Hellsing Recommended

Publisher
Dark Horse
Writer
Kohta Hirano
Artist
Kohta Hirano
Country of origin
Japan
Year
1998

Hellsing GN 4

By David Rasmussen
17th Nov 04

Studio - Dark Horse
Age - No Rating (Most likely Mature Reader)
By Kohta Hirano
Dark Horse Manga Staff
Translator - Duane Johnson
Lettering by Wilbert Lacuna
Editor - Tim Ervin and Fred Lui

Previously...
Now that it's known that the ones behind all the troubles of late are Nazis what next?
Time for a roadtrip! This trip taking Hellsing members Alucard, Seras and a few good mercenary add-ons to the team (after they lost all their security last Graphic Novel) to South America, preferred vacation spot of 9 out of 10 nazis in hiding.

Too bad the hotel they're staying in has just been turned into a death trap as they have come under siege.
Of course when I say "death trap" I mean for those raiding the hotel, as blood flows in excess when Alucard goes on the offensive and wipes out all who opposes him.
Except for the final one, a nazi big shot who uses razor sharp playing cards as his weapons, and wears a rather conspicuous white suite and hat as if he's a third rate villain from a James Bond movie.
Hopefully he isn't that caliber though since Alucard isn't exactly going to be a pushover.

Graphic Novel 4...
Oh, wait. The villain from last time was a pushover.
It doesn't take long to turn him into a late night snack and that's done with.
Seems however he'll serve a more important purpose for his superiors... an organic "homing beacon" to allow one of the nazis own to follow Hellsing's operative back to England to walk in on a meeting of Hellsing, Section XIII (Iscariot) and the Queen herself.

But backtracking abit... seems Section XIII can no longer sit on the fence now that it's been revealed some of their own sold out for the opportunity to become vampires (which of course didn't happen since the nazis old plans to form a vampire army, then a flawed ghoul army, went belly up after Hellsing thrashed their operations). Now properly "motivated", it seems Section XIII is going to pitch in and fight after all.

And it looks like there'll be a fight of epic proportions considering the enemy.
Leading the band is a rather pudgy looking major who used to be part of the "Death's Head" division of the nazi army, and took orders directly from old Hitler himself. That seems to have not gone unnoticed by the grunts since it seems they have dubbed him "Acting Fuhrer" (which irks the actual nazi leadership)... well, that won't last.

Then there's the vampire nazi army, werewolves (including a rather awkwardly pretty boy werewolf who seems to be the nazi version of Seras... eh?), a strange silent Captain and a woman with half of her body covered in occult script.

Ah. But how does Alucard/Seras get back to England in the first place? After wearing out their welcome in South America it's not going to be as easy as going to the airport and catching the first red-eye home.
Looks like Section XIII has provided that too, sending Anderson to inform them of the location of a secret Vatican jet that'll take them home... that is after Alucard/Anderson exchange blows first.

Now back to the whole homing beacon thing. Seems that our young pretty boy werewolf drops in on the meeting between Hellsing/Section XII/Queen by following the "scent" of that dead nazi card-shark on Alucard, and he brings a message from the Major himself.

Seems he has gone and cleaned house, wiping out the old "leadership" and making himself the new "fuhrer" of this dark nazi regime. And he plans to go to war against England, the Protestants (and hence Hellsing), and Alucard himself. War is coming, and with the violent bloody takeover of a British aircraft carrier, and a fleet of Hindenberg style airships it seems the Letztes Battalion (Last Battalion) is coming...

And the next time blood is spilled it'll be over London itself. Endgame is just about here.
Let's wrap this up and break it down.

Hellsing Breakdown
What's Hot? - It's going to end spectacularly. This is good, and it'll end good.
Not one for horror, but I said that a lot. But still this title is quite the page turner... if you can withstand the pages bathed in blood. When the blood flies it really flies, but if you can get past that you'll find this to be an engaging read well worth your time to seek out.

What's Not? - Nothing. It's all good.

Moments to Remember? - Ah. The awkward moment as Seras meets Schrodinger (her werewolf "counterpart") and the two seem to not know how to take the other... and merely greet each other.
And despite the fact Alucard later blows his head off? Schrodinger reports home alive and well... weird.
I thought werewolves died when you decapitated them.
Anyway Seras has more to do this time out than last time, and the plot goes into high gear as it moves towards the big battle which should be next time so it's all good.

What to Ignore? - Uh... yeah. Anyone tell Schrodinger yet he looks way too feminine for his own good?
Yeah. If he survives the bloody war for England he should start a boy band or get his own show on STYLE.
Yeah. Somehow the pretty boy is more disturbing than the woman with the chalkboard half body with all the occult script all over it, and the silent Captain... way too pretty boy to be dangerous.

Overall? - It's nearly over, but we won't see the end until the start of December.
But thankfully I have already placed my order for Hellsing GN 5 so you'll see the review of the pivotal Graphic Novel before the end of the year! Stay tuned!

-- David Rasmussen 17th Nov 04