My Rating
“Something Is Murdering My Men…”
The crosses. Never remove the crosses! That was the plea from old caretaker Alexandru to Captain Klaus Woermann when Private Lutz was caught trying to remove one of the holy relics. There were a total of 16,807 such crosses attached to the walls inside the keep. It wouldn’t be long before Woermann’s men would violate the caretaker’s request. Now privates Lutz and Otto have been found dead.
One week later a note from Woermann addressed to the Wehrmacht high command arrived with a simple statement: “Request immediate relocation, something is murdering my men”. An odd statement for sure. Now Sturmbannführer Erich Kaempffer and his unit of SS Einsatzkommandos have been given orders to investigate a possible Partisan rebellion.
Tavira – Portugal, something has awakened Glaeken from his slumber and filled his mind with panic. It can’t be true! Not after that many centuries! Gleaken packs his duffle bag and races out into the early morning sun.
What is killing the Wehrmacht soldiers within the Romanian keep? Will Major Kaempffer use his skills learned at the Auschwitz prison camp to force the locals into confessing their sins? How far does the secret tunnel run inside the keep? Collect and the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
I’ve never read the novel written by F. Paul Wilson, however I’m a huge fan of the movie released in 1983. Set in the months following the Nazi invasion of Romania, a platoon of Gebirgsjäger have begun to turn up dead within the wall of a mysterious keep. Who is responsible for the hideous murders? Could it be the caretaker’s themselves?
Now it’s up to Sturmbannführer Kaempffer to find the persons responsible for the crimes. With the talk of ghosts, goblins, and vampires this task may be beyond Kaempffer’s skill set. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but the Keep is a unique tale which would go on to inspire future World War II horror movies to come.
I love this story, the production, and the script translation. However, on the fence about the artwork. Matthew Dow Smith, of Hellboy fame, is the artist for the series. I enjoy the film noir style comics, but something seems very basic with this one. Maybe it’s the lack of full coloring that is throwing me off. I can’t place my finger on it just yet.
If you are a fan of F. Paul Wilson’s work then you should like this version of the Keep. I read in an online promotion about this five issue series that this was the author’s favorite translation of his original material. Personally, I’m giving issue one of the Keep four out of five stars.
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