Filed under: 6 Stars, Bjarne Hansen, Dave Stewart, Guy Davis, Herbe Trimpe, John Arcudi, John Severin, Karl Moline, Mike Mignola, Peter Snejbjerg
From the pages of Hellboy collecting
The Dead #1-5 (Story Mike Mignola and John Arcudi. Art Guy Davis)
The Black Flame #1 (retitled War on Frogs: Chapter 1)
War on Frogs #1 (retitled War on Frogs: Chapter 2)
Revival (retitled War on Frogs: Chapter 3)
War on Frogs #2 (retitled War on Frogs: Chapter 4)
War on Frogs #4 (retitled War on Frogs: Chapter 5)
The Black Flame #2–6 (retitled The Black Flame: Chapters 1–5)
War on Frogs #3 (retitled The Black Flame: Epilogue)
B.P.R.D Plague of Frogs 2 collects 3 trade paperbacks The Dead, War on Frogs and The Black Flame. These have been rearranged into a better story based chronological order not as their publication as comics. The hard back book is nicely printed on glossy paper and is glorious full color. The art work is solid throughout and despite the different artists it maintains the Hell Boy Universe feel.
The story is an easy read but it feels quite a straight “Run and Gun” type of tale. I felt it didnt really have intricate back story plots or hooks to really keep my interest up. It really didnt seem to grab me the way the first volume did. Abe Sapien is quite melancholy in this volume. There is the shock of one of the main characters being killed by one of the new protagonists. The book has some nice additional content and sketches to make it worth reading.
Definitely not a bad book but nothing outstanding. It Seems to get really good reviews on Amazon so not sure why it didn’t hit it off with me (6/10) ISBN 978-1=59582-672-3
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Filed under: 6 Stars, Darick Robertson, Guy Davis, Mario Guevara, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Solomon Kane
“Death’s Black Riders” collects #1 to #4 of Dark Horses “Solomon Kane: Death’s Black Riders” series and the “All The Damned Souls At Sea” short story. It is set in the Black Forest, just like the previous Dark Horse Volume (Castle of the Devil), and features the writing of Scott Allie and art of Mario Guevara.
“Deaths Black Riders” has more of a Conan or even a BPRD/ Hellboy feel to it than Solomon Kane. It is basically one long monster bash from beginning to end and lacks the more considered brooding approach that Solomon Kane normally has. From the moment the book begins the dialogue is confusing and hard to follow and the cluttered and muddy art makes it difficult to figure out just who is talking. It was quite a way into the book before I actually realized which character was Solomon Kane. The story also suffers from poor pacing and some of the fight scenes and dialogues run on too long. I quite enjoyed some of the interactions with the priest but the demons were a little too H.P. Lovecraft for my tastes.
Mario Guevara’s artwork was not as good as in the first volume and I found it quite difficult to follow at times. I liked Guy Davis’s artwork in the short story better but I still struggled a little to follow what was going on once the boat started breaking up. If I hadn’t read the notes in the back of the book I would not have guessed that the boat turned into some kind of sea serpent. Even Guy Davis’s art seemed to be a bit off par. I enjoyed the Mike Mignola TPB cover and Darick Robertson’s excellent single edition covers in the special features.
Death’s Black Riders isn’t a bad book but it suffers from not being a particularly good Solomon Kane adaptation with art that in my opinion is a little substandard. It has some great special features and is still worth a read if you liked the first volume. ISBN-10: 1595825908. 6/10
Filed under: 8 Stars, Adam Pollina, Brian McDonald, Cameron Stewart, Christopher Golden, Dave Stewart, Derek Thompson, Geoff Johns, Guy Davis, Joe Harris, Matt Smith, Michael Avon Oeming, Mike Mignola, Miles Gunter, Scott Kollins, Tom Sniegoski
This hardcover collects the TPB’s “Hollow Earth”, “The Soul of Venice”, and “Plague of Frogs” and includes the first appearances of Lobster Johnson and Johann Kraus.
