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Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens #1-5
Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens
The Baltimore legacy is about to get bloody!
Once she was Sofia Valk, living in a village overrun by evil. In time she became Lord Baltimore’s most trusted ally. Now, more than a decade after his death, Europe has erupted with the early battles of World War II and dark forces are rising again. With witches, vampires, and Nazis on the march, Sofia must embrace the title of Lady Baltimore! But can she fight monsters without becoming a monster herself?
Once she was Sofia Valk, living in a village overrun by evil. In time she became Lord Baltimore’s most trusted ally. Now, more than a decade after his death, Europe has erupted with the early battles of World War II and dark forces are rising again. With witches, vampires, and Nazis on the march, Sofia must embrace the title of Lady Baltimore! But can she fight monsters without becoming a monster herself?
144 pages, Hardcover
Published January 18, 2022
4 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Mike Mignola
1,865 books2,527 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 28, 2022
This latest batch of spin-off Mignolaverse books haven't been very successful, and I'm saddened to say neither is this one.
This is the Mignolaverse through the filter of a Boy's Own adventure - full of great, great friends, strapping comrades pluckily battling the forces of evil, surviving by their wits and iron wills alone.
And for me it just doesn't work. The Hellboy universe is traditionally one of melancholy, of fighting against insurmountable odds, of magic that's dangerous and rare. Of death. And here we get zappy magics, and a Hexenkorps (Nazi witches, for the uninformed) that before was genuinely frightening and is kind of ruined here.
The baddies even get to slip away at the end, to be seen again in future episodes! Such fun, what ho!
The writing is just so.. inelegant. It's clunky, and worse - it's very mundane, and that's not a word I'd ever thought I would use regarding a Mignolaverse book.
(Tiny personal nitpick - there's a line of Dutch in the book, and I'm Dutch, dear reader.. it's clearly word-for-word Google Translated from the English, except I can't think of any context you could use it in actual conversation. I mean, it works as a Dutch sentence, but it it's unusable. And yes, it's one short throw away line, who cares etc, but I don't understand why as an author you'd put in that line and not research it even a tiny bit.)
The art is.. okay? The colouring feels quite bad, all shouty primary colours and zero atmosphere. It's even more jolting when you see the couple of Mignola drawings that are included.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
This is the Mignolaverse through the filter of a Boy's Own adventure - full of great, great friends, strapping comrades pluckily battling the forces of evil, surviving by their wits and iron wills alone.
And for me it just doesn't work. The Hellboy universe is traditionally one of melancholy, of fighting against insurmountable odds, of magic that's dangerous and rare. Of death. And here we get zappy magics, and a Hexenkorps (Nazi witches, for the uninformed) that before was genuinely frightening and is kind of ruined here.
The baddies even get to slip away at the end, to be seen again in future episodes! Such fun, what ho!
The writing is just so.. inelegant. It's clunky, and worse - it's very mundane, and that's not a word I'd ever thought I would use regarding a Mignolaverse book.
(Tiny personal nitpick - there's a line of Dutch in the book, and I'm Dutch, dear reader.. it's clearly word-for-word Google Translated from the English, except I can't think of any context you could use it in actual conversation. I mean, it works as a Dutch sentence, but it it's unusable. And yes, it's one short throw away line, who cares etc, but I don't understand why as an author you'd put in that line and not research it even a tiny bit.)
The art is.. okay? The colouring feels quite bad, all shouty primary colours and zero atmosphere. It's even more jolting when you see the couple of Mignola drawings that are included.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
August 17, 2022
Here's the plot of The Witch Queens:
"I'll get you, Witch Queen!" yells the adventurer widow of Lord Baltimore.
"Not if I get you first!" yells back the Witch Queen.
"We're here to help!" yell a half dozen nameless nobodies who can do magic things.
"We're Nazis and we're siding with the witches!" yell the Nazis as they side with the witches.
Dull witch fight ensues. The heroes win. The end.
Should I know any of these people? Should I care? This is the most watered down Mignola in an era where all Mignola seems watered down. Beyond that, it's poorly written and drawn. I really hope this isn't the intro story for this "Outerverse" thing.
"I'll get you, Witch Queen!" yells the adventurer widow of Lord Baltimore.
"Not if I get you first!" yells back the Witch Queen.
"We're here to help!" yell a half dozen nameless nobodies who can do magic things.
"We're Nazis and we're siding with the witches!" yell the Nazis as they side with the witches.
