4 out of 5

Note: this is actually an updated version of this review, as that was written when I was reading these books more piecemeal.  Now that I’m reading them back-to-back and in order, I feel that what’s below is a more accurate take.

As the last of three one-shots before Balty got back to some multi-part arcs, ‘The Inquisitor’ effectively puts us back on track by reminding us of some scattered details and further setting up Duvic as a main baddie for future arcs.  Framed by Baltimore reading a letter from his buddy journalist Simon Hodge, the bulk of the tale illustrates that which Hodge is writing to Baltimore about – a visit he received from Duvic.  And within what’s essentially a flashback we go one layer deeper to Duvic’s transformation from abused orphan to abusive Inquisitor; the shorthand origin works because any type of belief-fervor is perfect fodder for righteous villainy, and there’s no belief fervor quite like the religious type.  These pages – with, as usual, amazing tones from Dave Stewart setting us in ‘happier,’ brighter times that are nonetheless edged in shadows and blood – are the type of character glimpse that was attempted for Haigus with ‘The Play,’ but the straight-forward approach here makes complete sense for the Judge and fits in with his interaction with Hodge.  We also get a brief but smart connection to the first comic art, Curse Bells, and though it would have been nice to develop that more, it’s an appreciated bit of world building.

‘The Inquisitor’ isn’t quite as self-contained as ‘The Widow and The Tank,’ because it’s less of a one-shot and more of an inbetween issue, so it doesn’t quite bristle with the satisfaction of being a complete tale, thus exposing the difficulty of doing small arcs instead of an ongoing story.  Still, it’s wonderfully quality story-telling for those reading Baltimore in sequence (even if his hair / lack of hair timeline is a bit confusing to me), and fluffs up the relatively small cast of characters greatly with only a few simple strokes.