I’ve always liked Mike Mignola‘s comic book series B.P.R.D., but for whatever reason, I just never followed it that closely until recently. This last little while, whenever I’d find myself in the library, I’d be sure to stop into the graphic novel section and always ended up with at least a couple of the B.P.R.D. collections. Pretty soon it became the only one I wanted to read and was picking up all of the collections. I decided that I’d catch up on everything B.P.R.D. related, and I have. That series may very well be my very favorite ever, its definitely up there with the best of the best.
Mignola introduced the B.P.R.D. characters and concepts in his most famous comic, Hellboy. It wasn’t long before the team had their own book though. Mignola has always been involved with the project, developing themes, story-line, and drawing covers, but he has brought on some amazing talent to help flesh out the book. John Arcudi has been the main writer for B.P.R.D. for years, building on Mignola’s mythology. What has really stood out for me though is the artwork. Guy Davis drew each issue for years, and he really tore it up. Honestly, it took me a little while to warm up to his style, but Davis’ work is incredibly good and engaging and really brings the book to life. He has become a favorite comic-book artist. For the most recent issues though, artist Tyler Crook was brought on, but the transition was smooth and his style is consistent. There were also a few other artists helping on individual story-arcs like Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Paul Azaceta, and Karl Moline.
These are fantastic monster stories. Apocalyptic (post-apocalyptic really, I guess, since at this point in the story the apocalypse has pretty much gone down. Or it is well on its way down) stories of Lovecraftian beasts breaking through the earth’s crust, jaguar spirits, wendigo, frog-monsters, and homunculus. Along with more traditional were-wolves, vampires, demons, and ghosts. Terrorizing and destroying civilization. It’s the perfect book to pick up and read on these spooky October nights. It’s hell on earth!
amazon.com | B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs Collection, Vol. 1
