Hellsing is the Church of England’s Top Secret Vampire Repellent Bureau, and their number-one agent is Alucard, a domesticated vampire that obeys human beings. For some reason vampire activity all over the globe is increasing, so Alucard and his sidekick, Police Girl, have been very busy lately, dispatching ghouls and vampires with a variety of Big Guns loaded with silver bullets melted down from crosses.
Troubles arise when Alucard is dispatched to Northern Ireland to kill a vampire and runs afoul of Father Anderson, aka “Angel Dust Anderson,” top agent of the Vatican’s super-secret Section XIII, Special Agency Iscariot. A brief turf war ensues: Alucard blows Father Anderson’s head off with his Big Gun, and Father Anderson pierces Alucard’s body with a hundred knives (there is a thoughtful text note explaining that Father Anderson keeps his knives in the 4th dimension, just in case you were wondering) and then cuts his head off. Both recover; Alucard later tells someone “it’s been a long time since someone plucked off my head.”
Hellsing has lots of comic book violence and gore, but is a very entertaining read. Recommended for high schoolers.
Hellsing, vol. 1
ISBN: 9781593070564
by Kohta Hirano
Dark Horse 2003
