Bprd the Devil You Know Cbr
Here we are, at the end of "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know," the terminate of the "B.P.R.D." series equally a whole, and the end of Hellboy's journey beginning begun mode back in "Hellboy: Seed of Destruction" in 1994. There was only ane way to marking such an epic occasion, so we've brought together the entire Mignolaversity team. This is going to be a long i, folks!
Spoiler warning: We will be discussing the entire event, not property annihilation back. This review is pretty much wall to wall spoilers.
Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Encompass by Mike Mignola
Illustrated by Laurence Campbell
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem RobinsAfter xv years of B.P.R.D. comics, the series reaches its explosive determination!
Mark Tweedale: Before we dive into the main body of the review, I wanted to cheque in on how everyone's been finding "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know," especially since we haven't checked in with Mike Romeo and Brian Salvatore for a while, and David Harper's terminal review was for "B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth—Nowhere, Naught, Never." And so much has happened since then!
David Harper: 'The Devil You Know' reads to me like a cycle of "B.P.R.D." that was conceived subsequently everyone involved had planned i thing and and so arbitrarily decided that information technology was actually time to finish things in fifteen problems. I have no insight into what the actual process was, but that feeling results in a xv-effect run that holds the turbo button downwards as information technology mows through a plot checklist to get to the concluding outcome, at which bespeak, they hit the brakes as hard equally humanly possible. Outside of the art, it has felt to a certain degree like an impression of "B.P.R.D." as much as an actual, honest to goodness final cycle.
That's not to say at that place haven't been adept points. They've simply been mired in atypical pacing, a seeming desire to check off necessary plot points to a higher place all, and express characterization, outside of the intermittent beats that hit.
Christopher Lewis: I plant "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know" to exist a very different serial than what I was used to reading. There was a lack of existent graphic symbol moments, with the exception of the three-issue Fiumara run that had some great moments between Hellboy, Abe, and Liz. The pacing went from being slow to overly rushed, and there were some odd callbacks to previous stories (virtually notably Rasputin showing upward). I agree with David that the arc felt like they had a checklist of things they wanted to accept happen and crammed them into fifteen issues (in my opinion, premeditatively the size of ane hardcover book).
The expanse I enjoyed the most has been that the series was heavy with Hellboy Universe mythology, which I dear. The final issue being great in this sense as it hitting all of the key things I hoped to run into happen with the end of the chief narrative.
Brian Salvatore: There accept been a few moments that have felt very much similar the "B.P.R.D." I've ever loved, but for the well-nigh office, this bike felt like an echo. I don't think it was intended that way, but I retrieve it felt similar the "real story" concluded with the end of 'Hell on Earth,' and this was merely the epilogue of the grand story. Between the length, the odd pacing, and the same checklist mentality, information technology felt like this was someone rushing to the stop line instead of giving us a full bicycle to assimilate all of this.
Think well-nigh how many characters were summarily killed with very footling fanfare. I know that was sort of the betoken, but i of the things I loved about prior stories was how death came ofttimes, but came with emotional consequences. Because of the stride, we got a lot of action, with relatively piffling reflection or character development.
Mike Romeo:I wasn't a fan of this bike. Sure, cool things happened like the Hellboy reveal, merely it all felt like wink and no substance. I mean, Frankenstein shows upward and gets one console. Information technology's like you lot're supposed to say, "Wow, bang-up!" and so just run along to the next underserved plot point. I almost want to alibi all of that by thinking, "OK, this is the end of the world and things are unraveling at an out of control pace." Which could work if this wasn't entirely a piece of work of fiction that is controlled past human beings that can exercise anything they desire.
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I chalk it upwardly to the way Allie writes. Just I'm sure we'll get to that in a few, so I don't wanna blow through my listing of grievances just yet.
Chris: Something I continually recall about is would this arc have been improve if information technology was told in more than 15 issues (like thirty)? That way there would have been more time to let things breathe and events wouldn't have felt so rushed. After reflecting, I honestly don't think information technology would have mattered mainly because without John Arcudi we would not have gotten the character moments that divers the first 147 bug of the series.
I likewise remember an interview Mike Mignola did last year where he said if Arcudi is gone then he wanted to wrap upwardly the primary narrative (essentially what became 'The Devil You Know' in like vi problems to put the thing to balance, but Allie said there was a lot of stuff yet to do so they came upward with an outline of what they wanted to striking with 'The Devil You Know'. That beingness said, this series feels similar a compromise between the ii of them to keep the fans happy, sell an additional charabanc, and also terminate the series quickly. Peradventure I am not being off-white as Arcudi left before the main story was finished and these guys had to figure out how to shut information technology downwards, but this is the impression I took from Mignola's statements.
