GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs Collection, Volume One, by Mike Mignola and Guy Davis

From the pages of Hellboy comes the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, an organization dedicated towards fighting back against that which goes bump in the night. Yes, I might’ve just borrowed that from Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movie, but it describes the group aptly. For those not familiar with these imaginative creations of Mike Mignola, you are plunged into a world of demons, monsters and the unexplained. A world where a childhood fairytale, a spooky legend or other hauntings are set loose upon the world, and the B.P.R.D. has to keep the unknowing world-at-large safe.

B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs Collection, Vol. 1, by Mike Mignola  and Guy Davis , is an introduction to the team as a team. Before this, all the stories in this world were centered around Hellboy. In the Conqueror Worm, Hellboy left the organization, and the team was left adrift. Liz Sherman, the pyrokinetic, disappeared into a monastery, and Abe Sapien, the fish-man, is considering leaving B.P.R.D., bringing Roger the homunculus with him. The book begins with the team dissolving. From these trying beginnings, we get to follow this team of freaks as they learn to function without their big red friend.

I am big fan for these books. Not only are they beautifully bound and printed on glossy pages, but I have grown to love the characters within. The very human challenges they face speaks to me. They face fears over control and acceptance. Loyalties are threatened and built. This is the Avengers movie without the four-color fanfare. I want to say it was made down to earth and gritty by Mignola’s art, but truth be told, very little of his art is featured. However, the artists that are featured capture the feel of the world so perfectly, I want to blasphemously say I did not miss his pencils and ink. That not to say this book lacks Mignola’s influence. No, this book is all Mike Mignola.

If you are looking for a good place to jump into the collective world of Hellboy and B.P.R.D., this is a great place to jump in. You can grow with the characters and start exploring the world along with them. Believe me, there is a lot of world to explore.

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Review by John W. Oliver, author of:

• “Nonreturnable Merchandise,” Brave Blue Mice, 2009.
• “How Coyote Made Robot,” Robots Beyond, Permuted Press, 2009.
• “Better Dead Than Never,” Cover of Darkness 2008, Sam’s Dot Publishing, 2008.