“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster.”
Written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden
Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck
Colors by Dave Stewart
Lettering by Clem RobinsBaltimore jumps aboard the Infernal Train and fights high-priest vampires and an evil witch to stop them from resurrecting a vampire god.
At the end of The Infernal Train it teases the next miniseries, Chapel of Bones, and I’m already impatient for it. Though only three issues long, The Infernal Train is a major turning point for Baltimore, which makes it rather difficult to review. There’s little I can discuss without spoiling anything or getting too abstract.
Upon finishing this story the first thing that struck me was how much bigger Baltimore‘s world has become. Everything has been ripped wide open. Even more than the second issue, the third is essentially a single extended action sequence packed full of character moments, revelations, mythology, and creepy horror. This story picks up right where it left off and doesn’t relent for a moment. Plus I’m a sucker for action sequences on trains, especially steam engines, so this was pretty much my favorite issue of Baltimore ever.
It goes without saying Ben Stenbeck’s artwork is always excellent, and with each new Baltimore arc he’s getting better. With the latter half of this issue he really shines. The big payoffs in this story have been treated with great care, showcasing some beautifully haunting shots, and a final sequence that demands an immediate reread. Mignola has a way of introducing iconic panels in stories he writes that are called back to in later arcs. In this issue there are several moments that will likely hang over the series for years to come, and Stenbeck (along with Dave Stewart) has worked hard in honing them so that they stick in the mind’s eye. Because of the tight pacing of this one, I read through it very quickly, but with my second read it was impossible not to linger on these panels.
My only real criticism of the art, if it can even be called that, was with Signora Fulcanelli. Since her first appearance in The Plague Ships she has always worn dark glasses, which had a way of transforming her whole face into a mask. When she looses her glasses, I found her eyes so emotive, it was difficult to reconcile her as the same character. However, that’s kind of the point. There is a definite strangeness about her having very human eyes when I had become so accustomed to a certain level of snake-like unreadability. But this all heightened the stuff with her near the end of the issue.
The mythology elements introduced in the second issue are expanded upon in this one, and it has me very excited about the future of the series. Everything with the Red King was fantastic. I don’t know who was responsible for his design here, Mignola or Stenbeck, but it is an excellent one.
I want to stress the pacing here, not just of this particular arc but the series in general. I enjoyed The Plague Ships and when it was over I wanted to read more stories about Lord Baltimore, but aside from my enjoyment of the story, there were few internal elements pushing me to read the next. Lord Baltimore’s hunt for Haigus was a slow-burn. That’s no longer the case. The series has a real sense of momentum, and I have to know what happens next. This story was big, but the way things are now, the next one has to be even bigger, knowing that it is converging on the finale of the original novel. I don’t know how the creative team are going to deal with that particular challenge (especially since there are readers that are utter strangers to the novel), but they’ve known from day one this moment was down the road and they would have planned for it. There are nods to a certain reveal from the novel in The Infernal Train that give me confidence they’ll be tackling this challenge head-on.
Ultimately this story is bigger than its three issues, and I suspect that later stories will make rereading this one a richer experience than it already is.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy.
