A review by owen
B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs 1 by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Michael Avon Oeming, Scott Kolins, Ryan Sook, Cameron Stewart, Geoff Johns, Guy Davis
3.0
This isn't where it starts.
Mignola's (and others') B.P.R.D. is one of my favourite comic series of all time - but this collection isn't the best start, which is unfortunate.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a great read and if you want to get into the good stuff which starts later on, this is great background material.
The first two portions of the book - Hollow Earth and Soul of Venice - are shorter arcs featuring the B.P.R.D. cast. Hollow Earth is a critical story for what's to come, and it's actually quite good. Soul of Venice is good as well. Unfortunately the rest of the tales vary in quality and are very inconsistent in terms of art style. The stories are still a great way to get to know the cast, particularly Abe, Liz and Roger (Johann is introduced but doesn't get much to do yet).
The third bit is where Plague of Frogs starts proper, with 5 told-in-one issues collected as a series. I quite like the stories and they really set the tone for future volumes, but all in all this collection is just that - a collection of tales.
As it stands, I'd give it a 4-star review, but... the problem with presenting this volume as Vol 1 of B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs is that this isn't even the correct starting point. The stories try to explain and reference previous tales but you kind of have to read some Hellboy stories (particularly Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil and Conqueror Worm) for the full experience to really work. As it stands, Vol 1 is a 3.5-star for me. But even if the art isn't perfect and the stories are short (in the vain of other early Hellboy material), it's a worthy read if only because of what this leads into.
Mignola's (and others') B.P.R.D. is one of my favourite comic series of all time - but this collection isn't the best start, which is unfortunate.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a great read and if you want to get into the good stuff which starts later on, this is great background material.
The first two portions of the book - Hollow Earth and Soul of Venice - are shorter arcs featuring the B.P.R.D. cast. Hollow Earth is a critical story for what's to come, and it's actually quite good. Soul of Venice is good as well. Unfortunately the rest of the tales vary in quality and are very inconsistent in terms of art style. The stories are still a great way to get to know the cast, particularly Abe, Liz and Roger (Johann is introduced but doesn't get much to do yet).
The third bit is where Plague of Frogs starts proper, with 5 told-in-one issues collected as a series. I quite like the stories and they really set the tone for future volumes, but all in all this collection is just that - a collection of tales.
As it stands, I'd give it a 4-star review, but... the problem with presenting this volume as Vol 1 of B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs is that this isn't even the correct starting point. The stories try to explain and reference previous tales but you kind of have to read some Hellboy stories (particularly Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil and Conqueror Worm) for the full experience to really work. As it stands, Vol 1 is a 3.5-star for me. But even if the art isn't perfect and the stories are short (in the vain of other early Hellboy material), it's a worthy read if only because of what this leads into.