Horror Book Reviews
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Title: B.P.R.D. Volume 3: Plague of Frogs |
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Review of B.P.R.D. Volume 3: Plague of Frogs
- Hellboy creator Mike Mignola finally reveals Abe Sapien's bizarre history. Introduced in the first Hellboy book and featured prominently in the film, Abe Sapien has remained one of the most intriguing mysteries of Mignola's celebrated work. The recent Hellboy film steered clear of any origin story for Abe so that the tale could be told in Plague of Frogs. The story of Abe's origins unfolds as the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense try to stop the monstrous frog men from the first Hellboy graphic novel, Seed of Destruction. The plague begins its spread across America, lending an apocalyptic new direction to Mignola's stories.
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Comments for B.P.R.D. Volume 3: Plague of Frogs
- Posted on 2007-09-04
Graphic SF Reader
The third collection has the team in a lot of trouble. Those nasty frog monsters are back, and spreading all around the world. The team finally traces them back to a cult in New England. Rasputin also lurks.
This volume also gives up the origin of Abe Sapien, and it is somewhat stranger than you think.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2006-06-12
The Origin of Abraham Sapien
This is the third outing for the BPRD without Hellboy. This is the first collection with one long story arc rather than a grouping of short stories. As creator Mike Mignola describes in the afterword, he and his editor at Dark Horse Comics were considering doing a regular line of comics, similar to the Hellboy series.
In order to achieve this, Mignola used this series to tie off loose ends. The return of Sadu-Hem and the frog monsters from Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. Rasputin's threat of vengeance and the fulfillment of the prophecy in Hellboy: Wake the Devil. And most importantly the origin of Abe Sapien.
The artwork by Guy Davis. His figure drawing immitates Mignola's, but there are almost no solid blacks. The backgrounds and colors are significantly more detailed than Mignola's, so it's a bit different of an esthetic. But when taken on its own it's still very good. His action is fluid, his characters are easily distinguished from each other. There's a background in alomst every panel (just figures with no background is a personal pet peeve of mine).
The only thing that holds this book back is the dialogue. They're too self-aware of the surreality of the frog monsters, the Sadu-Hem fungus creature. There are moments where it feels like the characters don't take their own world seriously. It breaks the fantasy of the story.
Aside from that it's a very good story. The characters are all used well. The artwork is very good. The monsters are all creepy. And, though we find out more about Abraham Sapien, the answers we get just lead to more questions. Exactly what a good comics' story should be.
Score: 4
