bookwormali's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ramonnogueras's review against another edition
4.0
Hellboy se ha ido, pero la AIDP debe seguir. Sólo Abe puede dirigir al equipo, pero hay que encontrar a Liz Sherman. Y ese es el primer reto, ya que Liz no quería ser hallada.
Una magnífica continuación de la historia de Hellboy, a la vez que un nuevo comienzo. Recomendable.
Una magnífica continuación de la historia de Hellboy, a la vez que un nuevo comienzo. Recomendable.
thewargrave's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
otherwyrld's review
3.0
This is the first volume of B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense), the spin-off series to Hellboy. As such it is an introduction to the main characters of this new series. Hellboy himself does not appear except in flashbacks, which is fine because this is the story of his friends and what happens to them after he leaves. Whilst you don't have to have read previous volumes of Hellboy it does help to have some knowledge of what is going on, though this volume does a pretty good job of getting to know our main cast.
Abe Sapien the Fish Man and Roger the Homunculus (told you you needed a bit of knowledge) are planning to leave the B.P.R.D. as they no longer feel comfortable there, when they get a psychic distress call from Liz Sherman, a pyromaniac and former part of the team who has been missing for two years.Travelling to a remote monastery, they and new companion Johann Krauss (a bodiless being now living in a containment suit after an accident destroyed his body but left his spirit intact), go in search of Liz in a mysterious underground realm. There they encounter pre-human creatures who have enslaved Liz and who plan to use her energy to start up ancient machines that will rise up and conquer the world of man. Needless to say, this doesn't go down well with our heroes, and they set about freeing Liz and destroying the creatures and their machines (by the way, the machines look a lot like the ones that appeared in the Hellboy II film, and this story may be where the idea came from). At the end, all the the team decide to stay with the B.P.R.D. and thus their adventures continue.
There are a couple of backup strips, which are okay but don't really add up to much. Lobster Johnson is intriguing but needs fleshing out a bit. The final strip didn't really work as I disliked the artwork on it.
All in all, a good start to the series, 3 1/2 stars.
Abe Sapien the Fish Man and Roger the Homunculus (told you you needed a bit of knowledge) are planning to leave the B.P.R.D. as they no longer feel comfortable there, when they get a psychic distress call from Liz Sherman, a pyromaniac and former part of the team who has been missing for two years.Travelling to a remote monastery, they and new companion Johann Krauss (a bodiless being now living in a containment suit after an accident destroyed his body but left his spirit intact), go in search of Liz in a mysterious underground realm. There they encounter pre-human creatures who have enslaved Liz and who plan to use her energy to start up ancient machines that will rise up and conquer the world of man. Needless to say, this doesn't go down well with our heroes, and they set about freeing Liz and destroying the creatures and their machines (by the way, the machines look a lot like the ones that appeared in the Hellboy II film, and this story may be where the idea came from). At the end, all the the team decide to stay with the B.P.R.D. and thus their adventures continue.
There are a couple of backup strips, which are okay but don't really add up to much. Lobster Johnson is intriguing but needs fleshing out a bit. The final strip didn't really work as I disliked the artwork on it.
All in all, a good start to the series, 3 1/2 stars.
onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
3.0
The Drums of the Dead: much more chilling in retrospect. All those nails in the monster's flesh . . .
brookeaf's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the beginning of this series. I was disappointed when Hellboy split from the BPRD in his series, so I'm glad that Mignola decided to give the paranormal investigation team its own spotlight.
storyorc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Great to see backstory and bonding from these characters I've grown fond of while reading Hellboy but the plots lacked the usual intriguing weirdness.
arf88's review against another edition
3.0
I was a bit worried about the art of this book before I read it. I'd gotten so use to Mignola's art for these characters I wasn't sure I'd be open to other artist's interpretation. But for the most part I didn't find it too jarring.
Like the art, some stories in here were better than others. Hollow Earth was what earned this book it's stars, although I'm hoping we get more from Liz Sherman soon, other than brooding angst and comatose near death experiences.
I wasn't a fan of Lobster Johnson's story The Killer in My Skull which I found cheesy as hell. Of all the Hellboy characters that go on to have a spin off series, Lobster Johnson is the one I'm least enthused about.
Abe Sapien versus Science gave us some nice character moments, but felt like a rehash of what had come before, and Abe Sapien: Drums of the Dead was a nice little story, although it didn't really add anything of substance to the world.
Like the art, some stories in here were better than others. Hollow Earth was what earned this book it's stars, although I'm hoping we get more from Liz Sherman soon, other than brooding angst and comatose near death experiences.
I wasn't a fan of Lobster Johnson's story The Killer in My Skull which I found cheesy as hell. Of all the Hellboy characters that go on to have a spin off series, Lobster Johnson is the one I'm least enthused about.
Abe Sapien versus Science gave us some nice character moments, but felt like a rehash of what had come before, and Abe Sapien: Drums of the Dead was a nice little story, although it didn't really add anything of substance to the world.
mrswhiteinthelibrary's review against another edition
3.0
So the idea is simple: Hellboy left a bunch of interesting characters behind and other writers, with good reason, wanted to explore how they were faring without him. This is a really fun addition to the series and greater mythology of Hellboy's world. This is an anthology volume filled with folklore-based mysteries and mayhem of varying quality. The title piece is probably the best offering in this anthology, with a fun adventure that also expounds on the subtle but very present romantic tension between Hellboy's former sidekicks Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman as well as introducing the fascinatingly... ectoplasmic... character, Johann Krauss and expanding the personality of Roger the homunculus, who was central to a handful of Hellboy stories before dropping out of the title (with the rest of the BPRD), but never fully developed. Another interesting addition to this collection is that it presents a fun flashback story, "The Killer in my Skull" introducing the active days of pulp vigilante Lobster Johnson, which alone is worth the price of admission as he is, admittedly, one of the coolest characters Mignola created. The artwork, as the writing, varies, notable in the last piece, "Drums of the Dead" with it's harsh line work and color, while the title piece "Hollow Earth" harkens to Mignola's own use of shadow and minimalism.
While Mignola himself is not present in these pages, his influence is clearly obvious, and each offering here is respectful to his world and a must-read for fans of his work.
While Mignola himself is not present in these pages, his influence is clearly obvious, and each offering here is respectful to his world and a must-read for fans of his work.