For those who know Hellsing, the word alone conjures up a supernatural fever dream of Nazi vampire legions, hooded fanatical Vatican knights, ancient unholy alliances, and torrents of gore...and with only the fate of humankind at stake. No pressure. Creator Kohta Hirano pulled out every stop, serving up a comics epic as gleefully insane, shockingly grotesque, and wildly entertaining as anything that’s come down the pike, in Japan or anywhere else. Each time Hellsing reached the redline limit of madness you’d think couldn't be surpassed—bang!—Hirano managed to find yet another gear and burn rubber towards the next apocalyptic maelstrom.
Well, that was then, and this is now, and while Hellsing is long behind us (though still available from your Dark Horse pals if you’ve somehow managed to avoid being joyously crushed under the Hellsing juggernaut), Kohta Hirano has not taken his foot off the gas. We now have Hirano's Drifters, chosen as one of the top five shonen or seinen manga of 2013 by Japan's Da Vinci magazine (one of the other five, Assassination Classroom, has just been announced by Viz).
Drifters seems like such a relaxing title for a story, bringing to mind fishing by a lazy river on a warm summer day. Except this Drifters is more like fishing with dynamite in a class-five rapids in the middle of a riot. Here's the plot: warriors and military leaders from Earth history—including samurai Shimazu Toyohisa, warlord Oda Nobunaga, Carthaginian general Hannibal, and Western outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (!)—are snatched up and deposited on a mystical world straight out of a Tolkien fantasy.
These abductees, dubbed the “Drifters,” find themselves in the middle of a campaign of persecution against this world's demi-human races, waged by the vicious Orte Empire—humans furthering the goals of their late beloved leader, Adolf Hitler. Yes, that Adolf Hitler. Drawn into the struggle against the Orte Empire, the Drifters try to bring the elves and dwarves together to throw off their chains. But considering who they are and what they did back on Earth, not all of the Drifters’ agendas are noble. After all...this is an entire new world to conquer!
But in the North, an even greater threat looms. The malign Black King has his own force of abductees from Earth, called the "Ends," among them the infamous medieval knight Gilles de Rais, his now-insane comrade Joan of Arc, and the always-insane Rasputin. They set out with a host of monstrosities to destroy all before them, including the Drifters, and bring this world under a baleful shroud of tyranny.
Combine all those elements, add heat, and shake violently—the result is classic Hirano, a boiling, spicy concoction of lunatic action, bigger-than-life characters, and unrelenting imagination. This isn't a meal for the meek—it burns so good!
Drifters Volume 3 lands in comics shops Wednesday, March 12. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a copy in the wreckage!
—Chris Warner
Senior Editor
For those who know Hellsing, the word alone conjures up a supernatural fever dream of Nazi vampire legions, hooded fanatical Vatican knights, ancient unholy alliances, and torrents of gore...and with only the fate of humankind at stake. No pressure. Creator Kohta Hirano pulled out every stop, serving up a comics epic as gleefully insane, shockingly grotesque, and wildly entertaining as anything that’s come down the pike, in Japan or anywhere else. Each time Hellsing reached the redline limit of madness you’d think couldn't be surpassed—bang!—Hirano managed to find yet another gear and burn rubber towards the next apocalyptic maelstrom.
Well, that was then, and this is now, and while Hellsing is long behind us (though still available from your Dark Horse pals if you’ve somehow managed to avoid being joyously crushed under the Hellsing juggernaut), Kohta Hirano has not taken his foot off the gas. We now have Hirano's Drifters, chosen as one of the top five shonen or seinen manga of 2013 by Japan's Da Vinci magazine (one of the other five, Assassination Classroom, has just been announced by Viz).
Drifters seems like such a relaxing title for a story, bringing to mind fishing by a lazy river on a warm summer day. Except this Drifters is more like fishing with dynamite in a class-five rapids in the middle of a riot. Here's the plot: warriors and military leaders from Earth history—including samurai Shimazu Toyohisa, warlord Oda Nobunaga, Carthaginian general Hannibal, and Western outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (!)—are snatched up and deposited on a mystical world straight out of a Tolkien fantasy.
These abductees, dubbed the “Drifters,” find themselves in the middle of a campaign of persecution against this world's demi-human races, waged by the vicious Orte Empire—humans furthering the goals of their late beloved leader, Adolf Hitler. Yes, that Adolf Hitler. Drawn into the struggle against the Orte Empire, the Drifters try to bring the elves and dwarves together to throw off their chains. But considering who they are and what they did back on Earth, not all of the Drifters’ agendas are noble. After all...this is an entire new world to conquer!
But in the North, an even greater threat looms. The malign Black King has his own force of abductees from Earth, called the "Ends," among them the infamous medieval knight Gilles de Rais, his now-insane comrade Joan of Arc, and the always-insane Rasputin. They set out with a host of monstrosities to destroy all before them, including the Drifters, and bring this world under a baleful shroud of tyranny.
Combine all those elements, add heat, and shake violently—the result is classic Hirano, a boiling, spicy concoction of lunatic action, bigger-than-life characters, and unrelenting imagination. This isn't a meal for the meek—it burns so good!
Drifters Volume 3 lands in comics shops Wednesday, March 12. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a copy in the wreckage!
—Chris Warner
Senior Editor
