B.P.R.D. Omnibus, Volume 8

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #10-11, 14

by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Chris Roberson

The B.P.R.D. continues to lead the defense against the apocalyptic Ogdru Hem from Japan to America, as the team splits up and Kate is possessed.

Howards and a team of agents find themselves attempting to liberate a small town that holds secrets from Howard's Hyperborean past.

Elsewhere, B.P.R.D. field agent Ashley Strode attempts to purge a demon from a 100-year-old exorcist, setting her on a path to battling a demon who is kidnapping and eating children.

Collects B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Wings, The Broken Equation, Grind, Flesh and Stone, Exorcism, and The Exorcist.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Comic Book, Mystery, Dark Fantasy

416 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.

In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.

In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.

Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.

Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, the Hell of Earth series seems to be spinning its wheels, milking out every dollar it can before finishing this overall arc in the story. That being said, these smaller stories are still pretty great. I like that they focus on more of the unsung members of the BPRD and how they themselves are evolving. Given that half the world seems to be mutating into monsters, it makes sense that the BPRD would go to extreme measures to combat this. So seeing a member become an exorcist or another member devolving into a caveman after touching an ancient weapon make a kind of sense. I'm looking forward to picking up the closing volume of this story next.

[Maksym Karpovets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Поки найслабший том зі всієї серії. Загалом, це більше колекція спін-оффів, які побічно торкаються основних подій (які, до слова, ніяким чином не розвиваються). Зі всього найбільш варта уваги арка "Екзорцизм", де вводиться нова героїня Ешлі Строуд (хто пам'ятає, то вона колись вже з'являлась у серії як та, що захоплювалась талантом Ліз), здатна переміщатись у астральний світ із палаючим в руках мечем. Тепер маємо суттєвий перегин у жіночий бік (що добре), адже чоловічі персонажі або вже померли, або ще не померли. Є такі, які перебувають на межі вже довгий час. Варто відзначити також роботу Джеймса Гаррена, який блискуче впорався із покладеними на нього завданнями. Також з'являються нові монстри, до дизайну яких частково долучився Міньйола. Надіюсь, що останній том буде значно цікавіший, бо поки серія суттєво буксує і розраховує лише на увагу й любов своєї фан-бази.

[Václav · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4,8 of 5 for awesome story arcs from apocalyptic Hellboyverse)
I'm not much of a fan of early BPRD stories in general, I don't like the "agents of shield" dynamics. There are a few stories which I appreciated, but that wasn't enough to move the general opinion.
Hell on Earth changed that. I liked the 3rd omnibus, following the "chronologic" reading order I read Abe's Dark and Terrible, shadowing the same "event" setting and it was awesome and very atmospheric. I didn't expect that 4th Hell on Earth would match that, but I was wrong.
Japan Kaiju-styled story, possessed Kate, Howard's mystical hunt all awesome stories with great atmosphere extremely enjoyable to read. But The Exorcist was absolute bliss. Ashley Strode became a great character, with a cool backstory completely fitting the Hellboyverse spirit, is absolutely splendid. I'm a sucker for those mystery-hunters, that's why I love Hellboy, Baltimore, Witchfinder or from different sides for example Witcher or Constantine/Hellblazer. And The Exorcist mixes those right ingredients in excellent ratio. I would definitely go for Ashley Strode - The Exorcist series. Hellboy is dead, but she takes over his early paranormal detective & enforcer style seamlessly.

[Saif Saeed · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a bit weird to admit it but this is probably the volume where I can honestly say I didn't read this missing Hellboy and Abe and actually just plain liked the characters of BPRD and the hell world they live in.

I've kind of taken to reading BPRD as something that's Hellboy without Hellboy but this volume finally sold me on Ashley and Howard. Johann has always been good but pretty much every other character has felt pretty stale until now.

They Ashley stories are legitimately creepy, actually reminded me of some vintage Hellboy horror. The Howard stories are genuinely cool, and the action reminded me of how good action looks in Mignola style art. BPRD has felt kind of like a slog. It's been entertaining enough but the past two volumes have been actually pretty good but I'd like to see one of these Mignolaverse stories end eventually. Dark Horse couldn't possibly just keep pushing out books and putting Mignola's name on them and printing money, could they?

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que nivel !!!.

Una reunipon de historias muy potentes, en las que encontramos un correcto Lawrence Campbell dibujando una historia de posesión en la que destaca un Hellboy joven que se da cuenta cual va a ser su camino, mientras que Tyler Crook dibuja un apocalipsis en un pueblo perdido, en el que aparte de mounstruos inemnsos, hay un hongo que te crece y guacala, y el inmenso JAMES HARREN dibuja un a historia de espada y brujería en la que se mezcla nueva mente presente y pasado , con hechizos, sangre, espadas, con ese nivel intenso que nunca nos deja, y la cereza del helado es EXORCISMO y ECORCISTA , los dos especiales en los que encontramos aun personaje menor de una historia anterior y se convierte en un exorcista, a traves de un camino de valentia y miedo, con un arte hermoso de Cameron Stewart que se sale en cada viñeta y un Mike Norton que nos da una paginas preciosas aunque sus personajes tienen mas hombros que un jugador de la NFL.Lectura muy recomendada.

