Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.

[The NZA]

 

yet another thread lost in the storm?

 

Finally got into this one a bit before the movie came out, and its such a fun book, its crazy. Mignola's art style is unmistakable - no more than like 5 colors at a time, but man it just looks cool, especially the actoin scenes, i think. There's hardcore fans of his stuff, i think he got some kinda hardcover art book a while back.

 

Ive read most of his stuff, including Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil, The Chained Coffin & other stories (along with Seed, some shorts from here got included in the film), The Right Hand of Doom, Conquerer Worm, and some of the Weird Tales stuff. Ive yet to read the crossover books, Hellboy Jr and much of the B.P.R.D. stuff that's been getting good reviews lately...oh, and i have this other book i gotta finish by Mignola, The Amazing Screw-On Head.

 

Anyway, aside from BPRD, the current book is Hellboy: The Island followed by Hellboy: Makoma, both 2 issue series (i dont think Makoma's done yet), just wanted to see if anyone else was readin this stuff and enjoying it as much as i do.

[Iambaytor]

NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal is Kazaam, a larger-than-life genie with a magic touch for nostop fun laughter!  After 5,000 long years of captivity, Kazaam is set free to grant three wishes to a new master.  From then on, he's catapulted to one wild adventure after another... from becoming the latest rap sensation or untangling an outrageous mob scheme! As the giant genie with an attitude, Shaq scores big laughs in this hilarious comedy hit that's sure to be a slam-dunk winner with everyone!

Edited July 23, 2018 by Iambaytor

[Jables]

Man, that Hellboy Jr Trade is just about one've the most fucked-up things I've read outside of an Alan Moore book. It's what I reckon the inside of 2Track's head's like.

[Iambaytor]

NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal is Kazaam, a larger-than-life genie with a magic touch for nostop fun laughter!  After 5,000 long years of captivity, Kazaam is set free to grant three wishes to a new master.  From then on, he's catapulted to one wild adventure after another... from becoming the latest rap sensation or untangling an outrageous mob scheme! As the giant genie with an attitude, Shaq scores big laughs in this hilarious comedy hit that's sure to be a slam-dunk winner with everyone!

Edited July 23, 2018 by Iambaytor

[The NZA]

so, Makoma finished this week - that was fun, one of the more lighthearted stories like from Hellboy's earlier days...i honestly dont expect much of these; again, even B.P.R.D. is more glood & doom lately, and Mignola's already said there's big things in store for Hellboy in September.

 

So yeah, Makoma was fun, and it was the first arc not drawn by Mignola, but rather by Corben - he really pulled it off, it wasnt as far a stretch as youd think. I imagine this and The Island will be collected into another trade of misc stories at some point, and itll be a good book.

[The NZA]

For those who're fans, there's 2 good books going right now: {b]Hellboy: Darkness Calling[/b] just started up and its already in good form, and B.P.R.D.: Garden of Souls just reached its 3rd issue, and its finally telling the origin story of Sapien, im eager to see where it goes.

[Lycaon]

I should read these at some point. Where's good to start?

[The NZA]

Volume 1 is called "Seed of Destructin", as good a place to start as any...the series is a lotta fun if youre into history, folkore and mummies coming out of ruins that get smacked with a big red fist.

[Lycaon]

History and folklore, eh? Damn, I was wanting to read this series!

[The NZA]

 

heh

 

Good month for Hellboy fans...Abe Sapien: The Drowning just ended, while BPRD - The Ectoplasmic Man, The Warning & War on frogs, as well as Hellboy: The Crooked Man just got started. Richard Corben's on pencils for the last one, which seems to be working surprisingly well.

 

Incidentally, the first Library edition of Hellboy was just awesome, lot of great extras along with Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil. Totally worth it, and i cant wait for vol 2 - The Chained Coffin & others, plus the Right Hand of Doom. Amazon's letting it go for $33 with free shipping right now, due out mid-October.

