This was fantastic. I haven't enjoyed a trade as much as this one in quite some time. The story follows Prof. Bruttenholm as he sets out on one of the first BPRD missions, before it was even called the BPRD. He is accompanied by a doctor and a random gaggle of GIs, and the group of them stumbles onto a Nazi-failsafe endgame. The Nazis planned on launching a vampire-based attack on the world, a scorched Earth policy of mystical creatures. Those elements really hit towards the end of the book, and the GIs make capable stand-ins for our normal BPRD operatives. Where I thought the book really shined was the truly horrifying elements in the German insane asylum. The concepts and setting were fantastic, and the whole sequence with the escaped patient unfolded like a great horror movie. The mingling of the American and Russian forces developed really nicely, with the heads of the two organizations being particularly fascinating.Paul Azaceta's art was unbelievable. I was scared reading the asylum sequences. I could practically feel the soldiers jump in the barn sequence. The demon-designs looked like the best of Mignola's work. I would love to see more from Azaceta dealing with this type of material, it was unbelievably well done.
Excellent (if I could go higher, I would)
2 comments:
I need to pick up this TPB. In the original issues the asylum sequence was miscolored so that it took place during the daytime. And it was still creepy. Can't wait to see what it looks like set at night.
Did you get last year's free comic book day Hellboy issue? It's got another Bruttenholm story set during the 40s in it.
Yup, that FCBD issue is reprinted in this trade.
I'm not sure, but I think that aslyum sequence begins in daytime.
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