Dull witch fight ensues. The heroes win. The end.
Should I know any of these people? Should I care? This is the most watered down Mignola in an era where all Mignola seems watered down. Beyond that, it's poorly written and drawn. I really hope this isn't the intro story for this "Outerverse" thing.
May 1, 2023
Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair since I didn't understand what was going on. I've read Baltimore, although ages ago. This just seemed like people shouting and running and talking and doing magic stuff.
July 14, 2022
(3,4 of 5 for very diluted storytelling juice of Mignola & Golden)
I looked forward to the Lady Baltimore because the Baltimore series was awesome. But, as in life happen, this didn't fulfil my expectations.
Dark Horse meets Dynamite:
The art... well, cover and chapter break art of Abigail Larson is very nice, I like it. The art of the actual comic from Bridgit Madsen, coloured by Michelle Madsen, looks like some common action stuff from Dynamite. It's neat, I can't say I hate it, but it looks very generic and somehow "cheap". For me, it was a letdown.
Dark Horse meets Boom:
As much as I like strong female characters and have no problem with any sexual orientation or any human race, sometimes it could hurt the flow of the story to push it. Sometimes it could feel just a bit forced. This is usually an issue of many Boom stuff. Their authors can go much, much further than here, to annoying levels which completely ruin any potential of the story and derails the storytelling.
Luckily, Lady Baltimore still works, even if it lack's the nuances of Mike Mignola's careful connecting history, folklore and fantasy into his own "story webbing". There is a bit of history, we get Český Krumlov (and the sudety) again, but witches marching in front lines with Wehrmacht/SS was a bit too much. And the multicultural LGBT+ Baltimore team feels like they just marched from Lumberjanes.
Overall:
The art is generally fine, the story works on its own merits OK. But it all feels like very generic production. The Netflix of Dark Horse. And that was a bitter pill to swallow for me.
I looked forward to the Lady Baltimore because the Baltimore series was awesome. But, as in life happen, this didn't fulfil my expectations.
Dark Horse meets Dynamite:
The art... well, cover and chapter break art of Abigail Larson is very nice, I like it. The art of the actual comic from Bridgit Madsen, coloured by Michelle Madsen, looks like some common action stuff from Dynamite. It's neat, I can't say I hate it, but it looks very generic and somehow "cheap". For me, it was a letdown.
Dark Horse meets Boom:
As much as I like strong female characters and have no problem with any sexual orientation or any human race, sometimes it could hurt the flow of the story to push it. Sometimes it could feel just a bit forced. This is usually an issue of many Boom stuff. Their authors can go much, much further than here, to annoying levels which completely ruin any potential of the story and derails the storytelling.
Luckily, Lady Baltimore still works, even if it lack's the nuances of Mike Mignola's careful connecting history, folklore and fantasy into his own "story webbing". There is a bit of history, we get Český Krumlov (and the sudety) again, but witches marching in front lines with Wehrmacht/SS was a bit too much. And the multicultural LGBT+ Baltimore team feels like they just marched from Lumberjanes.
Overall:
The art is generally fine, the story works on its own merits OK. But it all feels like very generic production. The Netflix of Dark Horse. And that was a bitter pill to swallow for me.
August 15, 2022
I'm really sorry that I read this. I really loved Baltimore's universe and how whole story evolved. From intimate revenge to the world saving story. Slowly adding layer after layer and character after character.
In Lady Baltimore authors are waking up corpse that should rest in peace. This time we are thrown into world that has plenty new characters, multiple lines and whole thing is quite messy and hard to follow. As if they tried to put everything they had into one book. Dialogues are infantile, there is lot of over explanation - as there is lack of story/world building and some background needs to be filled quickly.
There is no chemistry or anything between characters that would get you hooked up. Quite lot of story is about hey you think you get me, well actually I am more powerful than you think. Well actually I am even more powerful... Seeing this for fifth or sixth time was just too much for me.
Also art is quite average so nothing that would help to lift your experience from this book.
Over and all this looks like attempt to bring back very good series, and extend universe, but it fails in doing so. I'll see if there will be some follow ups and authors will manage whole thing better...but for now I'm not optimistic or excited.
In Lady Baltimore authors are waking up corpse that should rest in peace. This time we are thrown into world that has plenty new characters, multiple lines and whole thing is quite messy and hard to follow. As if they tried to put everything they had into one book. Dialogues are infantile, there is lot of over explanation - as there is lack of story/world building and some background needs to be filled quickly.