 

PS

[The NZA]

man, this month is so great for fans of these books.

 

B.P.R.D. 1947 is 3 issues in, and its as creepy as shit's been in a long time - after the whole "war on frogs" arcs buildup, this look back at the bureau/professor's past and early tie-ins with hecate are awesome.

i really hope this book gets the Library edition treatment one day, but ill prolly pick up the softcovers if not.

 

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt # 6 is crazy. i though this would be another fun short like "the island", but no, it also ties into Hecate (theyre really gonna have to do some focused chronolgoical shit when this is all over, unless mignola really likes it this way), and this month's issue paid off in spades with Hellboy's true origin:

 

 

its fucking crazy and i totally didnt see it coming. still ties into the "crown of flames" apocalypse bit, mind.

also, the artist is damn close to mignola's style, which is cool.

 

which reminds me, library edition # 3's going up on amazon for like $30, i gotta put that together before november.

 

Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder - in the service of angels - just found out about this one, also 3 issues in and im not caught up yet, ill post back when i can.

 

 

seriously, i know im on a kick here but this shit is topping my reading pile.

[The NZA]

 

hellboy > your favorite book.

 

Sir Edward Grey, B.P.R.D. 1947 & Hellboy: The Wild Hunt are all tied up, all 3 were trade-worthy for me. there's a new Abe Sapien one-shot this month, more Hellboy beginning next year. Seriously, with hardcover library editions going for just about $30 on amazon, im gonna try for a few converts over h-con. such a fantastic book.

[The NZA]

free comic up on USA today!

[Jables]

We didn't discuss Hellboy at all at Hondoscon. You're a phoney

 

Fo'reals though, I gotta read more of this and am still waiting like the mantis for cheap(er) library eds to pop up on Ebay.

[The NZA]

i could write a book on the things we forgot to do at h-con

 

volume 1 is like $30 on amazon, that aint bad.

[Jables]

Yeah again, Amazon's a fickle bitch for me. Lotta the stuff I look @ doesn't ship to Oz so I just don't bother for anything but purveying. Ebay has 'em around the $40 mark which is alright in my... thing(not book).

[The NZA]

HELLBOY SLEEPING & DEAD #1 (OF 2) MIKE MIGNOLA CVR $3.50

 

Quote: Classic vampire horror! While chasing a giant bat through the forest, Hellboy meets an old man with insider knowledge of the coming vampire apocalypse. For the first time, Mike Mignola teams up with artist Scott Hampton (Batman, The Books of Magic) for this gothic tale.

 

not sure if anyone else's been keeping up with Hellboy, but...

they're setting up his return to the B.P.R.D. for next year, could be this arc?

 

 

[Iambaytor]

I really need to find a proper torrent for all these books (Hellboy, B.P.R.D., and Abe Sapien, as well as the Lobster Johnson mini) but nobody seems to want to compile such a creature and trying to assemble them in order is a pain in the ass.

[The NZA]

pretty sure you're on Demonoid (PM me if you're not), this looks pretty thorough. its in order of print date, but then if there's a chronological order, ive never seen it, so that's probably just as well. i'm likely to grab this myself just to have it digital as well.

[Iambaytor]

You're good people, Mr. Custer.

[The NZA]

...anyone else still following this book/universe? it stays at the top of my pull-list, and fortunately, recent torrents have had the prior collection in numeric order (Hellboy & B.P.R.D. both) i'm grabbing the next 2 library editions as soon as the latter is out, and amazon still wants @ $30 each which is fair by me, i love Mignola's art on big pages like this (Gary Frank and the Corben too, i know the latter put out some shit work when he was marvel's workhorse but his style works for me here). i've made peace with BPRD likely not getting the same treatment, and will eventually grab the Omnibus editions they're putting out as well.

Side books like Abe Sapien, Witchfinder, Baltimore & such have all yet to disappoint as well - i think the coolest thing about the lot of this is it's so deeply rooted in both mythology and pulp, i sometimes think it's the closest thing we've got to what people must've felt reading comics in the 40s/50s as far as excitement and mystery.

