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.

The streets are full of sewage,

pus in every cell.

Nick, Pass it!

Cmon!

Every Pore

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.

This Dance of Death has

begun,

So wait for your sentence,

Quake with fear, all

criminals,

For the epidemic is

coming!

for the Epidemic is coming

Great way to start the day!

Well, lets

proceed

Good morning officer!

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 road-hog and delinquent. 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

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.

So there were witnesses?

Yeah, a kid that accidently met up with him. Poor guys still

stuttering.

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?

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:

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.

Seems that some madman

seriously has 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.

Whos the pretty boy?

Who let him in?

Thats the new

CID officer, its his first case with

a stiff.

First case,

You say?

Hey newbie! Come here!

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

Of burnt paint, singed tire-covers and scorched meat

Of madness, terror and death, agony despair..

By the way, wanna gyro?

They all do that the first

time

So, is the press here 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 crime scene yet.

The car, expensive judging by whats left of

it, was burned up in minutes.

A knife with a white ribbion Swindlers and thieves in the note Too obvious 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 or communicated 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.

Dima! Find me this poor guys address. Meet me his place in

two hours!

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.

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!

You, freeze!

Kid, you've managed to

break two Criminal Code articles and two

Administrative Code ones in one minute! You are so

talented!

OOF!

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

record!

Scum!

Oh Crap!

Oof!

In Your face, nit!

Nimble son of a bitch!

Huh?

Catch it!

Have a nice trip!

Okay, one is down.

You Stop!

OOF!

Come on! Toro, bull!

Toro!

In your face, scum!

Urgh!

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!

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?

HAHAHAHA!

Oh, its a long story!

Let me tell you over a cup of coffee, okay?

*

HmM

* Julia Pchyolkina - Journalist

An Hour later

Sorry, Im a little late! Got sidetracked

on my way here

Did you find out the exact address? Yes,

apartment 84.

Great Neighbors from his

floor havent checked their mailboxes in a

while

Police, open up!

No point in knocking, you saw the body

yourself!

Well then, lets interrogate the

neighbors?

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.

Football fan.

Loves sex.

certainly.

Adores Hunting.

Lets re-dial the

last telephone number

Uh-huh. Violetta.

Hey Beauty!

Nope, its the right number!

Helluva collection!

Youre Violetta arent you? Yeah, an acquaintance of mine gave it to me! Im in need of a womans TLC.

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

Dont touch anything.

Examine all of the firearms and

take fingerprints.

Im going to interrogate Violetta, for now its our

only hook.

But shes a prostitute!

Look, if our stiff slept with an academic theater band-master,

I would gladly talk to him

But we only have a prostitute.

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

Good evening, I'm meeting with

Violetta!

Do you mind if we check you out?

One has bags under his eyes... apparently drinks a

lot, sick liver...

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.

Hmmm

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!

So I wasnt told stories You are a

beauty indeed

Whatd you think?

Im talented too. Tell me, what do you want? Massage first, maybe?

Lets talk first, okay?

Okay? What turns you

on?

Cyril Grechkin turns me on, and everything

related to him.

Honey, why talk about

him?

Listen up, he was burned alive in his car last night. Be

a good girl and tell me about him and his little

activities

You Better let me help you relax.

Dont get me involved in this! Guys, help!

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!

Oh Man

Fine You asked for it!

Shut up!

Gah!

Freeze, you skunk!

You wait scum!

Hello Knee

Youre dead!

Hello, liver.

Argh...

Enough with drinking!

Lie down!

Sorry guys, nothing

personal

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?

I dont remember! Became accuainted a couple of months

ago in a club!

He was with a friend, they were

celebrating something. Then moved to sauna.

Me 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!

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.

THE CITIZEN

Location: Saint Petersburg Menu Poll 560 votes Follow

37,497 followers

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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