There is no chemistry or anything between characters that would get you hooked up. Quite lot of story is about hey you think you get me, well actually I am more powerful than you think. Well actually I am even more powerful... Seeing this for fifth or sixth time was just too much for me.
Also art is quite average so nothing that would help to lift your experience from this book.
Over and all this looks like attempt to bring back very good series, and extend universe, but it fails in doing so. I'll see if there will be some follow ups and authors will manage whole thing better...but for now I'm not optimistic or excited.
August 22, 2023
This book is trapped between continuing the past and beginning the future and leads to a terrible reading experience.
The future says "Let Baltimore rest" and the past has a possible sighting of his ghost driving the whole plot.
The fact that Rigo kills Mr Kidd's son is perfectly inductive of it. Why is Rigo here at all? To give some form of legitimacy to everything else? It's stupid
The best way this could have been done would be to have Sophia and Imogen be actually old or middle aged at least and the other characters be the youth driving things forward in a new war but it doesn't do that.
So fucking disappointing.
The only reason this has more that 2 stars is because the character designs are cute.
The future says "Let Baltimore rest" and the past has a possible sighting of his ghost driving the whole plot.
The fact that Rigo kills Mr Kidd's son is perfectly inductive of it. Why is Rigo here at all? To give some form of legitimacy to everything else? It's stupid
The best way this could have been done would be to have Sophia and Imogen be actually old or middle aged at least and the other characters be the youth driving things forward in a new war but it doesn't do that.
So fucking disappointing.
The only reason this has more that 2 stars is because the character designs are cute.
September 25, 2022
I think there's some potential here, but this first volume was kind of boring and overly talky. Let's get some more action. The artwork is a bit hit or miss--good on one page, then rather poor the next. Not sure this is the best follow-up to the original Baltimore series.
November 4, 2021
I enjoyed this series alot. It's fast and easy to read. But beware of the Nazi Hexencorps who are out for world domination.
May 12, 2023
I liked the idea of this but not the rest.
April 15, 2023
I'm definitely a fan of Mike Mignola and his extended novel of supernatural adventure, but I stopped reading the individual comics a few years back, figuring I'd catch up in the graphic novels and collections that will inevitably follow. This is my first foray back and it's good but not great, an alternate history of the 20th Century wherein World War II is a supernatural struggle between black, nazi magic and the forces of ancient sorcery that protect civilization from the darkness.
Easy reading and full of cool scenes, but a little short on actual story for my taste. Mignola and his crew do great action scenes but they wear thin on me pretty quickly. This volume is pretty much one fight after another, enlivened by good characters and the underlying sense of grand occult forces that makes the best Hellboy stories more than mere superhero hijinks. I'll keep catching up but I feel no particular hurry to do so now.
Recommended but by no means the best work in this epic saga.
Easy reading and full of cool scenes, but a little short on actual story for my taste. Mignola and his crew do great action scenes but they wear thin on me pretty quickly. This volume is pretty much one fight after another, enlivened by good characters and the underlying sense of grand occult forces that makes the best Hellboy stories more than mere superhero hijinks. I'll keep catching up but I feel no particular hurry to do so now.
Recommended but by no means the best work in this epic saga.
October 21, 2022
Today's post is on Lady Baltimore, vol 1: The Witch Queens by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Bridgit Connell, and Michelle Madsen. It is 144 pages long and is published by Dark Horse. The cover is Lady Baltimore with her sword. The intended reader is someone who likes reimagining of history. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and lots of violence in this comic book. The story is told from third person close of following the characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- Once she was Sofia Valk, living in a village overrun by evil. In time she became Lord Baltimore's most trusted ally. Now, more than a decade after his death, Europe has erupted with the early battles of world War II and dark forces are rising again. With witches, vampires, and Nazis on the march, Sofia must embrace the title of Lady Baltimore! But can she fight monsters without becoming a monster herself?
Review- A fast and fun comic about hunting witches and Nazis. Lady Baltimore has hunted evil wherever it was and protected the innocent. When an old friend comes with a story about her husband's ghost being seen in battles across Europe, she goes to investigate and the plot goes from there. This is a very fast read with lots of action and some world building. The world on the brink of World War II with witches leading the way. I would have liked to learn more about the different witch types and other magic in this world but that did not stop me from having a good time with this story. The art is good, very western, so no big eyes here, with a muted color plate but that helps the action stand out more. I hope that this series will be continued has it was very fun and interesting.
I give this comic book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this comic book from my local library.