 

pretty big stuff going down right now - i think they might be heading to the endgame soon, with the crew members dropping left and right lately.

[Iambaytor]

This was a PM to Nick but he insists we discuss this in public so if someone's interested they can participate too. So, hi Axel in 5 or so years. How's the future?

 

So... after plowing through everything, as of today I am all caught up.

 

 

I kinda feel like Mignola played his hand too quickly with Hellboy's death and ultimate fate. He was rushing him to the finish line straight out of the gate and while I enjoy the small adventures I sure could've done with a few more big ones with the BPRD before he fucked off. In a perfect world, Mignola would've made a long ongoing series instead of a bunch of one-shots.

 

Do you think Roger's death was as bullshit as I did? That last bit with him and Johann was some good writing but the whole thing just seemed to be engineered by nobody really knowing what to do with him.

 

Speaking on bullshit deaths, do you think Daimio is really dead or just a Wendigo now? The tribesman guy said the Jaguar god avatars couldn't die by anything but the dagger and Dale didn't seem to have it at the time. Also, anytime the book does something ambiguous it makes me suspicious.

 

Do you like the way things are heading? I get the same feeling with B.P.R.D. that I did with Hellboy, that they're racing for the finish lie instead of basking in the greatness for a bit. I enjoy all this frogs/molepeople/Eldritch horror stuff but I'd like a few more self-contained non-flashback stories once in a while. It reminds me of Exterminators once they found out they were being cancelled and started tying up plot threads that weren't even close to playing out.

 

I think they need some more "special" agents. Daimio and Roger are dead, Abe is tanked (and possibly a Deep One, not sure how I feel about that), Liz is apparently never coming back (thanks for that Panya.)

 

Panya's great and I love Johann (especially since he's not being such an asshole anymore) but I think a few more special agents would help pad out the roster I remember Leech from the second Hellboy story, he apparently had some powers and that psychic from the Abe Sapien Drums of the Dead mini have just gone the way of Chucky Cunningham and Tommy Gavin's other cop brother. I was hoping when they brought Dale back that they'd be getting a Wendigo teammate but I guess that was wishful thinking.

 

 

Also, how are you liking Hellboy in Hell? It's interesting but I can't help but feel it doesn't really matter. Though maybe I'm wrong and Hellboy will be coming back.

[The NZA]

HUGE UNTAGGED SPOILERS CAUSE AINT NONE OF YOU READIN THIS ANYWAY DAMMIT

 

 

 

 

 

 

I kinda feel like Mignola played his hand too quickly with Hellboy's death and ultimate fate. He was rushing him to the finish line straight out of the gate and while I enjoy the small adventures I sure could've done with a few more big ones with the BPRD before he fucked off. In a perfect world, Mignola would've made a long ongoing series instead of a bunch of one-shots.

 

i mean, i can kinda see that...but i woudln't say "straight out of the gate"; wiki says he's been about this character/universe for just about 2 decades now.

the other thing you might be overlooking is that the format - minis, across whatever timeline - mean we could see Hellboy + BPRD adventures for years after the series finale, too.

 

as for the specifics, i did like the book it went down in - expanding the mythos with his real mother/lineage was a cool direction, i thought.

 

Do you think Roger's death was as bullshit as I did? That last bit with him and Johann was some good writing but the whole thing just seemed to be engineered by nobody really knowing what to do with him.

 

yeah i was pretty bummed, and as you later said, it's not like there's an over-abundance of faces with names on the BPRD, moreso at that time too. i see why Mignola wanted to use his untimely passing as what motivates Hellboy's departure (it worked better here than the angle in Hellboy 2 i thought), but the cost of such a character was indeed high.

