Ben Stenbeck’s final arc on Baltimore begins…
Written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden
Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck
Colors by Dave Stewart
Lettering by Clem RobinsWhen Inquisition agents come to destroy a wolf that used to be one of their own men, they don’t stand a chance without the ultimate ally!
Full disclosure, I actually got to read both issues of this story at the same time, so it’ll probably skew my review a bit. Just thought you should know. I also think you should know this is my favorite Baltimore story to date.
I’m of the opinion that the best Baltimore stories are stories within stories. The original novel was largely three men sitting in a pub exchanging tales and reading the journal of Lord Baltimore. Through that readers got a look at Baltimore’s life, from which they could assemble a fragmented picture of this man. The technique has been used many times in the comics too, and it’s employed here again when Baltimore comes to hear Judge Joaquim Rigo’s story.
“The Wolf and the Apostle” is very new reader friendly. I can’t really see any stumbling blocks that would prevent someone new to the series from enjoying it. And yet, it is very much a sequel to last year’s “The Infernal Train,” picking up the the tattered threads left in the wake Judge Duvic’s transformation. The exposition at the beginning, which is part of what makes this story so accessible to new readers, also doubles to re-orientate regular readers, to remind us where things had been left at the end of “The Infernal Train,” while also setting the mood for the story to come. I like this kind of exposition. It’s not boring, and it’s very mood focused.
An aspect I enjoy about the story within a story format, is the new perspectives it allows the reader to explore. For a long time Judge Duvic has been the face of the Inquisition, but no longer. Here we get to meet a number of Inquisition judges, and while they are all men of the cloth, they are not all cut from the same cloth, so to speak. They certainly aren’t just Judge Duvic clones. In only a few pages, the judges were defined enough that when the carnage began, I wasn’t merely witnessing the slaughter of faceless figures there for the sake of padding in group shots, I was seeing them as people. It gave weight to the proceedings necessary for this kind of horror.
This is also Ben Stenbeck’s last Baltimore story (although he’ll be sticking around to do covers still), and it really plays to his strengths. The environment design is fantastic, especially the castle interiors in the latter half of the story. He brought that location to life in a way that there’s a sense of it beyond the page. It would have been easy when intercutting between various groups of judges in different parts of the castle, for them to blend into one another. Instead, Stenbeck made each location immediately visually distinct from the last, with focal points on pieces of set dressing so when we return to the room there’s no mistaking where we are.
For the most part Stenbeck kept the point of view of his panels close to shoulder level in the first half of this story, giving a sense of Rigo’s detachment from the horrors in that part. After all, he wasn’t there to witness them and heard of them secondhand. In the second half though, the panels become much more dynamic, with more high and low angles designed to make the reader empathize with the characters in the scene. Those wide, high angle panels make you feel their vulnerability, and those close, low angle panels make you feel their fear and the confinement of the panel makes the reader feel their inability to see what’s stalking them. This was a really great way to visually raise the stakes.
It also seems to me Stenbeck took the opportunity to show just how creative he can be with mangled corpses and maimed survivors. This is a werewolf story; There’s lots of blood. The monk right at the beginning of the story was especially well done. His wounds were horrifying, yet Stenbeck put so much into his eyes that it added a whole other level on top of that. “Beware the wolf,” indeed. It made such a strong statement about the kind of story being told.
Continued belowThe atmosphere in this story is its greatest strength. I can’t put this down to anyone person. For example, when the story opens Judge Rigo is telling his tale to Baltimore at night, under the light of the full moon. Throughout the issue, the story goes from pages of reds and back to Rigo under the moonlight. The effect it has though is that Rigo’s terror seems to bleed into his environment. Under the moonlight, everything becomes pale blues, as though pale with fright from the memory of what had happened. Was this Golden’s idea or Stewart’s? I’ve no idea, but it’s nicely subtle and it absolutely works.
There’s more I want to say about this issue, but I told myself I’d keep the review for the first issue spoiler free. So, my final verdict? Pick it up, even if you’re new to the series. It’s only two issues long, but it makes the most of it. The story stands alone extremely well, even though it’s picking up on story elements that were already in motion. If you’re already a Baltimore reader, this story is simply unmissable. Judge Duvic as a werewolf. You can’t say no to that. Like I said at the beginning, this is my favorite Baltimore story yet.
Final Verdict: 8.5.
