Hellboy and The BPRD: The Goddess of Manhattan [Dramatized Adaptation]

by Christopher Golden, Thomas E. Sniegoski

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Monsters, Americana, Audiobook, Superheroes, Paranormal

1 pages, MP3 CD

Published September 10, 2024

About the author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN has been called “the king of the horror-thriller.” The New York Times bestselling, multi-award-winning storyteller has made his mark in many mediums, as a writer of novels, screenplays, animation, audio dramas, and comics, and as an editor of landmark horror anthologies. His work has been published in dozens of languages around the world. Winner of the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Audie Award, he has been nominated for others, including the British Fantasy Award. His best-known novels include Road of Bones, The House of Last Resort, All Hallows, and his latest, Carry Me to My Grave. He lives in Massachusetts, where he watches too many movies and eats too much chocolate.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it really was third times the charm. After struggling through the first two of these Audio-dramas, I'm glad they finally figured out how to make them interesting. I really enjoyed listening to our three protags, they made it fairly clear they all had a long friendly history. My favourite bit had nothing to do with the big bad or Hellboy though, but the scene with Abe and his cab driver was the highlight of the book.

[Kumar K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked GraphicAudio's first venture into Hellboy, and found the Lobster spinoff to be OK. This story, however, lost a lot of steam and had too many repeated lines for my liking.

There is an old lady character, and I like her a lot. Unfortunately, her monologues really lack substance. She is sassy, uses her grand age to get to places, and believes all the monster stuff. The cops of New York are her foil, as they always want to take the bullet-studded path, and they always fail. Her knowledge of a doctor who makes a serum wins the day. But she gets a lot of screentime, or in this case, mic-time. Her reminiscing about old days speaks of how women weren't allow here and there, black folks got no respect, old folks are people too, etc. This ends up grading; most of the time, this doesn't tie back to the plot. I wish these rants were only used to demonstrate the differences between what she would do as a young woman vs what she can do now.

As another example: Hellboy joking about Liz's date was entertaining, though this gets old by the end, as well, because it's repeated with no development at all.

There is a monster ring-leader who turns good at the end, and her dialogue gets repetitive and grading as well because her pontifications about being a mind-controller aquatic lizard woman takes up a lot of time, with no conflict of the heart to keep us interested. The plot mostly being repetitions was generally bad. I wish the characters mistrusted one another more, had their own agendas, even some in-fighting between the heroes would have been better drama.

[Zachary Shaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The conclusion to this Hellboy Universe audio drama trilogy is an absolute triumph, a treat for newcomers and Mignolaverse PhD holders alike!!

This story serves as a sequel to Lobster Johnson: The Proteus Club, while also delivering on breadcrumbs first laid throughout Hellboy: Plague of Wasps. The result is a finale that makes this entire audio drama trilogy feel like one cohesive addition to the larger Hellboy mythology.

Hellboy, Liz, and Abe have always shared some of the best banter in comics, creating one of my favorite friend-group dynamics in all of fiction. Hearing the three of them together in an audio format was an absolute treat, and the voice actors capture their personalities and chemistry wonderfully.

Cynthia Tynan also returns, and much like in The Proteus Club, she absolutely steals the show, not an easy feat when you're standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman!!

An amazing conclusion to a series that left me strangely sentimental for the "simpler" days of the Hellboy Universe...

Simpler, of course, meaning combating an evil goddess beneath the streets of Manhattan!!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This takes place chronologically after "Lobster Johnson: The Proteus Club" although you can listen to it on it's own first and still understand what is going on. Plot threads from that one continue into this one but this one recaps and explains it all sufficiently. Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman all show up this time around. It's basically that crew versus evil monsters. The plot is pretty straightforward. The voice actors do a good job, but the sound effects during action scenes are a bit indistinct and for some reason thrashy metal guitar riffs are happening in the background. It's probably meant to add tension but in practice makes it harder to focus on what is happening and detracts from the experience. The ending is also very predictable. Nothing all that interesting happens. So it didn't feel bad overall exactly, but just leaves you wishing for more. The other two Graphic Audio Hellboy related titles are better.

[John Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great production values and a solid cast keep this audiobook moving along at a nice pace. I didn't find the story particularly memorable, which, given the audio only nature of this project, didn't grab me too hard. Mignola's artwork is such a crucial facet of Hellboy for me that I struggle to embrace these sorts of offshoots. I don't think it's bad by any stretch, it's just something I think you could skip and not miss anything earth shattering.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like these radio dramas. But as self-contained stories in the hellborn universe, they really read like empty soap operas. Maybe that's the point. The acting is great. The direction the sound production. Everything is solid but the stories are very light on substance and repetitive.

[Justin Aubin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always want Hellboy books to be great because the comics are so good but this is just "meh" as a story. Lots of narrative opportunities for adding complexity to the story but overall it goes exactly where it is expected to go.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

good, not great. rounded up from 3 1/2. will never complain about more Hellboy (in any medium)

[Matthew Parody · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow.
So good.
Very Neverwhere but also the Mignolaverse.
Loved it.

[Glennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to come

Love Hellboy and this one has Liz and Abe. Set in the 1990’s with a goddess coming back to take over the surface that Lobster Johnson and his crew had defeated in the past. Good quips and great cast made me miss that we didn’t get more Del Toro Hellboy films.