[Sohan Surag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why, but I absolutely loved this volume a bit more than the others. Somehow the change brought forth by plots revolving around some new amazing characters like Gall Dennar, Enos & Ashley Strode felt like a breath of fresh air. Both Gall & Ashley could use their own spin off series (if they're not already in the works ie) I'll be moving onto Abe Sapien Dark & Terrible Vol 2 and I am excited to learn how Hell on Earth arc will end.

[Ross Alon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

The quality is the same as the previous volume, but it seems to be spreading in too many directions, that probably be explained later. At this point, I do not really understand why we should follow the adventure of an exorcist, and how the hell people are living "normally" when it's freaking apocalypse outside.

Having said that, BPRD is still one of the greatest and distinct comic books I've ever read.

[Benedict Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm of a mixed bag on this period of the Hellboy universe, but I really enjoyed the Ashley Strode story (Exorcist) at the end of this volume and I'm still thinking about the coffee shop one earlier.

The plot connecting stuff is okay, but I really think Hellboy stuff shines best when it's in short story form.

[Zardoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like my Apocalypse to be nice and dark and volume 4 starts off strong. It was very telling seeing the most seasoned characters give up hope of survival as they continue to fight. But, the final part was out of place with this vibe and didn’t fit in well with the narrative.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Devil's Wings: A short story, taking place mostly in BPRD HQ, with flashbacks to the 40s. So we get to see a bit of Bruttenholm and young Hellboy, which is always nice. I've been a little frustrated with the side-stories in BPRD and the slow pace at which the main story progresses, but I like that most of the characters in this story are main Hellboy/BPRD characters, so at least we're seeing some character interaction and development.
The Broken Equation: Basically, a big old Japanese monster fight. I'm not sure if this is setting up anything for the future, or if it was just an excuse to do a BPRD spin on kaiju movies. Either way, it's a fun story with nice art, but it's definitely a side-story.
Grind: Another short story, and kind of a side-story. But it's a good one. We get to see a bit of Johann and Liz, and there's some developments in the overall story here. And we see a bit of what life in America is like in this "Hell on Earth" timeline, for "normal" folks, which we've seen very little of so far.
Flesh and Stone: This arc gets us back into the main storyline, with one main plot and a few subplots percolating away. We get a bunch of flashbacks to Howards' caveman timeline (or whatever you want to call it). Those are fun. It seems like they're building up Howards for some purpose.
Exorcism: Good little story, with nice art by Cameron Stewart. Again, definitely a side-story, but I guess part of the point of BPRD is to use it as a vehicle to tell little genre stories like this.
The Exorcist: This continues the story of Ashley Strode, from the previous story, with Mike Norton on art this time. I like the character, and it's a good story. There's no real tie-in to the main BPRD plot or characters, except maybe that we're getting some indications about what's going on in Hell, which might be pertinent at some point.
Overall: Enjoyable enough. Things are moving along pretty slowly. There's only one "Hell on Earth" volume left, so hopefully, a lot of stuff comes together in that one.

[Kyle Dinges · Rating 4 out of 5]

By this point, BPRD has fully shifted to the more soap opera, illusion of change format that we often see with other comic books. There a fewer Earth-changing developments than the early days, or even the previous volume. That's not to say it's bad, but it is different.

It helps that most of the stories here are strong and there's an outstanding roster of artists across the omnibus, highlighted by James Harren's always incredible work. You can see Arcudi and Harren starting to work out some proto Rumble ideas and I really loved it.

It's a good volume and there's plenty of bang for your buck if you're a BPRD fan. There's some heavier emphasis on character work over grand plot developments and it makes for a pretty interesting BPRD omnibus.

[Lacee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really loving this series but this volume is my least favorite so far. That's not to say this isn't quality work, it's pretty good. It just doesn't hold up compared to the epic scale of volume three, or the solid performances of volume one and two. This volume feels like filler, or more likely setup for the final volume. The exorcist story arc is the most compelling, though it didn't wow me. I still have high hopes for volume five, though I'm a little sad this series is coming to a close.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bprd is really gearing themselves up for something big, I think. My proof is that nothing really major happened in this volume.
And that's great. Give me more character wrap up, please!
Gall Dennar is a massively interesting plot point for me, and with his new power boost it feels like the Bureau finally stand a chance against the Ogdru-Hem. I also liked Rhodes getting her own spinoff of hauntings and exorcisms. She seems like she'll be another very useful member of the team!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More vignettes as the planet suffers the apocalypse. There isn't any major plot movement. Strong, character driven horror. Lots of exorcisms. There is a Hellboy appearance from 1949. My favorite was Flesh and Stone which follows Howard the BPRD agent/caveman as he is coming to terms with a life from two worlds.