Mike:I call back I agree with Chris about lengthening the cycle, only then we run into having to write an exact number of issues for the 2d jitney. And the way things shook out, I don't know that xv more wouldn't overdo things a bit. Allie can actually meander when he goes long on a serial out of necessity. I don't know how many people can recall the "Abe Sapien" series Mark and I reviewed, merely we sorta had to drag ourselves over the end line for that.
And now that I think on it. How is information technology that 'Dark and Terrible' gets more than hardbacks than the final "B.P.R.D." cycle? What a time to exist alive!
Mark: I think information technology's less to do with the length and more than to exercise with how economically the story's told. This story could've been tightened upwardly considerable past juggling the scenes around so that the gaps between cause and effect are closed, and then that when nosotros go from ane scene to the next they create a commentary on each other. Like the vampire plotline, the individual beats are then far autonomously from each other that each time it re-emerges, the scenes are encumbered with reintroducing their context. Information technology would've been stronger entirely independent within a single arc.
Brian's bespeak nearly grapheme death was what concerned me more, though. Stories are ultimately arguments; they accept a betoken of view and a character death is in a sense a concluding argument on a particular thought. A shocking and sudden death can make a statement virtually the story stakes, well-nigh other characters, about any number of things. Tian'south sudden death was used to explore the supporting characters over the side by side iii issues. Information technology was purposeful.
However, time and over again characters were killed suddenly and from an external viewpoint, and each time the story's argument gets more and more than redundant. Each death offers zip new, no commentary on the life the characters led before they died or who they are equally a person, information technology'due south just "the stop of the world is horrible and people die," which isn't a particularly interesting or original accept on the cease of the earth.
And then let me ask you, how did Tian feel about his death? Or Carla? Or O'Donnell? Ashley? Or even a major character like Abe? Now permit me ask you how did Panya feel about her death? Or Kate? Or Johann? The deaths in "B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth" were thesis statements about characters, a culmination of what came before. Most chiefly, we were with those characters in their deaths, and each feels differently every bit they meet their final moment. In "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know" nosotros are spectators—nosotros watch characters die, but we don't die alongside them.
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Afterward spending fifteen years reading "B.P.R.D.," information technology's not satisfying to part with these characters as a stranger watching from a distance. I want to see their faces, their eyes, their soul.
Brian: Well said, Mark. I think Carla'south decease was the nearly egregious of these, considering she had the most to lose. I'thousand not saying that beingness a parent makes your life more valuable, merely she was the only person who really had an attachment of any kind (unless you lot count Bruiser which, upon reflection, I practise count. Doggos > people), and we saw a glimpse of what her decease meant in her terminal interaction with her kid, but then we moved on so quickly I got whiplash. Sure, Fenix is a surrogate mom now, merely what does she retrieve virtually that? What does her son think most his mom dying? This is the type of story that Arcudi—and I hate beating that drum equally frequently as I do—would have developed into something actually meaningful.
Instead, it was just shoved along. And to me, that'due south the biggest problem with Scott Allie'south writing style. Information technology's either decompressed to the point of insanity (much of "Abe Sapien") or just a quick rundown of plot points, that you get about no modest, personal moments. In fact, to me, the best character moment in this unabridged bike is Liz's wide-toothed grinning when she sees Abe for the starting time time in issue #2, and that had very picayune to do with Allie'southward writing.
Marking: Graphic symbol rarely informs plot and vice versa. The relationship is near entirely reactionary. It'due south part of why the series feels then fragmented.
Brian: These final few issues really hammered home the roles of the "Large iii" Hellboy Universe writers. Arcudi was all grapheme, Allie is all plot, and Mignola is all Mignola. I mean that in both positive and negative ways, considering substantially he does whatever makes him happy, which is what I desire artists to do, but his choosing to do so at the end of a long, collaborative slice feels a little self indulgent, if not masturbatory.
David: I have an important question for everyone: does it matter to you that the final issue of "B.P.R.D." was basically an consequence of "Hellboy" ultimately?
Chris: I feel that this outcome is a "Hellboy" issue, and mayhap that is why I liked information technology every bit much as I did. Something in me considers it an epilogue to "Hellboy in Hell" as it closes downwards the main narrative. I mean, the tone of the consequence was a "Hellboy in Hell" outcome where Hellboy basically talked one-on-1 with another graphic symbol (Ed and then Hecate). This feels like a Mignola written story, instead of a Scott Allie story, and scratched an itch for me of pulling a lot of mythology pieces together that I have been hoping to run across since 'The Devil You Know' series started.
Nonetheless, I am conflicted because the catastrophe doesn't practise any justice to the "B.P.R.D." storyline for reasons that you guys already discussed.
