My Rating
“The Eleventh Man – Part 01 of 03”
Wintersgate Manor, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Baron Winters and his faithful leopard, Merlin, have settled in for a quiet evening beside the Victorian fireplace. For once, there are no demons knocking at the door, no dimensional invaders threatening the planet, and no supernatural crisis demanding the Baron’s immediate attention.
So much for a quiet night.
The massive oak doors leading into the library suddenly slam open. Standing on the other side are several federal agents surrounding a mysterious figure bound tightly to a wheelchair. Muffled screams escape from beneath a heavy iron helmet covering the prisoner’s head. Whoever—or whatever—is strapped into that chair is clearly in tremendous pain.
Baron Winters immediately demands to know how these strangers managed to enter Wintersgate Manor. People don’t simply walk through his front door without permission. Yet somewhere in the back of his mind, the Baron already knows the answer.
One of the federal agents, a mysterious woman traveling with the group, radiates a dark supernatural aura. Somehow, she has managed to cloud the Baron’s mind long enough for the others to penetrate the mystical defenses surrounding his home. That alone should be enough to concern a man as powerful as Baron Winters.
Then the agents explain why they have come.
They need an exorcism.
Not just any exorcism, either. The tortured man strapped into the wheelchair is a former President of the United States, and something has taken possession of him.
Something known as the Eleventh Man.
Baron Winters has dealt with demons, monsters, sorcerers, and supernatural entities from across time and space, but this may prove to be one of his strangest assignments yet. Whatever inhabits the former president has attracted the attention of the federal government—and they apparently believe Winters is their best chance of getting it out.
Who—or what—is the Eleventh Man entity? How did it possess a former President of the United States? What supernatural power allowed the federal agents to penetrate Wintersgate Manor? Will this tragedy become a bigger scandal than Watergate?
And most importantly, does Merlin the leopard really get offended?
Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
Here we go again! “The Eleventh Man” kicks off another three-part story arc, and Marv Wolfman certainly comes up with an interesting premise. A group of federal agents showing up at Wintersgate Manor with a possessed former president strapped to a wheelchair is exactly the kind of bizarre situation that should land on Baron Winters’ doorstep.
The artwork continues with the darker, heavily shadowed look we saw in the previous issue. That Hellboy-style atmosphere works particularly well with Wintersgate Manor and the supernatural elements of the story. The heavy shadows and somewhat blocky character designs give everything an appropriately strange and unsettling appearance.
Marv Wolfman
Wolfman’s writing remains solid, and Baron Winters continues to be the strongest part of the series for me. I love watching him sit comfortably inside Wintersgate Manor while increasingly ridiculous supernatural disasters arrive at his front door. Merlin also gets another opportunity to remind us that he isn’t merely scenery. Apparently, even a leopard has standards.
Unfortunately, there isn’t anything particularly groundbreaking here yet. Possession and exorcism are familiar territory for supernatural horror, even when you throw a former president and a group of federal agents into the equation. This is only part one, however, so there is plenty of time for Wolfman to pull the rug out from underneath us.
I’m giving Night Force Vol. 2 #9 three out of five stars. A solid beginning with an entertaining premise, but I’m waiting to see where “The Eleventh Man” takes us before getting too excited.