How many years has this series been going on now? 20? 25?
You have to admit, the fact that Mike Mignola has been chronicling the end of the
world for this long is pretty darn impressive. Mignola and his co-writer John
Arcudi aren’t afraid to upset the apple cart, either. At this point, the BPRD
cast is almost unrecognizable. Only Johann, the ectoplasmic man, is left out of
the squad of freaks that first appeared in Hellboy. Abe Sapien is floating in a
healing tank. Liz Sherman is off the grid. Hellboy is in Hell. Roger the Homunculus
is dead. Heck, even Captain Daimyo isn’t with us anymore after succumbing to
his jaguar curse.
And the world needs the BPRD. Huge, Cthulhu-type monsters
are sitting idle all over the world, spawning new clutches of monsters all the
time. England is in ruins and in the midst of an evacuation. Things are
frigging DIRE. Factor in the fact that there are still villains hanging around
from the first Hellboy series, and things are bad. And this book is called
Return of the Master. If you think that means the good guys are getting
reinforcements, you haven’t been reading Hellboy.
I won’t spoil, but this trade includes the return of TWO of
the Hellboy universe’s greatest villains. Honestly, the good guys don’t have a
chance. And they know it. But what makes them heroes is that they keep
fighting.
The fight is in the hands of new field agents like Carla
Giarocco and Director Nichayko, the undead head of the Russian BPRD. Kate
Corrigan is still in charge, and her confident leadership gives the heroes a
chance, but it is getting tough to see a happy ending.
This book is full of insane battles. Human agents
competently fighting monsters, ghosts, and creatures way beyond them. It’s
tremendously entertaining seeing them trying to use high explosives and snipers
against undead ogres. Part of the strength of this book is that even though I’m
certain I’m not remembering everything I’m supposed to in the overarching plot,
there is enough action front and center to make this a riveting comic.
I miss Guy Davis’ art something fierce, but Tyler Crook is
doing a great job easing the transition. His simple line work can ably switch
between the drab offices of the BPRD and the undead tendons on the monsters. Dave
Stewart’s colors plant this firmly in the world of BPRD too; and that is coming
from someone who rarely gives colorists the respect they are due.
This is my #2 comic (after G.I. Joe). Someday, when I have
to purge some of my long boxes, I guarantee BPRD is going to make it to the
last cut. This is an EXCELLENT comic.
(But please, Mignola, at least bring back Abe Sapien! The heroes really do need some help!)
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