Story:

Artyom Gabrelyanov
Eugene Fedotov
Artist:
Constantine
Tarasov
Edits, layout:
Svyatoslav
Kaverin

Colorist:
Saikono

Fonts:
Comicraft,
Paratype

English
translation:
Volnaib
and
cm-dore

St. Petersburg

This city is sick. The citizens

are drowning in a stinking slush
of chaos, refuse and terror.

Cmon!
Nick,
Pass it!

Every
Pore

The streets are full of

sewage,
pus in every cell.

Nobility and honor do not

matter anymore; it is wealth
and power that rule.

Damn!

Its time to end it all

Hold on!

Soon

Soon.

Vitya, whats
takin so long!?

You fall asleep?

Vitya, Im
tired of ya!

Im going to heal this city. Save it

from all the parasites that cling
to it, sucking the life from it.

Holy Crap!

Engulfed

In purifying flames.

for the
Epidemic is coming
Great way to
start the day!

Well,
lets
proceed

This Dance of Death has

begun,
So wait for your sentence,
Quake with fear, crooks,
For the epidemic is
coming!

Good morning
officers!
Please get your
elbows off the
evidence!

Major Grom*, senior

investigating officer.
Keep the jokes
about my last name to
yourself lets get down to
business.
What happened here?

*Grom in Russian means Thunder

A murder. One body,

already identified. The son of the public
prosecutor, Cyril Grechkin, a known roadhog and playboy. The killer, apparently,
set fire to him in his own car.

Hmmm. Interesting.
He was killed in the same
spot where he ran down
two pedestrians about a
year ago. Where are the
leaflets from?

So there were
witnesses?

Witnesses claim the killer

scattered these around
the crime scene. He pinned
one with a white ribbon tied
around it to the speed limit
sign.

Why? Did he see the

Grim Reaper with his
scythe or something?

Worse.

Bloody
hell...

Thats a sketch of the

suspect.
I think the kids still in
shock, honestly. The killer
cant be walking around in a
parrot mask, can he?

Yeah, a kid that

accidently met up with
him. Poor guys still
stuttering.

Hes all right

Its a Medieval Plague Doctor mask.
During the plague in Europe, these guys went
around treating the sick, and if the patient was
untreatable and died, the doctor would burn
their house down, bodies inside, to keep the
plague from spreading.

It all comes
together

So, that guy had the

plague or what?
Um No.

The killer says that

St. Petersburg is under a rage
of plague. In a metaphorical sense, of
course apparently hes talking about the
chaos and mayhem that goes on. Like in
Grechkins case, even though he wasnt a
criminal, he did run over two people and kill
them both, in broad daylight, in front
of a lot of people

So it has all fallen into place.

The "Dance of Death" mentioned in the
leaflet is a known subject of many of
medieval paintings and poems, and it
emerged right at the time of the plague
epidemic. The leading motif of all the
works
was the following:

Seems that some madman

fancies himself as a plague doctor and
decided to redeem the city of the
"decease", using violence beyond most
reasonable limits and by killing
particular
"infected individuals".

And that is his

first victim.

all are equal before the

face of Death, be you a king,
or earl, or beggar. That's a
round intimation that
superiority and inviolability of
those wielding power has
come to its end.

Whos the
pretty boy?
Who let him in?

Hey newbie!
Come here!

Thats the new

CID officer, its his
first case with
a stiff.

First
case,
You say?

The names Igor.

Dima*.

*Dima Sounds like dee-muh

Come closer, we need

to get acquainted with
the body.

Um can I get
acquainted with it
from over here?

Come here, what's with the

lack of enthusiasm? Don't
worry, he doesn't bite!

You know what

forensic
odorology is?

Information system
dealing with scents,
applied to forensic
science.

Attaboy! "A+" on theory!

What about in practice?
Sniff it. You know what
scent is this?

Thats sweat, blood

and gasoline

By the way,
wanna gyro?

Of burnt paint, singed

tire-covers and
scorched meat

They all do
that the first
time

Of madness, terror and

death, agony despair..

