My Rating
“The Devil Wears A Swastika”
The Keep, May 2, 1941. The killer has returned.
Deep within the subbasement of the ancient Romanian fortress, Privates Lichtman and Schmidt have been found decapitated. Major Kaempffer immediately turns his suspicions toward Professor Cuza, even though the elderly scholar hasn’t left his room. Something is stalking the halls of the Keep, and the mounting body count proves that German bullets and military discipline offer little protection against it.
As night falls, Professor Cuza once again finds himself in the presence of the vampire Molasar. This time, the creature reveals more about his mysterious past and the true history of the Keep. The structure’s pseudo-Christian iconography is little more than an elaborate ruse designed to conceal the presence of the Moroi from a radical sect of the Christian Church. According to Molasar, these fanatical warriors—the Gleaken—hunted the Moroi nearly to extinction before eventually fading into history. Molasar believed his ancient enemies had disappeared forever.
Until today.
Will Professor Cuza sacrifice his humanity in exchange for the gift of eternal youth? Does Molasar truly possess the power to destroy the leader of Nazi Germany? Can Major Kaempffer prevent the descendants of the Gleaken sect from entering the Keep? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
The conflict between the Moroi and the mysterious Gleaken finally begins coming to a head in this issue of The Keep. More importantly, issue #4 dumps a ton of mythology into the story and helps explain what the hell was actually going on in Michael Mann’s 1983 movie. Having seen the film, I appreciate how the comic adaptation fills in some of those gaps and gives the supernatural conflict much more context. With only one issue remaining, I’m excited to see how everything comes together.
I hate to speak badly about Matthew Dow Smith because I’ve enjoyed his artwork on other projects, but his pencils here feel somewhat lackluster. They certainly aren’t terrible, and the shadow-heavy approach fits the bleak atmosphere of the Keep, but some panels lack the detail and visual punch I wanted from a story this dark and supernatural. I also really wish IDW had produced the adaptation in full color. Imagine the cold stone corridors, Nazi uniforms, torchlight, blood, and Molasar himself rendered with a suitably grim color palette. I think color could have added another layer of atmosphere to the entire production.
Maybe I’m nitpicking, because the physical production itself feels surprisingly high quality. The paper stock and printing are excellent, which makes the decision to stick with the limited visual presentation even more frustrating. Why go this far with the production and not take the final step into full color? Despite those complaints, the expanding mythology has me hooked enough to see this thing through. I’m giving The Keep #4 three out of five stars. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the final issue delivers a memorable conclusion.
Until next time…