 

Speaking on bullshit deaths, do you think Daimio is really dead or just a Wendigo now? The tribesman guy said the Jaguar god avatars couldn't die by anything but the dagger and Dale didn't seem to have it at the time. Also, anytime the book does something ambiguous it makes me suspicious.

 

yeah, i remember thinking that was it for him at the time (can't see revisiting that well now that we seem to be approaching endgame) but you're right that from their rules, i think he could still've survived. vicious arc, that.

 

Do you like the way things are heading? I get the same feeling with B.P.R.D. that I did with Hellboy, that they're racing for the finish lie instead of basking in the greatness for a bit. I enjoy all this frogs/molepeople/Eldritch horror stuff but I'd like a few more self-contained non-flashback stories once in a while. It reminds me of Exterminators once they found out they were being cancelled and started tying up plot threads that weren't even close to playing out.

 

i mean, kind of...im down about the books/universe coming to an end but looking at my digital collection here, there's 200+ issues of just Hellboy & BPRD proper, before even looking at Hellboy Jr, spinoffs, Baltimore and Edward Grey stuff...i havent read many Mignola interviews so i don't know if he just wants out or onto something else or what, as i recall he doesn't even write every one of these titles but again they could feasibly keep em going afterwards.

 

maybe it's because you read so much of it one straight shot? cause i jumped on a short while before the first film, so ive had 9+ years to catch up on early stints, then go through the Frog War, Liz's fate, Hellboy's departure etc...i mean, this entire "Hell on Earth" event took the genie out of the bottle as far as apocalyptic scenarios, and it feels like a yearlong event so in light of that it's hard to say it's rushed, you know?

 

I think they need some more "special" agents. Daimio and Roger are dead, Abe is tanked (and possibly a Deep One, not sure how I feel about that), Liz is apparently never coming back (thanks for that Panya.)

 

Panya's great and I love Johann (especially since he's not being such an asshole anymore) but I think a few more special agents would help pad out the roster I remember Leech from the second Hellboy story, he apparently had some powers and that psychic from the Abe Sapien Drums of the Dead mini have just gone the way of Chucky Cunningham and Tommy Gavin's other cop brother. I was hoping when they brought Dale back that they'd be getting a Wendigo teammate but I guess that was wishful thinking.

 

oh yeah, i mean even the human BPRD people blessed with crazy luck to not've yet died horribly can be cool in certain mini's, but we could totally use more mutants. i kinda doubt we'll get many more new ones at this point in the game, but i figure having both Abe and Hellboy seemingly out of the picture (plus Liz's absense, and yeah i totally forgot Panya's words about her not returning...) does make the Hell on Earth thing feel even more tense, like none of the heavy-hitters are around. even Krauss seems way too busy managing shit.

 

it's funny, i almost forgot about asshole-alpha-bro-Krauss too.

 

Also, how are you liking Hellboy in Hell?

 

i'm really digging it, and not just cause Mignola's doing the writing + art (though it's so great to see...no offense to BPRD guy and Corben, but still). Hellboy's vulnerable & clearly uncomfortable with where he is for the first time in forever, and last issue's reveal about the ghost of christmas past following him about was something i totally didn't see coming, and tied the universe together beautifully for me. I can't wait to see where it goes, and like the last arc, i'm dying to have it in an oversized library edition.

 

again: totally bummed that we're clearly gearing up for the endgame, but if this is supposed to be a calm before the storm, it's crazy eventful. also: do you think he did it, down in the basement?

[Iambaytor]

i mean, i can kinda see that...but i woudln't say "straight out of the gate"; wiki says he's been about this character/universe for just about 2 decades now.

the other thing you might be overlooking is that the format - minis, across whatever timeline - mean we could see Hellboy + BPRD adventures for years after the series finale, too.

