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A review by adam_nie
Baltimore, Vol. 8: The Red Kingdom by Mike Mignola, Peter Bergting, Christopher Golden, Michelle Madsen
3.0
I don't mind the gaudiness. This series has always prided itself on set-piece battles. They're a genre staple. I personally prefer Baltimore in its quieter moments, where the atmospheric towns and bit characters can breathe. Unfortunately, this final installment has little room for that kind of downtime. It rushes through intra-party conflicts and ultimately kneecaps its own climax by making the title fight more mundane and uneventful than the battle montages which proceeded it.
On an unrelated note, the map of the Red King's territory really drove home Baltimore's messy flirtation with period-specific Western propaganda tropes. Russia has fallen to the red menace! China has cut a deal with the devil! "We cannot expect help from the East" is written as fact in a military briefing on page 2. We know that the US fights with Western Europe in the heroic alliance and that some Coptic magicians have joined the Inquisition. The Inquisition does score points for showing a global range of Christian practices. But beyond that, the only sign of the Western or Southern hemispheres in this ultimate battle for the planet is a map showing much of West Africa as under the Red King's domain. It's not great.
On an unrelated note, the map of the Red King's territory really drove home Baltimore's messy flirtation with period-specific Western propaganda tropes. Russia has fallen to the red menace! China has cut a deal with the devil! "We cannot expect help from the East" is written as fact in a military briefing on page 2. We know that the US fights with Western Europe in the heroic alliance and that some Coptic magicians have joined the Inquisition. The Inquisition does score points for showing a global range of Christian practices. But beyond that, the only sign of the Western or Southern hemispheres in this ultimate battle for the planet is a map showing much of West Africa as under the Red King's domain. It's not great.