From the dust jacket- Once she was Sofia Valk, living in a village overrun by evil. In time she became Lord Baltimore's most trusted ally. Now, more than a decade after his death, Europe has erupted with the early battles of world War II and dark forces are rising again. With witches, vampires, and Nazis on the march, Sofia must embrace the title of Lady Baltimore! But can she fight monsters without becoming a monster herself?
Review- A fast and fun comic about hunting witches and Nazis. Lady Baltimore has hunted evil wherever it was and protected the innocent. When an old friend comes with a story about her husband's ghost being seen in battles across Europe, she goes to investigate and the plot goes from there. This is a very fast read with lots of action and some world building. The world on the brink of World War II with witches leading the way. I would have liked to learn more about the different witch types and other magic in this world but that did not stop me from having a good time with this story. The art is good, very western, so no big eyes here, with a muted color plate but that helps the action stand out more. I hope that this series will be continued has it was very fun and interesting.
I give this comic book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this comic book from my local library.
November 6, 2022
Series: Lady Baltimore #1
Rating: 2 stars - It was ok
Lady Baltimore continues her husband's legacy of killing monsters. She is actively hunting witches who are working with the Nazi’s. While I enjoyed aspects of this story, I found myself mostly bored and confused by it. There was no worldbuilding or character building in this which really hindered my enjoyment of it. I did read the Baltimore series so I roughly knew about Sophia and Rigo but they were mostly background characters in that series. The lack of character development just meant that I didn’t really connect with Sophie and her story. Also, while I loved that Sophie and Imogen were a couple, they had no chemistry or romance that made it really believable.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this graphic novel. I was very excited to read this one but just found myself bored by the simple story of hey you think you got me but I am actually more powerful just being constantly repeated. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the art and color palette for this one.
You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
Rating: 2 stars - It was ok
Lady Baltimore continues her husband's legacy of killing monsters. She is actively hunting witches who are working with the Nazi’s. While I enjoyed aspects of this story, I found myself mostly bored and confused by it. There was no worldbuilding or character building in this which really hindered my enjoyment of it. I did read the Baltimore series so I roughly knew about Sophia and Rigo but they were mostly background characters in that series. The lack of character development just meant that I didn’t really connect with Sophie and her story. Also, while I loved that Sophie and Imogen were a couple, they had no chemistry or romance that made it really believable.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this graphic novel. I was very excited to read this one but just found myself bored by the simple story of hey you think you got me but I am actually more powerful just being constantly repeated. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the art and color palette for this one.
You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
June 26, 2022
Oh wow. This is terrible. Very quickly eroding the goodwill that readers probably have from the outstanding Baltimore and the pretty good Joe Golem series. This is just sad. Horrible pacing, very mediocre writing and the visual quality is inconsistent all over the place from crap to okayish.
Save yourself the disappointment and just re-read Baltimore.
Save yourself the disappointment and just re-read Baltimore.
December 30, 2021
Not yet its own thing...but close.
April 19, 2022
Witches galore! Nice interweaving of the Golem and Lord Baltimore himself. A recommended read.
August 30, 2022
While I at first thought that the artwork seems a little slapdash, I soon found that I loved it!
October 19, 2022
Lady Baltimore fights evil witches and Hitler in the early parts of WW2. Decent art and text, a good read once book.
February 8, 2023
The start of a new series by Mike Mignola/Christopher Golden that is a spinoff of the Baltimore series, it doesn't go anywhere.
This fantasy takes place during WWII, with the HexenKorps siding with the Nazis and Sophia "Lady Baltimore" and all the "Wyrdlings" on the "good guy" side. Jumping right into the action, Sophia is battling little monsters in an empty building in Bruges, Belgium; she leaps through a 4th story window to land on the walkway along a canal to do battle with Yelena, a witch queen. She spirits Yelena away to her home at the Baltimore Estate on Trevelyn Island. She is in a fiery airplane crash that everyone seems to walk away from (the airplane is engulfed in flames as it crashes). It is unclear why she did this, but there is treachery, betrayal, and battles between witches and Wyrdlings throughout the book and alot of characters.