Brian: It does issues me a fleck, especially because at a certain point "B.P.R.D." and "Hellboy" were titles that had like attributes/tones, but in the past seven or eight years, they've really become two very dissimilar things. And as a guy who always tended to favor the Bureau-driven stories, I felt similar not only did the concept of the "B.P.R.D." not really get its swan vocal, but neither did the bulk of its major characters.
If this result was meant to close the book on the entirety of the Hellboy Universe, that's one thing, but it falls under the banner of "B.P.R.D.," and doesn't actually alive up to that title.
Mark: I have to agree. I beloved this outcome and this catastrophe—for me it's a perfect ending to the Hellboy Universe every bit a whole—but we skipped something essential to become here. Nosotros needed an ending to the "B.P.R.D." series first, one that belongs to the "B.P.R.D." characters that were that series' heart and soul, to get their ending and feel it with them. I needed more a dry summary of their plot points. It'southward heartbreaking that they abruptly vanish from their own series. 'The Devil You lot Know' desperately needed an issue between #14 and #15. The hole there feels so very, very incorrect. As a "B.P.R.D." ending, #fifteen delivers nothing. "B.P.R.D." is a characters-start serial and information technology needed an ending that reflected that.
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Brian: This is probably sacrilege around these parts, and especially for a galaxy brain like Mark, merely I've always enjoyed the nuts and bolts arroyo of "Hellboy" and "B.P.R.D." significantly more than the more than esoteric creation/destruction mythology of some of the ancillary Mignola work. Then, right off the bat, this upshot isn't focusing on the stuff that I have always cared more about, which are the characters, and instead is more interested in the overarching mythos.
Chris: What I always loved about these stories was how perfectly the character driven approach melded/complimented with the larger mythos of the universe. Prior to this arc, in that location was a residue with these approaches, which is why I cruel in dear with these books in the beginning place. That said, for me the major redeeming office of 'The Devil You lot Know' was that it ended in a significantly rich mythological style that was satisfying. Without it I would accept been severely disappointed in the entire arc.
David: I'm completely with Brian. One of the things I always loved about "B.P.R.D." was it was the Hellboy Universe explored through a more direct, more character driven perspective. It was a comic about the cease of the world, but one where the characters and their experiences were more than important than the actual acts of horrific devastation that were happening around then. Where people try their best to relieve the globe in the face up of the apocalypse. Information technology was hopeful and it connected me with the story, which was unlike than a lot of the "Hellboy" stories that frequently felt more than nearly larger things that were out of the control of the core characters.
It was a huge bummer to read this effect for me, considering in its last chapter, "B.P.R.D." became a "Hellboy" comic that basically said all of these characters we love—besides Hellboy—and their actions finer didn't really matter and were destined to exist irrelevant at the end, and had been ever since we saw Liz's visions of the future in 'King of Fear.' Information technology felt more than like a comic nearly fulfilling a shot that was called long ago rather than telling a story that fits the series it exists inside.
If "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You lot Know" had told the concluding chapters of the lives of all the characters from the Bureau that we cared about and and then led into a last "Hellboy" story called 'Ragna Rok,' I might have loved this issue. Merely this wasn't that, and I just find myself disappointed in the end.
Brian: I recall we all knew that the series was going to wrap up with the cease of the world, but I expected the Agency itself to play more than of a office in that process. 1 of the frustrations for me with this ending is that it is almost entirely devoid of whatsoever real role for the Bureau at all. Aside from being some of the folks who made it clandestine, what role did they play in the endgame?
Mark: I wanted to see the Bureau existence the reason they saved so many… and I recollect that aspect is there, it but got muted in the shuffle. (Yet some other reason for an issue between #xiv and #fifteen.) Plus, I remember the story would've worked meliorate with Hellboy dying in his fight with Rasputin, then spending an entire issue without Hellboy as the Bureau gets every bit many people equally they can underground. It preserves the thematic social club of cause and outcome—these people are saved because of Hellboy'due south cede, this is what his death bought.
Mike: At present that you mention Rasputin, I was a piddling baffled by Hellboy killing him by snapping his neck. With his normal hand no less! He should've just done that fifteen years ago.
Brian: This actually felt more than like a "Hellboy" story than a "B.P.R.D." story. Even Liz, who gets her ultimate moment at the end of the series, and Abe, the figurative (or maybe literal?) father of this new age, were minor players in this finale.
Mark: Abe and Liz's endings were and then anemic compared to Hellboy's, which invests then much into every moment and feeling and choice. Information technology's and then much richer.
Of all the characters in this series, I recall Liz was the nigh poorly served in the ending. Her journey from "Hellboy" to "B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs" to 'Hell on Earth' has been 1 where she's been a victim and a tool, and grown into a powerhouse with her own agency. But in the concluding two problems, we feel a major backslide—she ceases to exist a person and becomes a plot tool. She loses all her bureau. This is where I really needed more. After Hellboy'south death, I wanted to spend time with Liz, to gain some understanding nigh what she chooses to do next. Imagine how different information technology would've been if we'd seen her grow to understand what she had to do next, and seen her make that choice.
