B.P.R.D., Vol. 13: 1947

I have almost all of Mike Mignola's books in this series, they tend to be addictive, and for me, they are best read late at night. B.P.R.D. 1947 is very much like the others, in fact there were times when I found myself thinking, did I read this already? But what sets this book apart is the art by twins Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon; artistic genius... Their whimsical, kinetic line work applied to compositions of balanced detail create panels that build pages into a book that is a masterpiece. And the color by Dave Stewart is perfection: the glows of old fashioned lighting in 1947 Europe; the blue of a bright night sky; the diamond stars in dark night filled with sharp eyed cats in a leafless tree; the bright flashes and dark undertones of a D-Day beach, an omnious bunker on a hilltop, its dark slit of an opening punctuated by flashes of machine gun fire... Every page, every character has been crafted with: "We were so excited to be working on a Hellboy comic. We really put all our strengths into this... And working with Dave Stewart is always a delight. He is just the best." (Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon). Their passion and dedication shows. 1947 is a book, with an interesting story, and Clem Robins lettering played a large part in making it such an enjoyable read. Even after finishing B.P.R.D. 1947, I find myself constantly going back to look at the panels and pages, again and again; I feel like I am being haunted by the artists, and of course the master: Mike Mignola.

Great series. Creative and Original. great artwork and interesting story arcs. and a great accompaniment to the Hellboy series. but it stands on its own.

Mike Mignola turns in another tightly written, thrilling edition of the BPRD, going back to the roots of the group with a great post WWII vampire tale.

I was sold on "B.P.R.D.1947" from the very start, when I first heard the premise. Before the time when the time when the government had a slew of "Enhanced Talent" agents to throw at the forces of darkness, they had to do with average Joes. Pulled from the aftermath of World War II, these agents were not hulking red monsters who could shrug off a spear through the chest or amphibious gentlemen who could swim under the deepest waters; They were just fragile human beings who knew the horrors of war but were still not prepared to fight a battle against vampire countesses with zombie butlers, or giant snake women who fill the sky. And these you aren't going to find happy endings here. As someone who has played more than my fair share of Call of Cthulhu , I know from experience that regular humans tend not to survive when standing against creatures from our collective nightmares. I am happy to say that Mike Mignola and his crew did not disappoint. "B.P.R.D. 1947" delivers a grand old adventure story set in the Hellboy universe, and even goes so far as to add some threat back to the monsters lurking in the corners. Those things that go bump in the night bump even harder when they are facing off against ordinary humans. The action starts after the conclusion of B.P.R.D. 1946 , when Trevor Bruttenholm is in charge of the fledgling Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense and is being faced with a bizarre case. Prisoners of war, specifically captured Nazi soldiers, are being torn to pieces across Europe. Many are willing to turn a blind eye to this, but Professor Bruttenholm insists on assembling a team of agents to investigate. Four men are plucked from the roster into active service; Normandy-survivor Jacob Stegner, Bomb-expert Frank Russell, Jungle warefare specialist Gabriel Ruiz, and Simon Anders, a merchant marine who spent twenty-four days in a lifeboat drifting in the South Pacific not knowing if he would live or die. All of them carry some scars from the war, and all of them selected further active service rather than to retire to civilian life. Bruttenholm sends them to France to follow-up on his only clue. A vampire named Baron Konig once hosted a party in a chateau in 1771, which was attended by a poet named De Grigny who wrote an opera from the experience and was then condemned to a madhouse for his efforts. The four newly-christened B.P.R.D. agents are to investigate the chateau and hopefully locate Konig, who is believed responsible for the mutilations. Once in France, the studious merchant marine Anders gets caught up in a dream-world involving two vampire ladies, and the remainder of the team must fight their way into and out of the cabal in order to set him free. The creative team for "B.P.R.D. 1947" was truly a "team," and one which merged flawlessly. Mignola provided the plot and over-story. Joshua Dysart filled in with the backgrounds, personalities and dialog of the agents, and the art was provided by two men, Gabrial Ba and Fabio Moon. The double-artists was Mignola's idea, who wanted the transition from "real world" to "vampire kingdom" to be a visual one as well as written one, and found just the right answer in Ba and Moon. The two artists share a studio together, and worked together to create a mixed style that captures Mignola's idea fluently. Continuity is maintained by the magnificent colorist Dave Stewart, who changes his own style from the more graphic colors of modern France to the more fluid and painterly colors of the vampire world. The whole experiment works really well, and there are some magnificent moments here. Without giving too much away, there is a brilliant scene when an old, crotchety priest stands against the forces of darkness, while a glimpse at his true soul shows a magnificent warrior full of power and light. The scene was nothing less than cinematic. And yeah, there is some cute stuff here as well. Aside from the heavy good-vs-evil (and I loved Baron Konig's rationalization for dismembering the Nazis. Great stuff there) "Lil' Hellboy is bopping around the B.P.R.D. headquarters as well, trying to drag a weeping Bruttenholm away from his desk to go play catch, or at least find someone to make him some pamcakes. Dark Horse always delivers some good bang for the buck with their collected editions, and especially with "B.P.R.D. 1947." Because of the nature of the work, it was fascinating to see Mignola's original sketches, then see the two interpretations by Ba and Moon, and to go back and hunt for the scenes they collaborated on picking out their individual styles. This collection also includes a Trevor Bruttenholm solo-adventure, "And What Shall I Find There?" that originally appeared as a promotion on MySpace. The art is by Patric Reynolds, and shows a young Bruttenholm on his first supernatural adventure.

