In Review: Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens #1

Synopsis: In Lady Baltimore. Once she was Sofia Valk, living in a village overrun by evil. In time she became Lord Baltimore’s most trusted ally. Now, more than a decade after his death, Europe has erupted with the early battles of World War 2 and dark forces are rising again. With witches, vampires, and Nazis on the march, Sofia must embrace the title of Lady Baltimore! But can she fight monsters without becoming a monster herself?

The Story

Very little time is wasted here as we get thrown right into the story. Indeed, this opening issue picks up with Lady Baltimore fighting against the evil Witch Yelena. We soon learn that Sofia is on a rescue mission and is out to help Rigo and members of the Orphic Society get out of hostile territory. Just when it seems that the game is up. Sofia’s friend Imogen swoops in and uses some of her magic to contain Yelena so that Sofia can rescue her old friend Rigo. But even in captivity, Yelena is still dangerous.

The Artwork

Bridgit Connell provides the artwork for this book and initially, I wasn’t a fan. At least not until we got to some of the more subtle touches that she made. The art style is a little on the scratchy side. But as the story gradually unfolds you kind of get used to it and it fast becomes the norm for this particular world. On the good side, I did appreciate the artist’s attention to detail when it came to drawing the gothic buildings that we see toward the end of the book. I also really liked the sequence of panels where we see Sofia loading her gun with silver bullets. Seeing the runic symbols that are engraved into the bullets was a really nice touch.

Overall

In ‘Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens’ writers Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola deliver an interesting world in which we see Sofia and her friends operate. Setting the story just prior to the second world war. Which is when Hitler was very interested in the Supernatural is a nice touch as well. This first issue mostly sets stuff up and introduces the characters. It’s a pretty easy read and the characters are pretty intriguing. So I’m pretty much in for the duration.