Since I am not familiar with the Baltimore series by Mignola, I was at a disadvantage. I appreciate all of the world building and introductions to characters, but this whole storyline felt forced to me. One example: Imogen's kisses with Sophia feel strange and out of nowhere; Sophia mentions her late husband and goes out to talk to him, but I feel no heat between the two women. It was difficult to see the connection between the Nazis and the witches and how they benefits of their unholy alliance. I thought it a nice touch to weave a golem into the story, although there are no other Jewish (only Christian) cultural touchstones in the story. I liked that spells were in other languages. That said, these phrases were sprinkled in the text with no translation in either the text or book, so I checked Google Translate for meaning. All were found in there exactly as written in the book, leaving me skeptical if this was how they translated an English phrase to another language (Dutch, Polish, Latin, and German) rather than asking a native speaker to translate a beautiful phrase spoken in English into another language. It's a real shame, since the English phrases were very poetic in nature. The opening line "Kuradi Munn" popped up as being Estonian for "damn dick".
Golden's artwork is very dynamic and exciting. While I am happy to see diverse characters, the placement of the few POC feels forced. The overall look is dark and foreboding.
A well-intended effort that just doesn't quite seem worth the read. It was OK.
Optional for ages 14+.
This fantasy takes place during WWII, with the HexenKorps siding with the Nazis and Sophia "Lady Baltimore" and all the "Wyrdlings" on the "good guy" side. Jumping right into the action, Sophia is battling little monsters in an empty building in Bruges, Belgium; she leaps through a 4th story window to land on the walkway along a canal to do battle with Yelena, a witch queen. She spirits Yelena away to her home at the Baltimore Estate on Trevelyn Island. She is in a fiery airplane crash that everyone seems to walk away from (the airplane is engulfed in flames as it crashes). It is unclear why she did this, but there is treachery, betrayal, and battles between witches and Wyrdlings throughout the book and alot of characters.
Since I am not familiar with the Baltimore series by Mignola, I was at a disadvantage. I appreciate all of the world building and introductions to characters, but this whole storyline felt forced to me. One example: Imogen's kisses with Sophia feel strange and out of nowhere; Sophia mentions her late husband and goes out to talk to him, but I feel no heat between the two women. It was difficult to see the connection between the Nazis and the witches and how they benefits of their unholy alliance. I thought it a nice touch to weave a golem into the story, although there are no other Jewish (only Christian) cultural touchstones in the story. I liked that spells were in other languages. That said, these phrases were sprinkled in the text with no translation in either the text or book, so I checked Google Translate for meaning. All were found in there exactly as written in the book, leaving me skeptical if this was how they translated an English phrase to another language (Dutch, Polish, Latin, and German) rather than asking a native speaker to translate a beautiful phrase spoken in English into another language. It's a real shame, since the English phrases were very poetic in nature. The opening line "Kuradi Munn" popped up as being Estonian for "damn dick".
Golden's artwork is very dynamic and exciting. While I am happy to see diverse characters, the placement of the few POC feels forced. The overall look is dark and foreboding.
A well-intended effort that just doesn't quite seem worth the read. It was OK.
Optional for ages 14+.
March 6, 2023
What worked for me:
- The work features a badass woman at the helm. She still has her own flaws and foibles, though, which works to the story's benefit.
- The work features a relationship between two women, though I won't say where to avoid spoilers
- I know "occult Nazis" are a pretty well-trodden antagonist (e.g. Hellboy, Indiana Jones, Wolfenstein, etc), but I still enjoyed myself.
- The work is set at the start of WW2, and doesn't shy away from violence. The proceedings can get appropriately (though never excessively) bloody given the setting.
What didn't:
- Only the eponymous Lady Baltimore gets any real character development (e.g. coming to terms with the death of her husband and what it means to carry on his legacy and title); the rest of the cast gets surface level development at best.
- A lot of the magic felt like each party was playing an "uno reverse" card and constantly one-upping each other. "Oh, you think you're the baddest bitch in the land? Well, try this on for size!" By the third time this happened, the stakes felt considerably lower because I figured the heroes would always have one more trick up their collective sleeves.
- None of the creature designs really blew me away. Then again, none of them stood out as poorly executed. The worst thing I can say about them is that I don't think any will be sticking with me.
Conclusion:
I found the work a fun, if disposable way to spend an hour. If the premise of the story sounds interesting to you (kickass lady beats the stuffing out of occult Nazis), this one is worth a look. I can't say it does anything to redefine the form, though, so don't expect to be blown away.
- The work features a badass woman at the helm. She still has her own flaws and foibles, though, which works to the story's benefit.
- The work features a relationship between two women, though I won't say where to avoid spoilers
- I know "occult Nazis" are a pretty well-trodden antagonist (e.g. Hellboy, Indiana Jones, Wolfenstein, etc), but I still enjoyed myself.