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Mike: Exactly! I'd say a number of characters lost their bureau in this event, but Liz got it way worse. I feel like that terminal scene with her came out of nowhere, and it'southward somehow Hellboy's decision for Liz to brand her sacrifice? I dunno, mayhap I'm missing something, merely that whole thing seemed weird to me.
As for the B.P.R.D., they played a pretty big role. We merely didn't come across it. You lot know who else played a big function? Frankenstein! Yet nosotros somehow merely go ane panel with him. I'chiliad a believer in the "if yous show a gun it has to exist fired" principle. Or however information technology goes, you get the point. I remember Franky and the underground is a pretty big fucking gun. I know that "Frankenstein Underground" provides some explanation, but when you're writing the main series, you tin can't expect that every reader has read every side story. I truly can't stand up hand holding readers, but this is something that needed clarification at some indicate in this serial.
Chris: Were there any other storylines non address in this arc that you lot guys were hoping to see? I personally, was hoping for more than of an caption nigh Abe. Like what was all the "the sea calling her children dwelling house" stuff from twenty years ago, or the purpose of Abe'southward multiple transformations? We had a whole thirty-6-issue "Abe Sapien" series that didn't really give us much, and so 'The Devil Yous Know' only gave u.s.a. that eggs that came out of Abe'southward broken body (which came out of nowhere). For all of the emphasis on the mystery of Abe over the years I feel exploring the mythology effectually him was lacking.
Mark: Agreed. I'd accept fifty-fifty liked a moment with Shonchin sitting past Abe's corpse at the bottom of the bounding main, proverb goodbye to his friend. Answers are overnice, but a character moment between the 2 would've been even more than satisfying for me. We didn't get either.
Chris: Another group that I was hoping would exist vetted a little more was the Osisrus Lodge and the spirit Larzod. It is possible we might learn more nigh them in a future "Hellboy and the B.P.R.D." outcome, but with them having "killed" the remaining six Ogrdu Jahad I wanted more around how they were continued to those beasts.
Marker: Back when "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know" #three came out and one of the Osiris Club members was dead, I think thinking for the first fourth dimension that they had bound themselves to the Ogdru Jahad somehow, since ane of the Ogrdu Jahad was dead. I never said annihilation though, considering I felt a trivial giddy saying, "7 Ogdru Jahad, seven Oriris Order members. Coincidence?!" But here we are twelve issues later and they've jump themselves to the Ogdru Jahad, trying to elevate themselves to godhood. And only equally the spirit Larzod foretold in "Hellboy: The Wild Hunt" #viii, they are all in that location at the stop, and they have claimed Hellboy'due south paw.
Brian: David said in an email that he wishes he could reread this upshot with your brain, Mark, and I totally agree. While I think the Osiris Club, I don't have the level of detail equally worked out in my head, so their involvement, while beautiful, wasn't really a big deal to me.
Marker: I think that's also due to the fractured manner they were reintroduced in "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You lot Know," where nosotros got scenes in bug #3 and #14 and they were so ambiguous nigh what they were really doing that their dialogue was essentially meaningless and entirely unmemorable. Some cards needed to be laid blank sooner, and the Osiris Club is a articulate case of that. They should've merely showed up in the terminal arc and their objectives should've been articulate. The late reveal led to convoluted storytelling.
That said, we've known for a very long time that Hellboy would dice in the last battle and that his right paw would be cut off, but information technology never in one case crossed my mind that he would be reunited with it. He was free of the burden and then chose to have it dorsum. He wanted to be a regular guy, but when faced with the Osiris Club condign the gods that would shape the new globe, he chose to take on the godhood he never wanted. For me, that was immensely satisfying.
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Mike: When I saw him get his hand back I actually guffawed. He lost his hand, and and then is reunited with it only every bit quickly as he lost it. There was cypher for him to overcome in order for him to get it back. He merely showed up, said, "Oh hey, that's mine," and just took it back. That storytelling determination really diminished the idea that this was a huge, life-ending decision, making it experience like it was more a ways to an cease than anything.
David: Hilariously, I went back and read this column called Hell Notes, which honestly is pretty good, you guys should read information technology. It helped a lot. It certainly made me capeesh the Osiris Lodge appearance far more, and helped me empathise that this was Hecate with Hellboy at the end, rather than some other previously appearing character like Nimue. Simply I have serious problems with a final issue that requires effectively an explainer to sympathise what happens. That'due south never been "B.P.R.D.'s" way, and information technology's nevertheless another issue I have with this finale.
I take to ask you all a question within a question here. This issue is all most fulfilling prognostications from long earlier in this comic. Does it being the execution of previously shown story beats make this an unsatisfying read for anyone else?
