s washed out colours are essential to the atmosphere of these books. Colours are rarely visible and when visible they are large splashes of red on the page. This is an incredibly and joyously violent book and Baltimore is a one man army who cannot be killed - there are vivid explosions, stabbings and beheadings all of these a joy to read.
Where Baltimore falters is in its characterisation of peripheral characters and its climax. This is a comic series that is tied to a book and the climax feels limp and unearned for people like me who haven’t read the book. The final confrontation between Haigus and Baltimore feels anticlimactic and the entire omnibus ends with the promise of more to come - continuing Baltimore’s adventures in book 2. Baltimore’s companions appear in the final series “Chapel of Bones” with no context (unless you read the book). Why exactly are we supposed to care for these characters when we know close to nothing about them?
Mignola’s Baltimore is based on Hans Andersen’s fairy tale “ The Steadfast Tin Soldier”. Baltimore embodies those values , in his doggedness and obsessive pursuit of Haigus but what about his love for the paper ballerina? Baltimore’s wife Elowen is supposed to be the Ballerina but there is next to no effort to establish her as a distinct character or spend time describing her relationship with Baltimore. Which ultimately robs the ending of much poignancy.
My favourite segments were The Curse Bells and The Infernal Train - a testament to how creative and enjoyable this series gets when it’s unmoored from its source material. Everything that comes after this Omnibus is entirely new and I hope the second Omnibus is much more enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews