B.P.R.D., Vol. 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories [Paperback]

Mike Mignola (Author, Artist), Michael Avon Oeming (Author, Artist), Guy Davis (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2004

Within these pages you'll find bizarre investigations into haunted trains, Nazi war criminals, vengeful spirits of drowned witches and an imprisoned sewer goddess as well as an all-new short story by Mike Mignola with Catwoman artist Cameron Stewart. Featured creative teams include Miles Gunter and Michael Avon Oeming (Bastard Samurai) along with Mike Mignola; artist Guy Davis and writer Brian Augustyn (Gotham by Gaslight); Geoff Johns & Scott Kolins (The Flash); and Joe Harris (screenwriter of Darkness Falls) and his X-Men collaborator Adam Pollina (Big Daddy Danger). And if that ain't enough we've included a sketchbook featuring all five artists!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Spun off from Mike Mignola's popular Hellboy series, this second collection of weird investigations by the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense contains five tales concerning the fantastic encroaching upon the mundane world. The B.P.R.D.'s four seasoned field agents include a cynical gill-man; an alluring telekinetic; a disembodied psychic empath; and a hulking, childlike homunculus. This group's bizarre assignments propel them all over the globe to situations that only investigators of a paranormal nature could handle. This lushly illustrated volume finds the team involved with a twisted Italian vampire's plot to imprison the spirit of Venice for his own evil ends; the unrestful ghosts of three executed witches; a ghost train from WWII whose passengers relentlessly pursue an aged Nazi saboteur; a malevolent variation on Monsters Inc.; and a possessed psychic with the power to raise the recently dead. As an added bonus, a sketchbook section reprints character designs by participating artists, including Michael Avon Oeming, Guy Davis and Cameron Stewart, offering a fascinating glimpse into the creative process. This compilation of five strong horror yarns brims with respect for readers' intelligence.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Getting the Hellboy spin-off B.P.R.D. off the ground in terms of interest and attractiveness has taken a while, and this second roundup from its pages is perhaps nothing special. But it ain't bad. The characters-- Hellboy's cronies at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense--include amphibious Abe Sapien; fire-starter Liz Sherman; Roger, the (humongous!) homunculus; Johann Kraus, the permanently out-of-body medium; and normal human Kate Corrigan, the B.P.R.D.'s consulting folklorist. Like the red demon with the sawed-off horns, they battle evil spirits, revenants, and monsters, mostly, and that necessitates travel to places that, if they aren't exotic to begin with, like Venice in the opening yarn, have become so on account of the eerie and eldritch things currently going on, like the suburb in which little kids who own the same toy monster are disappearing. Different hands have fashioned each of these five stories, and the resultant highly contrasting visual styles constitute one of the book's chief rewards: even when a plot seems threadbare, the story still looks fabulous. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (September 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593071329
• ISBN-13: 978-1593071325
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #661,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Abe, Elizabeth, Roger and Johann are Back, September 3, 2004

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: B.P.R.D., Vol. 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories (Paperback)

Like the previous BPRD book (and the Hellboy books), this is a collection of stories. Abe Sapien, Elizabeth, Roger and Johann must continue to fight the forces of darkness, and their own inner demons, without Hellboy by their side.

In The Soul of Venice, the team journeys to the title city where the waters have gone bad and worse. An interesting look into some of the characters.

In Dark Waters the team is called when a New England town finds the bodies of witches at the bottom of a pond they have drained. The team must fight the supernatural, mud worms and fanaticism.

Night Train spans decades and includes Lobster Johnson and a train destined for the Manhattan Project. Roger must do some real soul searching.

There's Something Under My Bed has the team investigating a pattern of child abductions. You may not look at your toys the same way again.

Finally, in Another Day At The Office (a short story), Abe and Johann look into a town beset by zombies. Just another day in the offices of the BPRD.

A nice collection of stories, but not one appropriate for someone unfamiliar with the characters. Past demons are stirred up and a knowledge of earlier Hellboy stories is a necessity. The artwork is typical of the Hellboy/BPRD stories of the past and is, in my opinion, nothing to write home about.