Basically, much of this last issue appeared earlier, which I suppose might be fulfilling for some, but it's not actually a satisfying "B.P.R.D." narrative to me. If you telephone call your shot ten years ago or whatever and all we end up with is that, it underlines that the efforts of the Bureau themselves—the characters this book was ostensibly about—were largely pointless, and outside of Liz, they were effectively irrelevant, with even Liz being almost a puppet of sorts given that Hellboy has to tell her "Do it" in the terminate. That's a major bummer. Information technology makes information technology less of a story to me and more of a paint-past-numbers execution of a previous idea.
Brian: Well put, David. Over again, I think so much of failure of this issue and, to a lesser caste the entire wheel, was how trivial the Bureau did/mattered.
Mark: Stories about one world beingness replaced with another tin feel nihilistic—what's the point if everything ends? But I think Mignola's story is exactly the contrary. The globe before shapes the one that follows, so while it's still true that it ends, information technology matters immensely. It's near legacy and a generation passing the torch to the next, and how we can make a better world for those that follow.
Information technology's interesting to me how nosotros're seeing something we've seen before, just the perspective has totally changed. Before the emphasis has been on this terrible, ominous end, and on surrendering to the forces of destiny. Here, the accent is on beginning, and on purposeful choice, and on how the mistakes of the outset globe and the crucible of the second world lead to a third world gratuitous and full of hope. Information technology's the same terminate, just information technology'due south significant is transformed.
Brian: I call up that's a really neat way of looking at information technology, only it doesn't totally address my concerns about the issue and, to a lesser caste, the arc, and the wheel as a whole.
One of the drags of reviewing books monthly is that you don't get to spend plenty time pondering the big motion picture, and instead can be caught upwardly in minutiae. Only this goes almost the opposite direction; I don't think that this drove of xx pages is a particularly good, well rounded comic on its own, nor exercise I think it really works as a decision of the 'Ragna Rok' arc, nor exercise I think it is a particularly effective conclusion to 'The Devil Yous Know.'
This issue works best for Mark and Chris, it appears, who are the ones amidst us who are looking at this with the longest lens. I think it's groovy that they are satisfied with the way things wrapped upwardly. But for me, this doesn't actually do too much to get me to look at this cycle fondly. Unlike, say, "Hellboy in Hell," which was a truly unique and insular experience, this cycle was supposed to exist all about dealing with the end of the earth at the very stop, and tying up (many of the) loose ends before everything goes kaboom.
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This issue splits the departure between "Abe Sapien," which was a lilliputian likewise deep in the mythos for my taste at times, and "Hellboy in Hell," just without the well-crafted setting and tone.
Marking: For me, a major matter that marked 'The Devil You Know' as different from the other cycles of "B.P.R.D." was the constant time stamping of scenes. It fabricated the book experience fifty-fifty more militaristic than usual, but seeing the whole thing complete, I encounter its purpose a little better. The last stamp was before going into the final battle in #14. In the final result, it's gone, fifty-fifty though the outcome spans hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps fifty-fifty millions. The shift in storytelling makes us feel the old world is gone and makes everything that follows starkly different.
Brian: I had a similar thought, Mark. I had initially attributed it to the larger presence of Devon, a field agent, at the captain. His day to day in the Bureau was far more paramilitary or war machine than information technology was for sometime directors. But I think the time stamps also added to the overarching sense of dread and limited time that was intrinsic to this cycle.
Marker: I've said several times in by reviews, at that place's a disconnect between the style the series is written versus the monthly release format, and it hurts its readability.
Brian: Well said, though information technology's missing ane important piece, which is that this is attempting to say goodbye to the Hellboy Universe without really dealing with anyone other than Hellboy, who already got his send off. Information technology's a little fleck of The Render of the King and its nine endings.
Mark: I'd be inclined to say the contrary. Nosotros needed The Return of the Rex's structure, with its gradually shrinking endings from the larger fate of Middle-globe, down to the fates of the Elves and Men, to the fate of the fellowship, to the Hobbits, and so finally Frodo— "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know" #15 is The Lord of the Rings jumping straight from the Ring beingness destroyed to Frodo sailing away to Grey Havens. It's Hellboy's ending, and it's the catastrophe his story needed, just information technology'southward only Hellboy'south ending, which is a disservice to the rest of the series' cast.
Brian: I meant more in how many endings Hellboy himself got. His bodily expiry, "Hellboy in Hell," and now here. But yep, I'd like to have seen characters other than Hellboy become that handling.
