Dr. Lee’s new invention brings the Red Queen from a Wonderland-type reality to Earth and helps keep her alive. But when it also brings in a marauding Cheshire Cat, what is Virgil going to do? Find out in Hellcop #10 from Image Comics!

HELLCOP #10

Writer: Brian Haberlin
Artist: Brian Haberlin
Colorist: Geirrod Van Dyke
Letterer: Francis Takenaga
Editor: Sally Haberlin
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 31, 2022

Previously in Hellcop: Virgil and Briggs worked with John Lennon to try to locate someone who was copying Lennon’s new work and passing them off as his own. Dr. Lee continued with his experiments and discovered a new inhabited plane. He also let through a woman who appeared to be a Queen. Dan, the musician, let his newfound fame go to his head, and when Lennon confronted him, he brushed him off. However, Dan also became more of a jerk to his girlfriend, Melanie. When she burned up his sheet music, the magic was broken, and his overnight fame vanished. There is still that little business with the Queen from another dimension, though…

TROUBLE AT THE LAB

Hellcop #10 opens with Virgil on a date with a friend of Taj. He cannot talk about his work, for obvious reasons. He can’t talk about exotic places he has traveled to. As the conversation founders, he gets a call from Taj and leaves.

Dr. Lee brought the Red Queen (by which it seems they mean the Queen of Hearts) from a Wonderland-like dimension through to the Earth dimension. Virgil is perturbed to say the least. How has he brought an imaginary character to life? Dr. Lee suggests that the characters are from their own reality, and perhaps Lewis Carroll visited there through his dreams. Then they became the inspiration for his writing. They should be able to return her to her own reality soon, and until then they can keep her stable in a reality bubble. Meanwhile, the Red Queen looks at Wonderland portrayals in modern media and becomes incensed. She does not even know who that “Alice” person is.

Then she hears a voice that says she does know. She warns Virgil, Taj, Gladys, and Dr. Lee that she may not have been the only one who came through the portal. A toothy and very large smile appears, followed by an extremely large Cheshire Cat who takes Dr. Lee’s reality wand and Taj and pops out of existence with them.

Wherever it is, it is no longer within the base, and neither is Taj. The Queen faints. Dr. Lee stabilizes her, and she warns them that the Cheshire Cat is an extremely dangerous predator. She has caught them before, and she asks what sort of weaponry they have. She had built a particle accelerator cannon that was able to stun it. Dr. Lee is fascinated by this, and they get into a technical discussion about this. Virgil organizes his people into a search party and contacts the Senator, hoping to get the area around the base cleared.

The Cat takes Taj to a nearby alley. Taj offers to help it return home. Not only does it like Earth so far, but why would it want to return? It was going to be executed for murdering thousands. It takes a swipe at Taj. A nearby cop hears and comes to check on her as the Cat vanishes. Taj tries to warn him, but the Cat reappears and eats him. It is fascinated with Dr. Lee’s wand, understanding that it does not merely mimic another reality’s rules, but it allows you to do other fun things which it demonstrates by causing a reality quake.

Virgil’s makeshift plan, using the Queen as bait (by her request) funnels the Cat down an alley. The Queen vanished through a portal. The Cat hesitates, but with a little help from the other side, it is taken care of in an amusing fashion.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF FELINE CHAOS

Hellcop #10 is a heck of a fun romp. I like the character design of the Red Queen. Her dress is outlandish as befits someone from another dimension. Her red, curly hair is piled up in her head in a shape that is suggestive of a heart without being too over the top. I like that she also comes across as an engineering enthusiast with a reckless disregard for safety. Dr. Lee appears to be smitten by her and not just because of her looks. She had him at “particle accelerator cannon.”

I think the take on the Cheshire Cat is a good one for the story. It is literally big enough to be terrifying, and this is played by its traditional smile-first appearance. As soon as we see the grin, we understand, and as soon as the head pokes through, we can see it is a seriously larger creature. But the art goes one step further by taking the baleful glare of a cat and adding in high-level intelligence. That gives us a villain who is not only cat-like and playful, but highly malicious. Its end is quite the poetic justice.

BOTTOM LINE: AN AMUSING TECHNO-ROMP

Once again, Hellcop #10 is an entertaining and wild adventure. I like the flow of recent issues as well, where issues introduce future problems that are handled a few issues later. This gives the world a lively feel and makes the work of Virgil and his crew seem that much more chaotic.

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Hellcop #10

80%

80%

Never a Dull Moment

Work is never a dull moment for Virgil, especially when some of the problems are caused by his own team members!

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