A great tale, and another one that doesn’t have a BPRD member directly involved, although Trevor Bruttenhelm sets the ball rolling, and a young Hellboy pops in every now and then, mostly as a cute distraction. The real action is more similar to the structure of The Universal Machine, with one BPRD character getting separated from the others and slowly getting drawn into a maddening phantom world. There’s even a “round-the-table” storytelling session, although it’s more like the one in Baltimmore than the one in The Universal Machine. A Nazi-hunting vampire, a squad, a mission, a haunted French town, a library, an island, a pair of beautiful sisters, and a witches mass. Wow! Great 1940s clothes, poses and mannerisms. A court of ghouls, an execution, some tomb raiding, ghoul attacks, a swarm of cats to the rescue, Hellboy reading a 1947 issue of Lobster Johnson, Simon Anders’ lifeboat survival tale, an end to the ghouls, and an exorcism. It’s not as dramatic as 1946, but it’s still pretty good! But, by this time, we’re wishing to see the resolution to the Scorched Earth story… so let’s get on with it, please! Unique to the Hellboy world, this one has a great art collaboration by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, who split art duties: one drawing reality-like scenes, the other drawing fantasy-like segments. Both are amazing artists, and the effect is subtle, but significant. There’s a ton of great sketches at the back, probably more than any other Hellboy collection.

In 1947 the BPRD is fighting the occult in Europe in the wake of the Nazi terror of WW II. Professor Bruttenholm is setting up a group of agents, consisting of four former soldiers serving against Germany. So no heroes with any paranormal abilities in this one. The group is in charge of investigating the real reason behind the bloody killings of prisoners of war. Soon they are amidst witch Sabbath and Vampire conflicts. There are strange, mysterious and dangerous things going on and not all of the agents will survive. Joshua Dysart and Mike Mignola crafted a nice yarn from the early days of the BPRD. We are thrown into the story right from the first page, when a train transport is arriving the station, uncovering a bloody nightmare. Connecting loosely to the story told in 1946, Professor Bruttenholm is giving orders to investigate the incidence. The group in action is very nicely introduced and given real personality. When things become more and more mystical and tense, there really is that sort of affection to them that makes a book like this work. The artwork of the brothers Ba and Moon is distinct, beautiful and conveys a feeling of uneasiness like old Vampire movies. The locations with them old castles, small European towns with pups and architecture from somewhere between medieval time and 18th or early 19th century, dim lit and full of stark shadows are an amazing setting for the story to unfold. The twin artists work on different parts of the story: Gabriel Ba pencilling the real world part and Fabio Moon the Supernatural ones, with quite subtle transition between them. Together with the wonderful colours by Dave Stewart the artwork is telling the story with ease. There is a nice flow with just the right amount of increasing tension and a sense of mistery and some action scenes thrown in. Topping off the this collecting, there is a further short story attached to the 5 original books the main story consisted of, a sketch book with comments of the artists and the usual insights to the creation written by Mike Mignola. This is one solid comic book. BPRD fans who want to learn of the early days of the organization, separated from the current continuity of the series, will be satisfied. Personally I liked this issue more then the 1946 story.