Customer Reviews

Mike Mignola's B.P.R.D. (v. 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.)

This trade paperback collects Dark Horse and Mike Mignola's continued efforts in expanding the Hellboy universe and exploring the B.P.R.D.'s exploits after Hellboy has left. These stories don't reveal as much about the characters as the stories in B.P.R.D. Vol. 1 did, but there are some fun stories if you're a devout B.P.R.D. fan. For me it was a mixed bag.

This volume includes five B.P.R.D. stories, along with thirteen pages of concept sketches. Note that the cover art is by Mike Mignola, but Mike did not draw any of the stories in this collection. He did contribute writing for "The Soul of Venice," and Mike wrote "Another Day at the Office." This collection has a variety of writing and art styles--which I find to be both good and bad.

The Highlights: I loved the story "Dark Waters," about a town with a past of witch trials. The writing was superb and I love the art by Guy Davis. His style is quite different from Mignola's, but I think it fits the series well. I would've bought the book just for this story. "Night Train" is fun story that delves a little deeper into Roger's character, and features Lobster Johnson. I thought the art was decent, but I loved the coloring for this story! "There's Something Under My Bed" has the most unique art and tone of all the stories in this collection. That may be off-putting to some fans, but I liked it. Abe Sapien helps some kids who are being kidnapped by the monsters under their beds. Fun stuff! The other gem of this collection for me was "Another Day at the Office." It has decent art, but I enjoyed the writing and tone of this short story of the B.P.R.D. fighting zombies.

Things to Consider: I personally didn't like "The Soul of Venice" very much. Maybe I had too high of hopes. It has several great ideas, but crams them into a story that was too short for its own good. I think if it were longer I might have felt more satisfied with it. Also, it contains some fairly graphic female nudity that I felt the need to cover up in my copy. The art on this one is also so-so. "Another Day at the Office" has a bit of zombie gore. Compared to most illustrated zombie stories this was very tame, but if that kind of thing bugs you this may not be the book for you.

I recommend this volume for the collectors and fans of B.P.R.D. Anyone else who is interested should probably check out some of the other collections first, such as Vol. 1 or Vol. 3.

The Soul of Venice is about Cloacina, the spirit of Venice, as well as Venetian wizards and vampires - Romulus Diovanni who slew a vampire and drank his blood, becoming a blood-thirsty non-vampire scourge of the islands, a worshipper of Shax (a relative of Hellboy) who rejects his offering, destroying the fiend. Dark Waters is about the souls of those drowned as witches in old New England and modern-day zealots condemned. Pretty pictures, but none of these stories lead anywhere. Night Train is another tale of Lobster Johnson, Nazi spies in 1930s America, the dead of a train wreck coming back in modern day for revenge that the BPRD needs to deal with. There's Something Under My Bed is like a weird re-do of Monsters Inc, while Another Day In The Office is a silly zombie tale. Sketches at the back.

Volume 2 of the wonderful BPRD series collects several single issue stories all by different creators. The highlight for me is the story drawn by the amazing Guy Davis. Highly recommended.

I became aware of the BRPD books because of Hellboy -- the movies and the Hellboy comics. So, I purchased the first BRPD, liked it, and am slowly but surely buying up all of them. It would be nice if movies could be made of these volumes, like the Hellboy books have been made into movies. I encourage anyone who reads and enjoys the Hellboy genre to read the BRPD books, too.

This collection is basically an anthology. A different creative team on each story, and a one and done type of tale in each.

Naturally, one is set in Venice, and handled by Michael Avon Oeming.

Abe and Roger have to go to a 'small New England town.' That is never going to be fun.

A small appearance by Lobster Johnson in a Geoff Johns story with Liz and Roger.

Abe has to stop some toy monsters doing bad things to kids.

It ends with your garden variety zombie cull.