Helen of Wyndhorn #1

Written by Ninja Jupi

This is another comic that was included in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi batch I picked up when visiting the comic shop with Mark. I wasn’t sure what to expect when coming across this Dark Horse comic based on the cover. My mind jumped to an old-school mystery vibe in the vein of Agatha Christie, but not necessarily a murder mystery.  That aside, let’s get into it and see what we have in store. 😊

The story opens with an old lady being interviewed by either a writer or a journalist. The old woman is named Lilith Appleton. She is recounting her time when young working as a governess at the Wyndhorn estate, which have had odd happenings apparently. Lilith’s story takes place during 1935 - 1941, but the present-day portions is seemingly taking place in the mid-90s. 

Going back to the past, we see a young Lilith being tasked with fetching the daughter of the recently deceased writer, C. K. Cole and bringing her back to her grandfather’s estate. 

The daughter was supposed to have been staying at an inn, in San Antonio, but Lilith found out that she had been arrested and had to go to the local jail. The daughter’s name is Helen Cole. Helen had been drinking and Lilith explained how she was there to take her back to Wyndhorn and that she will be her governess. 

Now this threw me a bit since when I think of a governess, I think of a woman teaching and caring for children. Helen strikes me as being a young adult in her early twenties at least, especially with her vices, which makes her come across as nonproper and unladylike.  Helen drinks, smokes, and uses coarse language, very unfitting for a young lady, especially during that time.

After fetching Helen, the two would start the journey to the Wyndhorn Estate, but not before running an errand at Helen’s insistence.  It was to see a stone sculptor. Helen wanted to get an angel sculpture with a curious engraving.

Going back to the present day, Lilith and the woman are talking about this incident and what the inscription possibly meant. It was odd, so I’m assuming it will mean something later on.  The theory was that these were Helen’s father’s final words before his untimely death, but Lilith told the woman “I learned”.  This to me shows that she figured out the relevance of the phrase working at the estate.

Heading back to 1935, we see the pair traveling by train to the estate in a sleeper car, which Helen was very impressed with. She’d never ridden in such comfort before.  After arriving, the butler, whose name is Joseph, greeted them, explaining that the master was away, and showed Lilith and Helen around the property. During the tour, Helen seemed surprised by everything, like maybe she didn’t grow up in Wyndhorn or had never visited her grandfather.

After getting settled in, Helen carried on in her, what Lilith and Joseph would describe as improper or troublesome ways. Since there was a wine cellar, she would constantly drink, enjoying the expensive and vintage wines. She’d even drink directly from the bottle and fall asleep drunkenly in various areas of the estate while holding it. I can’t help but wonder if she drinks to numb something….like something from her past that was so bad, she drinks and smokes and carry on in such a way as a form of escapism that gets revealed later.  

Helen was obviously trying to adjust to her new surroundings, but being far from town and unable to come and go as she pleased, it bothered her and you can definitely see her agitation. She desperately wanted cigarettes, but Lilith would point out how it’s a bad habit and how she wouldn’t take her to town for them.  Ironically, in the present day, you see that Lilith is a smoker. This makes me wonder if whatever happened at Wyndhorn started up that habit.

Back to the story, every night, Helen wanders into Lilith’s room, claiming that there were monsters. Lilith just writes this off as her having night terrors and would allow her to stay.  One night, however, Lilith heard a loud shriek coming from outside her window. Realizing the shriek belonged to Helen she rushed outside to investigate. She called for Joseph, but there was no answer. 

A good ways away from the estate, she saw Helen running towards her, saying that the monster was there. Lillith, once again, assumed that Helen had been having night terrors again, until she saw what Helen had. A huge monstrous beast. She was in complete shock, holding Helen, but someone slayed the beast. Who was this person? What exactly was going on at Wyndhorn?

Present-day Lilith explains who the slayer was by name and how “it was just the beginning”, but I won’t spoil it as this is still a relatively new series and issue 2 came out this past April. Issue 3 comes out in June and issue 4, which comes out in August, is already available for preorder. This is another series I plan on investing in. It has a mystery aspect to it, which is something I’ve always enjoyed. I like the fact it’s not boggled down with modern-day references and just telling a story. There is a lot of narration, but I like the fact that I can theorize as to how these events connect to Helen’s father’s “death”. I was purposely vague on how he died, as we don’t know the full story on why yet. Why are these monsters appearing? How does this connect to Helen? What does that “better than Shakespeare” engraving mean? If you’re into this style, I would definitely recommend it. I know I can’t wait to read the upcoming issues!