 

I'm referring to storyline progression, not actual time passed. Hellboy's first story dealt with his "destiny" which, it was the first major introduction to the character, but then his second, and his third did as well. The thing I really liked about Hellboy and the Golden Army was that it was a major story, featured all the principal characters, everybody did something, everybody had their own arc, and while Hellboy's destiny was mentioned, it wasn't the focus. There are other things in the Hellboy universe than the Ogdru-Jahad, but until the Corbin-Drawn Minis (In Mexico, The Crooked Man, etc.) all the non-major stories basically consisted of Hellboy finding something evil, punching it until it died, and moving on. The GOOD ones (The Corpse, The Right Hand of Evil, Those That Go Down to the Sea in Ships) had only tangential or no connections to his destiny or the Ogdru Jahad but were still good. Hell, I would have liked a proper story arc in Africa, he could've even fought those harpies that Solomon Kane fought. And yeah, the format is good at bringing back old Hellboy stories but they're mostly one-offs where Hellboy's wandering by himself anyway. Hellboy was walking toward the exit from the first page of the first book, I want to see him mill around a bit and get in some more epic side-adventures.

 

yeah i was pretty bummed, and as you later said, it's not like there's an over-abundance of faces with names on the BPRD, moreso at that time too. i see why Mignola wanted to use his untimely passing as what motivates Hellboy's departure (it worked better here than the angle in Hellboy 2 i thought), but the cost of such a character was indeed high.

 

Roger died long after Hellboy had already left. Hellboy leaves at the end of the Coqueror Worms, Roger gets killed by the Black Flame halfway through the Frog War. Daimio and Johann are well-established characters at this point.

 

yeah, i remember thinking that was it for him at the time (can't see revisiting that well now that we seem to be approaching endgame) but you're right that from their rules, i think he could still've survived. vicious arc, that.

 

I have high hopes he'll turn up at some point. I didn't like him at first but the character grew on me and the series has been waffling for a strong male lead ever since, especially now that Abe's gone, cause Johann, melty Russian huy, and asshole glasses guy just aren't cutting it.

 

i mean, kind of...im down about the books/universe coming to an end but looking at my digital collection here, there's 200+ issues of just Hellboy & BPRD proper, before even looking at Hellboy Jr, spinoffs, Baltimore and Edward Grey stuff...i havent read many Mignola interviews so i don't know if he just wants out or onto something else or what, as i recall he doesn't even write every one of these titles but again they could feasibly keep em going afterwards.

 

maybe it's because you read so much of it one straight shot? cause i jumped on a short while before the first film, so ive had 9+ years to catch up on early stints, then go through the Frog War, Liz's fate, Hellboy's departure etc...i mean, this entire "Hell on Earth" event took the genie out of the bottle as far as apocalyptic scenarios, and it feels like a yearlong event so in light of that it's hard to say it's rushed, you know?

 

Wait... Baltimore is connected with the Hellboy universe too? FUCK! He has said he plans to write Hellboy in Hell until he dies and the "end of the world" scenario that Lo Pan Memnan Saa showed Liz was very vague. It showed a bunch of rubble and a crashed B.P.R.D. ship. The only thing it showed for sure was that Panya will walk at some point and Hellboy will come back (?) so there's that. I don't think the end is anywhere in site with B.P.R.D., they've got a lot of plates spinning currently and I think just like with the Frogs/Mole People story they're just going to find a way to wipe the slate clean and move onto the next nightmare scenario.

 

And once again I'm talking not about time, but about story progression. There were some great stories in the early parts of B.P.R.D. that didn't have to do with frogs or Ogdru Jahad or anything. I liked The Pickman County Horror because it delved into one such sideshow, even if it did feature fodder agents, just like that later arc with the guy having the Robert E. Howard past-life flashback even if that one was well within the canon of what's going on. It makes the flashbacks to the 40s a nice change of pace but I'd like to see some new stuff moving forward too, though it seems that now we're going back to Varvara I may get a little of that.