Still, it is a nice collection of eeriness for fans of the genre. Check it out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, July 26, 2009

By 

CB - See all my reviews

This review is from: B.P.R.D., Vol. 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories (Paperback)

I found the first BPRD volume, "The Hollow Earth" to be, in the main, exciting and engaging (probably because of the influence of Mignola in the title story). However, BPRD Vol. 2 is, essentially, an uneven hodge-podge of stand-alone stories that simply don't add up to a satisfying whole.

There are a few bright spots in this volume: the title story, "The Soul of Venice," a tale of old gods, vampires and demons in the canals of that ancient city is fairly well done and almost reads like a good old-fashioned Hellboy yarn; and "Dark Waters," which takes its inspiration from the witch-hysteria of 17th-century New England, opens with a promising premise, but ultimately falls flat.

The remainder of the stories, including "Night Train," a Lobster Johnson vehicle, are highly disappointing and, indeed, disjointed. What becomes readily apparent is that the Hellboy universe really needs Mignola's involvement - other writers and artists just don't seem to know how best to handle the characters, even when they mimic Mignola's style and pacing. This is, essentially, a team comic, but we don't get any real sense of team cohesion, and each of the stories feels cold and, really, uninspired.

I would recommend this book only for die-hard Hellboy/Mignola fans. I'd keep an eye on this series, though, and see if it gets any better.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Gang's All Here... Again, September 19, 2006

By 

Jeremy S. Roby (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: B.P.R.D., Vol. 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories (Paperback)

What do three accused witches, a train blown up by a Nazi saboteur, the patron goddess of love and waterways, plush toy monsters, and zombies have in common? The answers can be found in this second B.P.R.D. collection of stories.

B.P.R.D. stands for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a secret U.S. agency that protects the world from supernatural threats. It is a spin-off title from Mike Magnolia's popular Hellboy comic book series, and details the adventures of the agency's other "special" operatives.

The team includes Abe Sapien, a blue-skinned gill-man with a mysterious past; Liz Sherman, a neurotic pyrokinetic; Johann Kraus, a German psychic whose body was destroyed while his spirit was visiting the astral plane; and Roger the Homunculus, a medieval golem with tremendous strength and a child-like personality.

This collection has a completely different flavor from the previous one. Instead of one main story and a few back-up features it showcases five individual stories written and drawn by five different creative teams.

The Soul of Venice is written by Miles Gunther and Michael Avon Oeming and drawn by Michael Avon Oeming. Something is fouling up the canals of Venice, and the entire team is called in to solve the problem. This story is the most Mignola-esque, as it features all manner of strange creatures and a special appearance from a demon tied to the Hellboy mythos. Oeming's drawing style is very blocky, mirroring Mignola's artwork.

Dark Waters, by writer Brian Augustyn and artist Guy Davis, features Abe Sapien and Roger the Homunculus. They are visiting a New England town that has just literally dug a dark secret from its past. This is my favorite entry. There are red herrings, strange monsters, and theological debates all rolled together into a nice little story.

The Night Train, written by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins and drawn by Scott Kolins and Dave Stewart, features Liz Sherman and Roger the Homunculus. These two characters have an up-and-down history together, and this story explores those issues while also incorporating a mini Lobster Johnson adventure. The art for this story is very different from the usual dark style one would expect. I liked the contrast, and actually think the use of color enhanced the feeling of otherworldliness.

There's Something Under My Bed, by writer Joe Harris and penciller Adam Pollina, features Abe Sapien versus toy monsters that have somehow sprung to life and are terrorizing little children. This is a nice little story that makes you wonder what exactly makes a monster. I didn't like the art in this one so much, the figures looked too lanky and their faces looked too unfamiliar.

Another Day at the Office, written by Mike Mignola and drawn by Cameron Stewart, is a special piece written just for this collection. It features Abe Sapien once again, this time partnered with Johann Kraus. This story seemed way too rushed to make any sense or have any impact. It's just the guys fighting some random zombies. (But then again, maybe that's the whole point.)