Hellsing Recommended

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

Hellsing GN 2

By David Rasmussen
4th 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 Gore and Fred Lui

HELLSING
Previously...
Where to begin? First off set aside memories of "Van Helsing" (Hugh Jackman). Forget it.

Hellsing has nothing to do with the man himself, Van Helsing, and most certainly has nothing to do with the movie of the same name! It is his descendants who run a secret organization somewhere in the UK that protect Queen and Country from monsters of all sort (on the side of the Protestants).

The head of the organization is a woman named Integra. After her father died and willed Hellsing over to her it seems she found herself the target of termination by her own uncle. Yeah, "ownership" of those secret organizations is just too nice to pass up, especially if he's waited forever to have it passed to him only for it to get passed to someone else.

While hiding from him and his goons, Intergra stumbles upon a corpse hidden within the depths of Hellsing HQ -- corpse? It's supposed to be her protection. Turns out it IS her protection, after it drinks a bit of blood, because it revives into the ultimate work of over 100 years of undead research, Alcuard (which is basically Dracula spelled backwards).

Alucard deems the uncle unsuitable to lead, and -- yeah -- death follows. Integra becomes head of the family, and Alucard is her servant (best weapon). Of course having Alucard armed with a big frickin' gun loaded with silver bullets helps a lot. But he's not the only heavy hitter as you'll see...

First there's "Police Girl" (the female he revived last Graphic Novel that now serves Hellsing).
Then there's the butler Walter who has some serious moves of his own (which will be shown here).

And they'll be needed for what comes next.
Last time however? The events of last Graphic Novel seems to have people shaken up, and may be the tip of a larger and deeper "iceberg" of troubles that have yet to be revealed.
Especially since last time led to internal conflict between forces meant to keep the peace, mainly the Protestant Hellsing and the Catholic Section XIII, The Iscariot Agency.

But that was then, this is now.

Graphic Novel 2
It looks like the situation (started last Graphic Novel) is of such concern that a special meeting of the powerful has to be called together at Hellsing HQ. This meeting, for a group of powerful individuals known as the "Convention of the 12", goes over the happenings of last Graphic Novel , and it's not good.

Doesn't get any better when Hellsing HQ comes under attack by an army of SWAT team geared ghouls (aka the walking dead Resident Evil style) led by two freakish brothers called the Valentine Brothers.
The battle for Hellsing HQ has begun, and spans a good deal of the book.

Once the threat is neutralized, and the brothers shuffled off, we see an unlikely meeting between the Protestant Hellsing and Catholic Section XIII as it seems there needs to be some explanation concerning information gained at the end of the siege of Hellsing HQ.

The last part is a continuation of the ending story found in Graphic Novel 1.
Ok. Breakdown time.

Hellsing Breakdown
What's Hot? - Second verse same as the first. I'm not a horror fan, as I stated before, but Hellsing is one of those rare titles of the genre that I can get into. The artwork, storytelling, characters and all around total package of the title is just some good reading that can't be ignored.

Aces to Dark Horse for bringing this out! A good engaging read well worth buying for your collection.

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

Moments to Remember?
Without a doubt it's all memorable, but for me the character of Seras ("Police Girl") is my favorite of the whole series. The others are good, too, but she's just a fave of mine.
Lots to remember... even if some of those memorable scenes are abit blood ridden.

What to Ignore?
Don't ignore the fact this should be a Mature Reader title! With all the violence and gore it's not for everyone, so be mindful of that. Now, that being said, the title itself is too good to ignore.
If you can take the content of the title then it'll be well worth reading in my opinion.

Overall?
A horror title I can really sink my reviewing "teeth" into. It's rare when I can find a title I like as much as Hellsing, especially in this genre (horror), so lucky me for having this chance to review it!

I haven't seen the anime yet, but I can really recommend the manga to you at least!
A good solid bloody read that will definitely make an impression on you, and prove to be a good read that you won't be able to ignore. A must have.

-- David Rasmussen 4th Nov 04