Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #1

Written by Mike Mignola
Art by Scott Hampton

With this two-part mini-series, Mignola brings Hellboy up against some vampires, which is so de rigueur for horror comics as to be almost insufferable, but he pulls it off.

The story is set in 1966, and has Hellboy tracking down a vampire who has been preying on guests at a particular inn.  He shoots her, but she manages to flee.  Tracking her, Hellboy meets an old man who proceeds to explain how he is the vampire's brother, and how his life has been spent in service to a very old vampire, and his two sisters (the other one is not quite a vampire - we will have that explained next month I assume).

Mignola uses this issue to explain some of the differences between North American and European vampires.  This is becoming a popular concept, and immediately made me think of Vertigo's excellent American Vampire series.  There are some differences here though, and the story sort of ties in to the events of BPRD 1947, which helps explain the general absence of vampires in Europe.

The art on this series is by Scott Hampton, who I believe has never worked on Hellboy before.  He is one of the best artists around for atmospheric, moody horror, and he applies these skills her very well.  I often enjoy the flashback stories and mini-series of Hellboy more than the ones set in modern times, and this series is no exception.