So, has the press

come yet?

Not yet.

Good. Then they

havent contaminated
the crime scene yet.

Gasoline stains.
Someone was in a
hurry and just
kinda poured it all
over the place.

The car, expensive

judging by whats left of
it, was burned up in
minutes.

A knife with a white

ribbion crooks and
thieves in the note Too
ostentatious to be an
ordinary murder.

Who are you.? A civil

rights activist or a lone
psychopath?

Call all the expensive

night clubs, ask security
if theyve seen this car
recently, and if they saw
anyone talking with the
owner.

Interrogate
all the people
who live on
this street.

Check for
any hidden
evidence.

Check out the

victims
families
and those
leaflets

Get those
leaflets outta
here, we dont
need that
nonsense!

Ill tackle the

red tape and
question my
sources.

For now the police

havent commented on
the victims
personality.

But our reporters have

discovered that the burned
car belonged to Cyril
Grechkin, son of the public
prosecutor.

Dima! Find me this

poor guys address.
Meet me at his place
in two hours!

Cyril Grechkin,
about a year ago, ran down two
pedestrians with this particular car,
but the case had not been taken to the
court, since due to unknown reasons
video recordings from the surveillance
cameras at that time have all
disappeared

and all the

witnesses refused to
testify.

There were leaflets scattered

over the crime scene which
claimed that this murder for
justice will not be the last. We
will keep you informed, stay
tuned!

Saint Petersburg
is shocked by a
terrible murder!

We have tried to
connect with Cyril,
but it turned out
that his cell phone is
blocked!

Hey! Where ya goin;

its a red light! Have
you seen the
pedestrian crossing?!

Insulting a police
officer! And driving
without plates! Im
gonna teach you
good manners!

Oh Crap!
Pick-pockets!

Kid, you've managed to

break two Criminal Code
articles and two
Administrative Code ones
in one minute! You are so
talented!

You, freeze!

OOF!

Oh
Crap!

Attacking a police
officer on duty! Three
articles of Criminals!
Youre gonna hold a
record!

Scum!

In Your face, nit!

Nimble son
of a bitch!

Huh?

Catch
it!

Have a
nice trip!

Oof!

You, Stop!

Okay, one is
down.

OOF!

Come on!
Toro, bull!
Toro!

Urgh!

In your
face, scum!

Ugh!

You screwed
with the wrong
guy!

Lets get out

of here!

Ill get you!

Insolent punks!
And they left her
purse!

Dropped this,
lady?

Oh, thanks a lot!

Oh, its a long

story!

Seems these guys

were after the
contents of your
handbag.
What ya got in
here? Star Wars
screenplay signed
by George Lucas?
Intercontinental
ballistic missile
codes?
Your phone
number?

Let me tell you over a cup of

coffee, okay?
Goodbye,
super stranger!

*
* Julia Pchyolkina - Journalist

HmM

An Hour later
Sorry, Im a little
late! Got sidetracked
on my way here

Did you find out the

exact address?

Great

Yes,
apartment 84.

Neighbors from his

floor havent checked
their mailboxes in a
while

Well then, lets

interrogate the
neighbors?

Police,
open up!

No point in knocking,
theres no one there.
You saw the body
yourself!

They went on
vacation at least
two weekends ago,
judging by the
overflowing
mailboxes.

Cover me!

Are you picking the

lock? We dont have a
warrant! This is
madness!

Madness?

This is

Wow, that was cool!

Just like the movie,
right?

What about
the warrant?

Heres your
warrant, stop
whining! Got it half
an hour ago!

Its pretty
cozy here

Hm.

Lives alone,
certainly.

Loves
sex.
certainly.

Adores
Hunting.

Lets redial the

last
telephone
number

Football fan.
Uh-huh.
Violetta.

Hey Beauty!
Nope, its the right
number!

Youre Violetta arent you?

Yeah, an acquaintance of
mine gave it to me! Im in
need of a womans TLC.