Mark: Dorsum at the top of the Hyperborean Historic period, when Hecate offered up the knowledge of the workings of the Universal Machine, she was accused of corrupting the first race of human. She saw things differently: "I gave them knowledge. What they chose to practise with it… that was for men to decide." I recollect for a long time we've thought of Hecate as evil, but looking dorsum, she's only been what people have decided she is. I don't call up Hecate is evil; I think she's a reflection. And I call back that's why Hellboy'southward journey has been and so important, because whatever he brings to that final encounter with her, she will mirror, and it will shape the globe to come.
When they see, Hellboy goes to fight her and she asks, "This is how y'all want it to end?" Hellboy has e'er been a forcefulness of devastation, but he'due south also a force of creation. I've long maintained that this serial was non virtually escaping destiny, just rather choosing how to meet information technology. And here, it's securely satisfying to run across Hellboy choose to face this moment without violence.
Mike: I never considered that, and I think you've made some great points. Just to play devil'southward advocate, though, I see the bespeak of Hellboy accepting his cease without violence, merely what most Hecate? Crushing someone in an iron maiden is something that I think of as a pretty large human activity of violence.
Brian: Well, I think just because Hellboy chooses non-violence doesn't mean that others are making the same choice, nor should information technology matter. If we're post-obit Hellboy here, his decision is the one nosotros should intendance nigh.
Chris: I estimate it depends on what crushing Hellboy really represents. Does it mean Hecate killed Hellboy? I personally don't recall and then. I remember it means that 2 agents of modify (who are dualistically contrary) have merged, and by doing then released Hellboy'southward blood (which was something more than than blood) to create a new Eden. It's pretty nuts to recollect about. That leaves what happened to Hecate and Hellboy, which I think they exist in some form together and separate (in the Christian religious concept).
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Brian: It always felt to me that Hellboy wasn't going to avoid his destiny, but that information technology wasn't going to appear exactly as information technology was foretold, and that appears more than or less correct here. There's a lot of questions I take about Hellboy even so, just it is nice to see him substantially in death equally he was in life. We saw things in #14, like his horns growing out once again, which fits the prophecy, but here, he's more or less back to being the Hellboy we knew and loved. I assume that is to suggest that this Hellboy, in the trench glaze, with the shaved downwards horns, is who he really is.
Marking: That's kind of how I interpreted his eye coming back in one panel. The way he faces his catastrophe makes him whole once more. It'due south was a panel that stirred something sad inside me. Speaking of the art…
David: Yeah, nosotros take to talk about the art, both from the larger run of "B.P.R.D." and from this outcome. I wanted to offset with a little discussion about where Laurence Campbell ranks in the overall mural of artists who take contributed to this series, as in that location take been a lot of them. Campbell's work is typically nifty here—although my largest beefiness with him is, to a degree, some of his characters are difficult to differentiate at times—and I believe he ultimately closes the serial as #ii in terms of the amount of issues he provided art for in the series (finishing 10 behind original series artist Guy Davis).
Where would you rate Campbell in the pantheon of "B.P.R.D." artists? Annotation that I said "B.P.R.D.," not the larger Hellboy Universe, so Mignola and Duncan Fegredo are out. Here'due south my rankings, merely off the meridian of my caput:
1. Guy Davis, apparently
ii. James Harren, for his high highs more than than a sustained elevation
3. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, aforementioned reasoning every bit Harren
4. Campbell
5. Tyler Crook
Mike: Davis on superlative, no uncertainty. It'south a tight one, for sure, but I call up Campbell comes in third. And, of form, Dave Stewart deserves to be listed. I think he's going places.
Brian: I think I'd jump Campbell over the Twins, though I love their work, if merely considering at that place is and so piffling of it. Harren is my personal favorite of the bunch, but I remember that you would accept to consider Davis the top, obviously.
I will say this almost Campbell, though, which is that he might be the near versatile artist of the bunch. His piece of work has a fashion all of his own, but he can also practise a pretty convincing Mignola impression. His work seems to exist the about fluid, in terms of existence able to handle all the various needs of the Hellboy Universe. For that reason, he was a good creative person to have this all home.
Chris: I don't know that I can rank them. I call back each phase of the "B.P.R.D." comics as different feelings I had when reading them. 'Plague of Frogs' had an innocence/playfulness to it that whenever I see Guy Davis's fine art I get that same feeling. At the same time information technology's funny how I don't associate Guy Davis'southward art with 'Hell on Earth,' fifty-fifty though he was around at the beginning of it. 'Hell on World' had a hopelessness feeling to it equally everything continued in a downward screw, which I associate with Laurence Campbell'south art. This is not to say that the other 'Hell on Earth' artists weren't of import, but they are not part of the emotions I feel when in regards to the art.
Now I have no feelings as it relates to 'The Devil You Know,' and even though Campbell worked on most of the problems, his art didn't aid take the story to the next level for me. Its funny how that worked out.
