A review by owen
B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs 2 by Mike Mignola, Pete Snejbjerg, Karl Moline, Herb Trimpe, Guy Davis, John Arcudi, John Severin
4.0
Vol 2 of B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs is excellent... it's just not as good as it gets.
After a Vol 1 that feels like a bridge between old Hellboy material, with different writing/art teams plus Mignola trying to figure out what to do with B.P.R.D., in Vol 2 we actually get going.
You see this in the plot - The Dead begins with a big move of the B.P.R.D. HQ to Colorado and the introduction of (great character) Daimio. Plus we start to explore the origins of Abe. It's a cohesive, strong tale, with great art by ongoing artist Guy Davies. You start to see the potential here.
Then comes War on Frogs, and again, it's 5 short tales around a central theme. It's a good character exploration, the art isn't as great on some of the issues unfortunately, and it feels less grand and less fun for me.
And then we get The Black Flame. This is one of my favourite B.P.R.D. stories, and I won't spoil anything. It's got a fantastic villain (his ending is brilliant), lots of character development for Abe and Roger, and a big, big ending. Black Flame elevated B.P.R.D. from a good comic series that's worth collecting to one that's a must-read and requires regular revisiting.
Vol 2 isn't perfect, it stumbles a bit in the middle, but it's still fantastic. And it gets even better next.
After a Vol 1 that feels like a bridge between old Hellboy material, with different writing/art teams plus Mignola trying to figure out what to do with B.P.R.D., in Vol 2 we actually get going.
You see this in the plot - The Dead begins with a big move of the B.P.R.D. HQ to Colorado and the introduction of (great character) Daimio. Plus we start to explore the origins of Abe. It's a cohesive, strong tale, with great art by ongoing artist Guy Davies. You start to see the potential here.
Then comes War on Frogs, and again, it's 5 short tales around a central theme. It's a good character exploration, the art isn't as great on some of the issues unfortunately, and it feels less grand and less fun for me.
And then we get The Black Flame. This is one of my favourite B.P.R.D. stories, and I won't spoil anything. It's got a fantastic villain (his ending is brilliant), lots of character development for Abe and Roger, and a big, big ending. Black Flame elevated B.P.R.D. from a good comic series that's worth collecting to one that's a must-read and requires regular revisiting.
Vol 2 isn't perfect, it stumbles a bit in the middle, but it's still fantastic. And it gets even better next.