 

oh yeah, i mean even the human BPRD people blessed with crazy luck to not've yet died horribly can be cool in certain mini's, but we could totally use more mutants. i kinda doubt we'll get many more new ones at this point in the game, but i figure having both Abe and Hellboy seemingly out of the picture (plus Liz's absense, and yeah i totally forgot Panya's words about her not returning...) does make the Hell on Earth thing feel even more tense, like none of the heavy-hitters are around. even Krauss seems way too busy managing shit.

 

You can certainly say this for BPRD, it passe the Bechdel test like a motherfucker. Korrigan, Liz, working mom, and Liz's stalker are all worthwhile characters (even though working mom and Liz's stalker have giant targets hovering over their head every goddamn panel they're in) and Panya is an interesting character. But as I said back with the Daimio thing, the book lacks for good male characters now. Johann's great, but he works better when he has someone to play off of and Kate Korrigan and crazy doctor guy just don't cut it in that department. I'm hoping the Vampire and Sledgehammer '44 series' are heading toward tossing one or two more "special" characters our way. I'd really like vampire guy to show up in the present tense. Hell I'd settle for the cow-ified Buster Oakey. I'm still holding out for Daimio and/or Dale the Wendigo to come in at some point. All I know is I wish asshole glasses guy would hurry up and get himself killed, I'm tired of his bullshit.

 

What do you think about Melty Russian Guy, by the way? He seems shifty but that may just be his Sander Cohen routine. He obviously dislikes Varvara so he can't be all bad.

 

For that matter, where do you think they're going with Abe? I thought it was kind of bullshit they just carbon-copied Hellboy's story and re-applied it to the second most popular character in the series. Still, I've grown attached to the character so I'm definitely following this one wherever it goes.

 

Also, I thought about this, Panya didn't say Liz isn't coming back. She said "Liz isn't coming back HERE." So I'm betting their super villain layer gets destroyed at some future point.

 

 

it's funny, i almost forgot about asshole-alpha-bro-Krauss too.

 

No no, I'm not talking about Brohann Krauss, I'm talking about after that when he got all shifty "gonna murder that bastard what ate my gentic super body that was turning me into the Douche King" just before he came to his senses and realized he was being a dick. That was the Johann to which I'm referring.

 

 

i'm really digging it, and not just cause Mignola's doing the writing + art (though it's so great to see...no offense to BPRD guy and Corben, but still). Hellboy's vulnerable & clearly uncomfortable with where he is for the first time in forever, and last issue's reveal about the ghost of christmas past following him about was something i totally didn't see coming, and tied the universe together beautifully for me. I can't wait to see where it goes, and like the last arc, i'm dying to have it in an oversized library edition.

 

again: totally bummed that we're clearly gearing up for the endgame, but if this is supposed to be a calm before the storm, it's crazy eventful. also: do you think he did it, down in the basement?

 

Yeah I didn't like BPRD guy's art, he worked better on cartoonier stuff like The Zombies That Ate the World.

 

My prediction is that ultimately Hellboy will accept his throne and basically clean Hell out, then he's going to march them topside to take care off all the nonsense going on up there. I think he did kill Satan without realizing it, though maybe not, I don't see as it really matters as what's going on in the world seems to be way beyond Hell and demons.

[The NZA]

Roger died long after Hellboy had already left. Hellboy leaves at the end of the Coqueror Worms, Roger gets killed by the Black Flame halfway through the Frog War. Daimio and Johann are well-established characters at this point.

 

wait wait, i'm tired & all fucked up here, wasn't Roger the homunculus or am i getting shit mixed up? i thought it was the protocol of having a bomb in him that pushed Hellboy over the edge, but it's been years so i could totally have this wrong.

 

I have high hopes he'll turn up at some point. I didn't like him at first but the character grew on me and the series has been waffling for a strong male lead ever since, especially now that Abe's gone, cause Johann, melty Russian huy, and asshole glasses guy just aren't cutting it.