Helluva collection!
Could we meet
today? Uh-huh
okay, see ya!

Dont touch
anything.

Im going to interrogate
Violetta, for now its our
only hook.

Look, if our stiff slept with an

academic theater band-master,
I would gladly talk to him

But shes a
prostitute!

But we only
have a prostitute.
Examine all of
the firearms and
take
fingerprints.

Im gonna leave the

card and the gun with
you meanwhile! This is
some elite and private
brothel, theres surely
security that wont be
happy to see a CID with
a gun.

Okay, Im off to
a meeting with
our pussy cat!
You stay here!

The suspects
sketch is at the disposal of
our TV channel now! This is
a middle-aged male wearing
a bird mask If you saw
him the night of the
murder, contact the police
immediately via
this phone number

More news! Another civil

society organization is up to
join the search for the
popular blogger Ivan Penkov
who went missing several
months ago

One has bags under his

eyes... apparently drinks a
lot, sick liver...

Good evening, I'm

meeting with
Violetta!

Do you mind if
we check you
out?

Hmmm

Another one has a

hardening on his leg
looks like a tightening
strap for a sore knee
Most likely injured
during squatting in the
gym.

You're
clear,
walk in.

Hey, Vasyok, he's got

a cop's mug.
Its an ordinary mug,
your snoot is no better
than his!

Whatd you think?

Im talented too. Tell

me, what do you want?
Massage first, maybe?
So I wasnt told
stories You are a
beauty indeed

Lets talk
first,
okay?

Cyril Grechkin turns

me on, and everything
related to him.

Okay? What
turns you
on?

Listen up, he was burned

alive in his car last night. Be
a good girl and tell me
about him and his little
activities

Dont get me involved

in this! Guys, help!

Honey, why
talk about
him?

You Better
let me help
you relax.

Hey, hey, chill out,

no need to call
anyone! I just
want to-

talk peacefully!
She doesnt want
to talk to you,
sucker!

But wait!

Grish, looks like he doesnt

get it in a friendly way!
Ought to teach
him a lesson!

Fine
You asked for it!

Oh Man

DAmmit!

Shut up!

GAH!

Freeze,
you skunk!

You wait
scum!

Hello Knee

Youre
dead!

Lie
down!
Hello, liver.

Argh...
Enough with
drinking!

Sorry guys,
nothing
personal

I dont remember!
Became accuainted a
couple of months
ago in a club!

Please,
dont hit
mE!

Ill do anything
you want!
I am an old warrior
and I know not the language of love*
Better tell me all you know about Cyril.
Where did you meet him with him, how
long ago?

MeT several times after that.

I came to his place. We
Stop! No need to go further. What
about his friend? What were they
Discussing, what were they doing?
They were drunk, talked that they
wanted to get back to the drawing
board... start over.
Whatd the friend look like?

Like a peasant, drunk and

turned on! You all look the
same!

Fine, here's my phone number. If

you remember anything, call
immediately. Say sorry for me to
the guys... But they've started it.
That's all, au revoir!

He was with a
friend, they were
celebrating
something. Then
moved to sauna.

That evening

Who are you,

anyway? What do
you want?

Hi, it's Dima! The dactyloscopy

results have arrived, all clear:
the suspect left noT a single
fingerprint at the locus delicti.
No witnesses except the kid who
compiled the photofit.

The car accident decedants'

relatives are out of the affair,
they all have an airtight alibi.
Can't say they're much
disappointed, though. You think
some competitors killed him
off?

What competitors could a 25

year old high roller have? I
think it's much more serious:
this is a maniac with a precise
civil attitude who happens to be
a Middle Ages geek.
Community has already named the masked
vigilante "The Citizen", and created a group
of the same name in the "Together" social
network... The social network founder,
Sergey Razumovsky, stated that there is
nothing criminal creating the group...

As long as it does
not call upon to
hate and violence.

FOLLOW

One of societys
sores has been
opened

But there is a long way

towards purification

No one will
stand in my
way.

NO ONE.
To be continued