Hellhunters has been a bit cagey about what exactly powers the demon Nazis that the titular team of soldiers is fighting against. It’s mostly gotten by on bloody violence and character dynamics, and while both of those elements are present in Hellhunters #3, Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Adam Gorham finally reveal what Ghost Rider Sal Romero and his motley crew are up against.
It turns out that these newfound creatures are called the “Unhallowed”, the spawn of the Devil’s tryst with a mortal woman. The Unhallowed have taken the form of the elements – hence the raging winter that heralds their arrival – and use Nazi soldiers as vessels to spread their evil. As supernatural war stories go, that’s a hell of a hook. But Hellhunters #3 is notable for another reason: it brings a 15-year-old Bucky Barnes onto the team.
This isn’t a surprise, as Bucky’s appearance was teased back when Hellhunters was first announced and Johnson has said that Bucky is one of his favorite characters – not to mention Ed Brubaker’s Captain America retconning him from a child sidekick to a skilled wetworks operative. Johnson keeps those elements intact, resulting in moments that are both hilarious (Bucky asking to bum a smoke off of Nick Fury) and subtly tragic (Soldier Supreme Sebastian Szardos all but predicts Bucky’s eventual fate as the Winter Soldier.)
Marvel
If the added lore wasn’t enough to hook potential readers, Hellhunters #3 also boasts a cornucopia of violence. In the opening pages alone, the Unhallowed’s vessel Hauptmann Bruckner happens upon a collection of Nazi soldiers, he doesn’t hesitate to rip out their commanding officer’s throat – which Gorham and Frank Martin depict in a bright red spray of blood. Another amazing moment features a full page where Romero, in full Ghost Rider form, guns his Harley-Davidson into the air, with Bucky holding on for dear life. Not only does Gorham make this a poster-worthy page, but Martin works wonders with the colors, having Romero’s burnt orange flame cut through the cold air.
Hellhunters #3’s coup de grace has to be another member of the Unhallowed, Baraphiel. In true horror/action form, this demon is a kaiju-sized threat that is made out of the corpses of dead soldiers. A truly macabre sight, Gorham doesn’t hesitate to show how inhuman this thing is. It walks on six legs, each of them having a hand, and it seems to pulsate like freshly ground meat. Every time it lands a blow on the ground, a geyser of blood spews. It’s another reminder that the forces the Hellhunters are facing off against are inhuman in so many ways.
Hellhunters #3 features revealations and gore galore as the series hits its halfway point, but it never loses sight of its initial pitch: Marvel’s most badass heroes killing Nazis. As Wolverine so eloquently puts it, that’s better than Christmas.
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