Hollow Earth Contains:
“Hollow Earth” was written by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski with art by Ryan Sook. After Hellboy leaves the BPRD, Liz checks into a monastery to try to learn to control her powers. Whilst there she is captured by a strange race of creatures who live under the earth and BPRD agents Abe Sapien, Roger and Johann Kraus embark on a mission to get her back. “Hollow Earth” is a good read that has the same feel as other Hellboy books but doesn’t have that same special spark. Ryan Sook does a remarkable job of capturing Mike Mignola’s hellboy universe art style in this story.
“Hollow Earth Dark Horse Extra” was written by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski with art by Ryan Sook. This is a short story that explains the origin of Johann Kraus but it suffers from a rather confusing panel layout.
“The Killer In My Skull” was written by Mike Mignola with art by Matt Smith. This story features the first appearance of Lobster Jonson who attempts to solve a baffling paranormal closed door murder detective case. I didn’t really get a feel for the character here but Matt Smith did an excellent job of capturing the Mignola art style,
“Abe Sapien Versus Science” was written by Mike Mignola with art by “Matt Smith”. This is a story of scientific vivisection where the subject is Roger. Abe Sapien attempts to rescue roger from this fate worse than death itself. This is sort of an origin story for Roger and I enjoyed both it and Matt Smith’s artwork.
“Drums of the Dead” was written by Brian McDonald with art by Derek Thompson. Abe and new character Garret are called to investigate paranormal activities besetting cargo ships in an area with a certain link to triangles. This story features a different art style to the rest of “Hollow earth” but it uses a similar color palette and hence does not look out of place. I enjoyed both the art and story.
“The Soul of Venice” contains:
“The Soul of Venice” was written by Miles Gunter, Michael Avon Oeming and Mike Mignola with art by Michael Avon Oeming. It is the story of an evil vampire who has taken the soul of Venice to win favor with a demon. I enjoyed this story and the art was pretty good too.
“Dark Waters” was written by Brian Augustyn with art by Guy Davis. This is the story of 3 witches that come to light when a town pond is drained and a terrible evil is awakened. This was my favorite story in the “Soul of Venice” chapter and it also had my favorite art. I really liked Guy Davis’s pencils especially in combination with and Dave Stewarts coloring.
“Night Train” was written by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins with art by Scott Kollins and Dave Stewart. It is the story of a train crash back in the time of Lobster Johnson that leaves a train full of ghosts hell bent on revenge. This is a pretty good story but the best part of it is the really good artwork and use of colors.
“There’s Something Under My Bed” was written by Joe Harris with art by Adam Pollina. It is a short and fun story based upon the childhood fear of monsters under the bed.
“Another Day At the Office” was written by Mike Mignola with art by Cameron Stewart. It is another short story but this one features zombies and only average art.
Plague of Frogs:
The third TPB collected in this hard cover is “Plague of Frogs”. Unlike the other two volumes collected in this Omnibus, “Plague of Frogs” is one long story arc rather than a collection of short stories. I think this longer story marks a turning point in the series where when given room to breathe B.P.R.D really finds its own direction. This story features the return of Sadu-Hem and the frog monsters first seen in “Hellboy – Seed of Destruction”, the fulfillment of prophecies and vengeance from “Hellboy – Wake the Devil” and my personal favorite, the origin of Abe Sapien.
Not only is Plague a great story but it has really good art to. Although Guy Davis’s art does mimic Mike Mignola it has a more delicate and detailed look which when coupled with Dave Stewarts excellent coloring is very pleasing to the eye. I love the way Guy creates a sort of Quasi Victorian steam punk look to things and I love his background work. I have no problem with Guy penciling B.P.R.D especially if Dave is coloring.
This collected edition also has an extensive extras section with some great sketches and articles all which help this to be a must buy book for Hellboy fans. ISBN-13: 978-1595826091. 8/10
One Mad Dog 