Marker: I'm not much 1 for rankings (though Guy volition always be first). I'm much more interested in what the artists brought to the series. Given the space we have, I'll but focus on Campbell. For me, it'south his panel composition that consistently blows me abroad. The way he approaches a scene, emotion comes from the console and poses of characters, not and then much their facial expressions, so he'south specially skilful at getting emotion to read fifty-fifty in panels with full-body figures. He leaves a lot of room for Dave Stewart to have information technology to the next level as well, which is in part why I recollect his work transitions to Mike Mignola'due south pages equally seamlessly as it does. It's the combination of Stewart taking so much ownership of the art and the similar sensibilities betwixt Mignola and Campbell. There were so many panels in this outcome that I merely had to terminate and stare. I couldn't believe I was seeing that moment.
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David: Well, that's a perfect identify to look at this issue's surprise creative person: Mike Mignola. On one hand, it'due south a bit weird to become Mignola hither at the end of "B.P.R.D.," but that's hardly unprecedented—he contributed to 'King of Fear' #4, which was hugely of import to this issue, amongst other issues—but on the other, it makes sense. As noted elsewhere inside this review, this is as much the final chapter of Hellboy'southward story every bit it is the Bureau's. Who else should conclude this story but the man who birthed it all?
And, as much as I had a hard time with the outcome elsewhere, Mignola's work was remarkable as per usual. While there were some elements I could have used perchance a bit more clarity on (Liz's final action was conspicuously a lot of burn, but information technology was rather imprecise in typically Mignola style, for better or worse), there is something to be said about how quickly the tone of the issue shifts simply because of Mignola's presence on art. The pacing dials back. The mood heightens. Information technology has a unlike feel. At least visually, I tin't imagine this larger story ending in whatsoever other way. What did you lot all call up of Mignola's efforts here?
Marking: It just had to be Mignola. I mean, the scene with Liz is literally the same moment from 'King of Fear' #iv, but from Hellboy's point of view. I was completely blown abroad by those pages. But… jaw-hit-the-flooring diddled away. And then the blood flowing down the mount, turning into a river, and flowers, and insects… It reminded me of Ymir from Norse mythology, and how his torso became the world. It was chiliad, and sad, and cute all at once.
As for the final pages, Mignola says so piffling, considering we've been shown everything we needed to know already. This isn't new data, and then I loved that it went totally dialogue gratuitous and simply let us feel the passage of time through images. Unfortunately, it leans very heavily on imagery from "Frankenstein Undercover," then readers that haven't read that volume or take forgotten the details of information technology may be left scratching their heads.
Brian: This seems like the perfect encapsulation of who Mignola has become, artistically. Just ripping every unnecessary line from the page, and giving united states something elementary, beautiful, and profound. Despite my relative problems with what the images represented, I was blown away by the art that presented them.
David: Brian, Mark, I accept to address something that was a long running trope from my Mignolaversity contributions: my idea that Varvara would bear witness to not be actually bad. Marking ofttimes hemmed and hawed about this with his larger cognition of where things were going, and while it was kind of ultimately irrelevant, I do want to say that I call up in the long run—relative to the alternative!—I was correct! Possessed-past-a-demon Varvara was much better for the Bureau and the larger planet Earth than child-of-Rasputin Varvara, and with that in mind, I'grand calling it: I WAS RIGHT. Try and talk me out of this. I cartel you lot.
And I know this is a meager thing relative to everything else that transpired, only let me have this.
Brian: I must admit, I was thinking of you ofttimes when reading the Varvara stuff. I remember your pro-Varvara partisan stance fondly, even though I thought it silly at the fourth dimension. Turns out, I'yard the silly one.
Mark: David, I wouldn't want to talk yous out of information technology. I'd contend that Yomyael (the demon) was still bad, but they'd been inverse enough that they were capable of doing some good too. I like that.
Brian: Wrapping upwards, do whatever of yous have real interest about what comes next? Or is this a satisfying enough finale for us to go out on? I'k not talking about interest in things like future "Hellboy and the B.P.R.D." stories, but rather a continuation of this "story," either in terms of the folks hugger-mugger, the new age of man, or whatsoever celestial plane Hellboy is on if any.
David: Hard pass, to be honest. I'll explore the globe with the characters and everything else, but in terms of the larger story—if information technology continues, and it actually shouldn't—then that'southward a big fourth dimension no.
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Chris: I would like to think of this story every bit closed. Everything needs to end and keeping it open would dilute the storyline with Mignola "jumping the shark" with his Hellboy narrative.
Brian: I would think at least a few of united states of america already remember he has.
Mark: I imagine whatever follows, it won't involve the larger story. Mignola's created an entire fantasy earth at present, entirely cut-off the world we know, and so I figure whatever he does will be smaller, more playful stories. I can't aid but hope we'll have epilogue-like curt stories with Liz, Abe, Frankenstein and the survivors in the Hollow Earth—something more meditative and character based —anything to at to the lowest degree address the gaping holes in this narrative.
