About Heroes

Hellsing Volume 3
Author and artist: Kohta Hirano
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga

It never ceases to amaze me just how many different ways Hirano can draw Alucard! I don't mean that he can't draw and therefore he always looks different, but that his facial expressions are never the same. What an accomplishment! Hirano doesn't rely on the same cool smirk every time; I believe he enjoys seeing how many different ways Alucard can look crazy. And he is a shape-shifting vampire, so I suppose his face wouldn't always be the same.. Seriously, you'll never get bored reading this book with all the hard work put into each panel.

Pip Bernadotte, the leader of the mercenaries that Hellsing hired in the last volume, has an accent that's really fun to read - way more fun than Father Anderson's accent. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what the crazy priest guy with swords is saying, but Pip, with his crazy facial expressions, tends to be easier to understand. But what kind of name is Pip Bernadotte for a mercenary leader….?

Alucard gets the okay from Sir Integra to kill all the soldiers attacking him and Seras in the hotel they're staying at. Actually, he pushes her hand to give him the order, which is a little creepy. Needless to say, due to Alucard's bloodlust, the violence is on a higher scale in this volume than in the last two. Everything moves really smoothly though, like a dance…, a gun-shootin', blood-suckin', transform into a demon dance!

We get a little bit of character development with Alucard when he converses with Walter at the beginning of the volume and later on with Seras at the hotel. He's not just disinterested vampire; he wants his protégé to experience the joy he finds in killing. And he's got great quotes like this one after he gets shot full of holes by the soldiers - "Your power is impressive, but a pack of hounds can't beat me. I cannot be killed by dogs. (He's slowly recombining himself at this point.) That which defeats a monster… is always a man! (And he's up in all of his black silhouette, gloved hands, flowing hair glory!)" This makes me wonder what he thinks about humans. He's ready to kill over a verbal insult directed towards his master, Sir Integra, allows her to use his power, and this statement implies he puts humans on a pedestal.

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