Hellsing: Volume 9

by Kohta Hirano, 231 pages

Alucard and Father Anderson have their big showdown, but it's not what our whacked out, weary vampire had hoped for. And neither, certainly, is the follow-up confrontation, which none of them saw coming, even though it's been brewing in front of their noses for fifty years.

As the Major celebrates his perfectly executed plans and Police Girl battles a werewolf who seems to want her to take him out permanently, Alucard throws himself into his own altercations with all the glee, cold bitterness, and disappointment he can muster--which is rather a lot.

I must admit, I was a little sad at the big reveal in this volume. But I shouldn't have been surprised, given the creator's preference for defying convention and thwarting reader expectations. This series is all about the craziness and unpleasantness that comes with being a blood-sucking fiend, even if that blood-sucking fiend has a sense of humor and is under contract with the disturbingly pragmatic forces of good.