To exist honest, I'1000 not certain how to rank this issue, considering the oversights in this ending fall on the bug that preceded information technology, non on the issue itself. So I'm giving 2 scores. I'k giving this outcome a nine, but I'm giving the "B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know" serial a 6, and a hefty bulk of that goes to Laurence Campbell's amazing fine art and Dave Stewart's colors. The writing could be keen in bursts, but overall it was unfocused and lacked the character resonance that defines "B.P.R.D."
Chris: Well said, Marker. I also requite this issue a 9, and for the same reasons giving the unabridged series a 5.5.
David: Time to ruin the political party. While I appreciated how this comic worked off a whole lot that preceded it, even playing out sure story beats exactly equally we'd seen information technology before, that to me doesn't make a compelling narrative. I went back and read upward to remind myself of what was going on within this consequence, and that helped, but to me, if a narrative relies upon what preceded it to that degree, the unmarried consequence suffers for it. My immediate reaction was this issue a 5. Later on my refresher, I was leaning towards a vii. Let'due south dissever the difference and phone call it a 6 for the outcome and a 5 for the bicycle as a whole.
Mike: And now I will further ruin the political party! This wheel felt unnecessary and the series peradventure should've ended when Arcudi left.
Here'southward where I make upwards my own rules! I'm saying that both this issue and the cycle itself gets a 5 across the lath. All the same, if you strip the whole thing of its dialogue, leaving the art on its own, solid 9.
Brian: Since we are breaking rules left and right, I'll just re-create what Mike said. v for the cycle, 5 for the upshot, and ix for the art.
Final Verdict: half-dozen.8 – Say goodnight.
Final Thoughts on "B.P.R.D.":
David: Regardless of my thoughts on this single issue and where everything goes from here, I'm going to miss the cadre "B.P.R.D." story. I started reading it, bizarrely, when I checked out 'Garden of Souls,' the seventh volume of the story, out from the library. I had no thought what was going on. At that place were ancient people living in steampunk outfits. They thought the fish guy was their sometime buddy, Langdon. It was kind of crazy. But I loved information technology and wanted more. For seventeen years, they did just that, and ultimately, I ended up loving this series because no matter how dire things became, Abe, Liz, Johann, Kate, Roger, Daimio, Howards, Carla, Tian, and everyone else kept fighting. At that place'due south beauty in that. They became characters I loved in a shared universe that was the all-time i you lot could discover for its run. That's a heck of an accomplishment, and something that I concord in the highest of esteem from a lifetime of reading comics.
Chris: I am going to miss it besides. "B.P.R.D." is what pulled me into the Mignolaverse. A buddy had me read 'Plague of Frogs' and I was hooked. I fell in love with each of the characters and will never forget all of the emotions I had when any main character died. Especially Kate and Panya… I was but not prepared for that. The characters and the journey are what I will miss most of all. That and all of the fabulous artists that I was introduced to by reading this series. At that place has been pinnacle notch talent associated with this volume who have added a lot of value to this series.
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Mike: Smell ya afterward "B.P.R.D.," it'southward been a blast. And so many immense talents have touched this series, and I couldn't exist happier to have witnessed it all. Thanks.
Brian: I've been mourning the stop of this series since the annunciation that 'Hell on Earth' was coming to an end, so this seems similar a protracted and particularly boring goodbye. But that said, "B.P.R.D." is one of the most vital comics to my personal tastes and preferences. It had elements of the superhero squad dynamics that initially hooked me into comics when I was a wee lad, and so the book always made me feel a little nostalgic, in a weird way.
But more than anything else, I'm going to miss this. The Mignolaversity community is one of the things I'grand most proud of in my eight years at Multiversity, and I loved debating and exploring all of this with you lot guys. And then let'southward pick a new series to obsess over, and let'southward do this again in the future.
Marking: At that place is truly aught else like "B.P.R.D." in the Hellboy Universe. (I love that each series has its own unique identity.) It'south easy to betoken at all the big things that happened and say, "Read this book and see all the monsters and the end of the globe," but the moments that stick with me the most are the modest things. It's Liz complimenting Kate on her skirt, it's Johann happy to accept knuckles, information technology's Liz then happy to see Abe over again, it'south Panya and Kate holding hands (tears me upward but to recall of it)… This paired with the phenomenal writers and artists, all storytellers of the highest calibre, fabricated "B.P.R.D." special calendar month later on month for over fifteen years. The final credits page in the back was a nice tribute to everyone that had fabricated the volume possible and a reminder of what an incredible achievement the series is.
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Source: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/reviews/bprd-devil-you-know-15/
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