B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Monsters #1 cover

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Monsters is a new two-issue storyline featuring the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the B.P.R.D. or BPRD), the organization charged with protecting America and the rest of the world from the occult, paranormal and supernatural in the world of Hellboy, the long-running comic book universe created by Mike Mignola.

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Monsters #1 finds Liz Sherman (Hellboy’s #1 female) ensconced in a trailer park and living in a trailer with Jeb and Todd (apparently while the Bureau’s off fighting giant bat-eared beasts in Texas).  Liz is kicking hillbilly ass in that trailer park, but the darkness from which she’s trying to hide has also taking a liking to the white trash life.

THE LOWDOWN:  I have never read a B.P.R.D. comic book, not a single one, although I’ve been putting off doing so for years.  I started off with a good one in Hell on Earth: Monsters, although it didn’t start off that way.  After the first few pages, I was bored and thinking, “This is not real B.P.R.D. or Hellboy.”

The art by newcomer Tyler Crook captures the sense of impending boom and doom weaved by writers Mike Mignola and John Arcudi.  Crook’s drawing style, which has similarities to the styles of Kevin Huizenga and David Mazzuchelli, establishes Hell on Earth: Monsters as a story that takes place in a world like our own – earthy and even down and dirty, in which the supernatural is invading.  I like the fact that this seems more like Hellblazer dark fantasy than there’s-magic-around-every-corner fantasy.  This first issue also has a killer last act.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of Hellboy and of the B.P.R.D. will want B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Monsters, but so will readers who enjoy Vertigo’s dark and urban fantasy titles.

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