[Luke Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're in full Kaiju apocalypse madness at this point and I'm super into it

[Philip James Ahlschlager · Rating 5 out of 5]

The roster of creators for HoE (and the whole Mignolaverse really) never ceases to amaze me.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, I am really just not loving Hell on Earth. This is now 4 omnibuses down and it just refuses to really build on itself. I'm sure a lot of these little side stories are going to matter by the finale, but on their own, most of them simply are not interesting. The original Plague of Frogs run of BPRD perfectly balanced propulsive, thrilling, episodic storytelling and a gradually building a mythos. That series took me from being a casual Mignolaverse fan to being a full-on devotee.

But then we get to Hell on Earth, which unfortunately feels a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe post Avengers: Endgame. The majority of the stories themselves are not given any real sense of urgency or stakes or character development, they all just feel like checking boxes and moving chess pieces being in preparation for a big finish.

This remains true in this volume. There are a few interesting stories ("Flesh and Stone" probably being the best), but the rest all just feel like treading water at best. To be honest, even "Flesh and Stone," as good as it is in filling out backstory, lacks any real sense of tension or drive. Literal hell on earth is all around these guys and the story might as well have the urgency of someone getting their annual physical. The more faceless goons get killed, the less I care about anything.

Then we've got "The Exorcist," which is a pretty confident name to give a subpar exorcism storyline. It's written incredibly amateurishly, with the main character describing every single thing she's looking at and thinking, out loud, all the time. I couldn't believe an editor let this thing slide.

In any case, I'm finally coming up on the end of this incredibly lackluster final stretch of the saga. I can't say I'd ever recommend anyone read this whole thing anymore, but it's also not terrible. Just can't hold a candle to its original glory.

[Nate]

“Exorcism” and “The Exorcist” are my favorite stories in this collection, and some of my favorites of Hell on Earth. New agent Ashley Strode seeks out Ota Benga (from B.P.R.D. 1947) for help exorcising a demon from a boy. Then she goes to a small town where kids are disappearing, encountering another demon there. These stories are well told, exciting, and a cool showcase for Strode, who has a good amount of character development here. Another reason I like these stories is because I’m a big fan of The Exorcist movie.

As for the rest of the book, “Grind” is another highlight. It’s a darkly funny yarn about a man in a town experiencing semi-normality. The other stories are decent, but they’re a bit convoluted. Honestly, this collection does feel like Mignola and co. are spinning wheels a bit until the finale, but there’s enough fun to be had that it’s not really a bother. This stuff is definitely better than the Abe Sapien stories going at the same time.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading about an apocalypse feels all the more relevant on the day I finished this, so yay for topicality. The strength and weakness of this volume is that it is divided up into shorter stories than most of the previous ones. I like having shorter plot arcs to digest, but it encouraged a start-and-stop approach to reading, pausing between sections, when I just wanted to push on and finish reading it since getting through this series has been such a long process. And the shorter stories also is disruptive to any meta-narrative or sense of unifying story. Interesting that in at least one of the sections one of the more gung-ho characters echoes my own speculation that the organization wasn't really confronting the problem the right way; it will be interesting to see if that is developed further.

[Jack Reickel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyler Crook and James Harren are *the* BPRD artists for me at this point, holy cow they're just blowing their peers out of the water. I like almost all of the art, Dark Horse/Mignola did a great job putting together these creative teams, but every time a chapter with art by either of those two guys starts, I get so hype.

[Damian Mxyzptlk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grind is probably one of the best stories in the Hell on Earth arc, and James Harren's art in Flesh and Stone is as kinetic and stunning as ever. Last, but not least, Ashley Strode! She's a fun character, I wish there was more about her to give her more backstory and personality.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another dead solid volume a the team is split up to take action against numerous events happening around the globe. My favourite story was Exorcism/The Exorcist, a real novel depiction that stands alone but completely fits with the rest of the book. I'm looking forward to continuing it.

[Héctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Iosif goodness.

I liked this book but it can be a little tiresome in the first stories; it gets better quickly though.

My favorite bits are the need with Iosif and the barbarian. The last exorcist stories are so so but they have potential.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate gets posessed, which has an incredible helicopter exploding splash page, and that they can still keep doing original and awesome scenes of destruction like that is saying something. Also: exorcism!

[Arlomisty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great comic... maybe not for everyone, but if you've been following the BPRD for a while it continues the storyline....

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth it for the excorcism story alone.

[Matt Maielli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the Howards and Ashley Strode diversions in this volume. The exorcism stories feel more like classic Hellboy, which is welcome amid all the giant, kaiju monster fights.

[Kael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing: 3
Art: 2.5

[Gabriele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the Exorcist chapters.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have already disclosed my thoughts on this series well enough in B. P. R. D. Hell on Earth Volume 1 and 2.