- The work is set at the start of WW2, and doesn't shy away from violence. The proceedings can get appropriately (though never excessively) bloody given the setting.
What didn't:
- Only the eponymous Lady Baltimore gets any real character development (e.g. coming to terms with the death of her husband and what it means to carry on his legacy and title); the rest of the cast gets surface level development at best.
- A lot of the magic felt like each party was playing an "uno reverse" card and constantly one-upping each other. "Oh, you think you're the baddest bitch in the land? Well, try this on for size!" By the third time this happened, the stakes felt considerably lower because I figured the heroes would always have one more trick up their collective sleeves.
- None of the creature designs really blew me away. Then again, none of them stood out as poorly executed. The worst thing I can say about them is that I don't think any will be sticking with me.
Conclusion:
I found the work a fun, if disposable way to spend an hour. If the premise of the story sounds interesting to you (kickass lady beats the stuffing out of occult Nazis), this one is worth a look. I can't say it does anything to redefine the form, though, so don't expect to be blown away.
September 25, 2022
Yeah, so this isn't really a jumping on point for Mike Mignola's Outerverse. This book constantly references other series, from Lord Baltimore to Joe the Golem, and seems to expect the reader to be familiar with them. It's still comprehensible without them, but it does feel a like you're thrown into the story in the middle.
Lady Baltimore makes for a fun protagonist though; she's a human dealing with the mystic world and getting by on her nerves and her companions. The book is full of action, building up to a pretty impressive multi-front climactic moment. It doesn't quite play fair, as many of the characters pull out unknown abilities or relatives who are always just a bit more than their antagonists expect. Some of that works out to very fun moments, but it happens once or twice too often for it to truly get away with it.
The art is good, providing a tense tone and distinctive look for pretty much all the characters. There's a little too much navel-gazing for my taste, but other than that, it's a fun action romp with plenty of fantastical enemies and allies.
Lady Baltimore makes for a fun protagonist though; she's a human dealing with the mystic world and getting by on her nerves and her companions. The book is full of action, building up to a pretty impressive multi-front climactic moment. It doesn't quite play fair, as many of the characters pull out unknown abilities or relatives who are always just a bit more than their antagonists expect. Some of that works out to very fun moments, but it happens once or twice too often for it to truly get away with it.
The art is good, providing a tense tone and distinctive look for pretty much all the characters. There's a little too much navel-gazing for my taste, but other than that, it's a fun action romp with plenty of fantastical enemies and allies.
August 30, 2022
Troppe cose stipate in poche pagine.
Inoltre queste "streghe regine" non mi sono sembrate poi una gran minaccia per la protagonista che - anche senza alcun potere e armata solo di spada e pistola - riesce sempre a cavarsela. Le streghe non fanno altro che prendere mazzate e la regina Tanith non può essere presa sul serio con quel lampadario in testa.
Inoltre queste "streghe regine" non mi sono sembrate poi una gran minaccia per la protagonista che - anche senza alcun potere e armata solo di spada e pistola - riesce sempre a cavarsela. Le streghe non fanno altro che prendere mazzate e la regina Tanith non può essere presa sul serio con quel lampadario in testa.
February 12, 2024
Kinda ho-hum. Less character development than in the original early Baltimore series. Rigo not nearly as deep as he was before. Sofia is kind of a one-note character. And what's Einar's actual deal? I'd prefer a whole series about him.
May 25, 2025
Derivative and generic girl boss comic featuring a truly uninspiring modern day Mary Sue lead which ultimately disregards and taints the original in search of an audience that doesn’t exist. Do yourself a favor and avoid this title and read something else.
April 14, 2022
Zajímavých nápadů plno, ale přijde mi to trochu zamotané a ukvapené. A jakto, že tu je druhá světová válka s nacisty, když první světová válka neproběhla, respektive byla hlavně válka proti upírům?
October 1, 2022
This story felt rushed and disjointed. I also didn’t love the art style.
January 25, 2023
Quite the magic rich catastrophy. Interesting characters and magic spells. I do like the Hellboy universe.
July 25, 2023
Solid, cool world. Pacing could be better though.
October 12, 2023
i really like this mash-up of history and horror. It's a fun read and keeps the legacy and standards of Baltimore going.
November 19, 2023
I am not that crazy for the world war II Hell Boy universe but I did enjoy this tale.
July 2, 2025
There's a lot of exposition going on.
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