 

Wait... Baltimore is connected with the Hellboy universe too? FUCK! He has said he plans to write Hellboy in Hell until he dies and the "end of the world" scenario that Lo Pan Memnan Saa showed Liz was very vague. It showed a bunch of rubble and a crashed B.P.R.D. ship. The only thing it showed for sure was that Panya will walk at some point and Hellboy will come back (?) so there's that. I don't think the end is anywhere in site with B.P.R.D., they've got a lot of plates spinning currently and I think just like with the Frogs/Mole People story they're just going to find a way to wipe the slate clean and move onto the next nightmare scenario.

 

...

 

Also, I thought about this, Panya didn't say Liz isn't coming back. She said "Liz isn't coming back HERE." So I'm betting their super villain layer gets destroyed at some future point.

 

you could be quite right about BPRD, i guess ive had the notion of it ending in my head partly because they haven't built up a strong cast, as you said...i mean, taking the big pieces off the table seems like an interesting setup for entering into a closing arc to me.

 

yeah, that dude was totally Lo Pan, and i figure his vision isn't far off - you're right though, Panya's quote kinda implies HQ won't be around either, not surprising given how bad things got recently in Return of the Master. even with UN funding they clearly can't stave off hordes.

 

also: Grey just got tied in very directly, i can't imagine Baltimore's far off. i hope his reveal is half as cool, though...even if he's a ghost like Lobster.

 

And once again I'm talking not about time, but about story progression. There were some great stories in the early parts of B.P.R.D. that didn't have to do with frogs or Ogdru Jahad or anything. I liked The Pickman County Horror because it delved into one such sideshow, even if it did feature fodder agents, just like that later arc with the guy having the Robert E. Howard past-life flashback even if that one was well within the canon of what's going on. It makes the flashbacks to the 40s a nice change of pace but I'd like to see some new stuff moving forward too, though it seems that now we're going back to Varvara I may get a little of that.

 

yeah im totally waiting for Varvara's escape, ruskie can't be long for this world when that happens. and as you mentioned, the side stories are where im hoping fodder agents become mainstays, at some point.

 

What do you think about Melty Russian Guy, by the way? He seems shifty but that may just be his Sander Cohen routine. He obviously dislikes Varvara so he can't be all bad.

 

at first i had it messed up that his russian BPRD was tied to the Black Flame people, but nah, they're just working on their own monsters downstairs...he's obviously to be taken for a villain, but yeah in this universe i'd not at all be surprised if he's creating monsters to somehow combat the lovecraftian horrors. really don't have a great feel for him yet, other than his low value of life, natch.

 

For that matter, where do you think they're going with Abe? I thought it was kind of bullshit they just carbon-copied Hellboy's story and re-applied it to the second most popular character in the series. Still, I've grown attached to the character so I'm definitely following this one wherever it goes.

 

wait, carbon copied how - with his origin story or wha? trying to remember here. did i miss a book, cause im trying to remember if he got out of convalescence yet.

 

No no, I'm not talking about Brohann Krauss, I'm talking about after that when he got all shifty "gonna murder that bastard what ate my gentic super body that was turning me into the Douche King" just before he came to his senses and realized he was being a dick. That was the Johann to which I'm referring.

 

oh wow, yeah thank fuck that was short lived enough for me to mostly repress, yeah

 

Yeah I didn't like BPRD guy's art, he worked better on cartoonier stuff like The Zombies That Ate the World.

 

i don't mind...i mean, it's serviceable. but i clearly love the universe enough to think Corben's great sometimes, so im just giddy when Mignola's back around on pencils.

 

My prediction is that ultimately Hellboy will accept his throne and basically clean Hell out, then he's going to march them topside to take care off all the nonsense going on up there. I think he did kill Satan without realizing it, though maybe not, I don't see as it really matters as what's going on in the world seems to be way beyond Hell and demons.

 

doesn't he already have the undead knights, or did he lose all that? and i think that's plausible, monsters on monsters but i thought a big fear of him taking the crown was somehow tied into the right hand of doom unlocking the barn door for Ogdru Jahad.