The Plague Ships

The Plague Ships is a five-issue miniseries and the debut of the Baltimore comics series, and the debut of artist Ben Stenbeck on The Outerverse.

Publishing history
According to Mike Mignola, even while working on the original novel, he and Christopher Golden had an idea that the series may become a comic someday, exploring the five-year gap in the narrative. The Plague Ships was particularly influenced by the work of William Hope Hodgson, especially the maritime Gothic elements. The first miniseries was written to introduce new readers to Lord Baltimore without the need to read the novel, so Golden introduced the character Vanessa Kalderas to serve as the reader's proxy. Golden was interested in using the comics to explores the psyche of Baltimore, who in the novel had been witnessed largely through external narrative devices. Originally, the first Baltimore miniseries was going to be set slightly earlier and focus more on "a world falling apart", but later they settled on 1916, by which point the existence of vampires was already widen known. Mignola's interest in doing the comic in part stemmed from wanting to explore how the 'real world' version of World War I veered into the alternate history version of events, where World War I feel apart hallway through the war. Regarding his design work for the series, Ben Stenbeck said more time was spent on the fungus zombies than any other part of the story.

By the time Baltimore: The Plague Ships was announced in 2010, Golden was already at work on the second (The Curse Bells) and third miniseries (possibly Dr. Leskovar's Remedy or The Infernal Train) as well as a few standalone issues set in between.

Main

 * Lord Henry Baltimore
 * Vanessa Kalderas

Supporting

 * Vanessa's grandmother
 * Judge Duvic
 * Lucrezia Fulcanelli

Flashbacks

 * Haigus
 * Captain Demetrius Aischros
 * Lady Elowen Baltimore
 * Helen Baltimore (Henry's sister)
 * Henry's parents
 * Unnamed monk

Chapter One

 * Originally published August 4, 2010

'''Villefranche, on the coast of France. August 1916. Half a year since the end of World War I'''

While pursuing some elder vampires, Lord Baltimore is knocked unconscious by an exploding Zeppelin. He awakens in the home of Vanessa Kalderas and her grandmother. The elder Kalderas claims to have called down the lightning responsible for the Zeppelin explosion, expecting gratitude. Baltimore, however, is annoyed, since he needed information from the vampires, explaining that he is hunting a vampire called Haigus. Vanessa claims to have seen Haigus, and that he left by ship for Livorno two nights ago. Vanessa wishes to go with Baltimore, but her grandmother warns that he is cursed. Before Lord Baltimore can leave, he is arrested so that he may be tested by a Judge Duvic of the New Inquisition, to see if he is in league with devils. The following night, Vanessa breaks Baltimore out of his prison, but on the condition that she gets to leave Villefranche with him.

Chapter Two

 * Originally published September 1, 2010

As Lord Baltimore and Vanessa make their escape, they see a blond woman having bodies loaded into an engine to be burned—an engine that burns without smoke. The pair set off on a small merchant ship, The Marianne. At Vanessa's insistence, Baltimore tells her of his first encounter with Haigus in the Ardennes crossing No Man's Land, how he lost his leg, and his visit from Haigus during the night.

Chapter Three

 * Originally published October 6, 2010

Lord Baltimore finishes his tale, telling Vanessa of Haigus's threats and the beginning of the plague. During a storm that night, the crew of The Marianne are alarmed to see enormous jellyfish-like creatures floating in the night sky. The Marianne sinks, but Baltimore and Vanessa manage to cling to some debris. They awaken in the morning on an island, the Furiani Graveyard. While exploring the island, they discover the wreck of one of Villefranche's plague ships, which had been piled with the plague dead then set to sea aflame. A strange fungus has grown from the wreck, spreading to the wrecks of grounded submarines from the War. As they explore, Vanessa and Baltimore are attacked by newly risen plague dead. The pair flee to sunlight.

Chapter Four

 * Originally published November 3, 2010

Hoping to attract rescue, Baltimore and Vanessa make a fire. Lord Baltimore resumes his tale, telling Vanessa of his homecoming to Trevelyan Island and how his family was claimed by Haigus, and how a mysterious monk told him that he had been called by God to stand against the Red Death. Baltimore insists he pursues Haigus only as retribution for his wife, Lady Elowen, but fears he has become a pawn in a larger game. As night falls, blooms open in the fungus.

Chapter Five

 * Originally published December 1, 2010

The fungus awakens not just the plague dead, but also the dead Hessians from the submarine wrecks. Baltimore seals Vanessa inside an empty submarine and fights against inhuman odds all night. Meanwhile, Vanessa sits inside the submarine and thinks about the tale Baltimore had told her, of how his family had been turned into vampires and how he had hunted and burned them. In the morning, Vanessa emerges from the submarine to discover the island strewn with corpses, but Lord Baltimore still standing. Vanessa finally accepts that he is truly cursed and she should have listened to her grandmother.

In a final sequence, Judge Duvic has captured Vanessa's grandmother and tortures her for information about Lord Baltimore.

Cover gallery
All covers by Mike Mignola with colors by Dave Stewart.

Trivia

 * The fungus zombies featured in this story were originally part of an early version of Mike Mignola's Hellboy: The Island.