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B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know #1-3
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know Omnibus
The explosive conclusion to the B.P.R.D. series is collected in full! Lovecraftian monsters ravage an apocalyptic earth as the B.P.R.D. fights to save what little of humanity they can. But even Hellboy is not who he once was, and whether anyone survives Varvara and the long-awaited Ragna Rok remains to be seen.
Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and other familiar faces from the B.P.R.D. gather one last time to make a final stand for humanity.
Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie and brilliantly rendered by artists Laurence Campbell, Christopher Mitten, and Mignola himself, this book collects the end of the B.P.R.D. as we know it.
Collects
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know – Volume 1: Messiah
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know – Volume 2: Pandemonium
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know – Volume 3: Ragna Rok
Bonus material
Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and other familiar faces from the B.P.R.D. gather one last time to make a final stand for humanity.
Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie and brilliantly rendered by artists Laurence Campbell, Christopher Mitten, and Mignola himself, this book collects the end of the B.P.R.D. as we know it.
Collects
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know – Volume 1: Messiah
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know – Volume 2: Pandemonium
B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know – Volume 3: Ragna Rok
Bonus material
432 pages, Hardcover
Published March 23, 2021
20 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Mike Mignola
1,883 books2,512 followersMike 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
July 3, 2022
A decent ending to the tales about B.P.R.D. and its most infamous member Hellboy, this is the complete collection of comics in one trade Paperback that tells the end tale, the RAGNAROK, basically what Hellboy his life was aimed at somehow.
The story is excellent and at times surprising and the art was grand as mostly is the case. It is not advised for new readers, why start at the end when you best start at the beginning. I have not read everything with Hellboy but I can get most of it and really enjoyed the story and felt somewhat satisfied at the end of this comic. Even if there are chapters I have yet to read but I think that by accident read the most important chapters which made me really appreciate this chapter of the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. tales.
For Hellboy fans mostly.
The story is excellent and at times surprising and the art was grand as mostly is the case. It is not advised for new readers, why start at the end when you best start at the beginning. I have not read everything with Hellboy but I can get most of it and really enjoyed the story and felt somewhat satisfied at the end of this comic. Even if there are chapters I have yet to read but I think that by accident read the most important chapters which made me really appreciate this chapter of the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. tales.
For Hellboy fans mostly.
January 24, 2025
Finally. After 25 years of Hellboy, BPRD and the various titles that relate, we are at the end. This is it! The finale! We all thought Hellboy in Hell was the end of the line. That spectacular and intimate book provided a conclusion that we all thought we deserved so this book has a lot to live up to in order to top it as a satisfying conclusion.
And... Well... It's just kind of okay?
The art is fantastic as usual, providing some of Mignola's classic artwork as a surprise sprinkle of flair near the end. It's dynamic and dark with colours that shift well to show the stakes as they grow and the antagonist's shift in character.
That's all fine and dandy.
It's the writing that is really... Like, REALLY bad.
Not the story, specifically, but the writing.
Like, put yourself in the Mignola-team's shoes for a second and think about this. You have been building to this for over two decades. You have over 60 tpbs on the market, 3 movies, a handful of omnis and are reprinting books every few years due to retailer demand. These things are SELLING OUT, you guys are on fire. Mignola has become psunonomous with independent books and Hellboy is a household name. What's more, BPRD, the gamble-series that had to take the reigns while Hellboy was out of commission, has succeeded with flying colours. Under Mignola's guidance, John Arcudi has created close to 30trades worth of dynamic and fun stories that are flying off the shelves. Arcudi has a firm grasp on the characters and has taken some payed-off risks in storytelling that made the series what it is today.
Now it's the endgame. The big one. The final volume that you guys need to stick harder than any book before it because it's the one you've been leading to for over 20 years. So, you gather your team, look everybody over and take a moment to figure out who will write this pivotal moment in Hellboy history.
And you pick...
Scott Allie? The editor who has been slogging through a terribly-received Abe Sapien series and was recently accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace? That guy?
Dark Horse... What the fuck, guys?
This was such a disastrous writing decision. His personal life aside, Allie has proven to be a terrible writer through his career, and this book is among his worst. The story ideas have already been credited to Mignola, so we can't even give his props on that. The dialogue is all over the place with characters assuming conversations without them actually occuring, settings and scenes breaking up halfway through a page, leaving the reader disjointed and the scenes feeling half-finished. And the worst of it all, Hellboy is not even utilized in this book. He's resurrected for the end times, as has been predicted since the beginning, only to mope on an airship, saying two sentences to a couple characters, not consoling, not guiding, not even fighting for 3/4 of the book. He literally stands in the background and makes more of an impact through a psychic vision than he does in the final battle. Scott, you are killing our boy!
Oh and about that battle. Why did it have to be Rasputin? And if it's for some story reasons outside of the main series that somehow I missed, why build up Varvara for a decade only to pull the rug out from under us in the final three issues? AND, why was the final battle so anticlimactic? Rasputin already won, no? Ragnarok has started. Hellboy and him punch it out for two pages and then he breaks his neck.
Rasputin dies from a broken neck. The man who was stabbed, burnt alive, drowned and crushed as a man, only to survive; becomes the living embodiment of the devil, a vessel of the great dragon, and dies of a broken neck.
Strange, strange, strange.
Anyways I'm done talking about this. I'm probably going to just hang onto my Hellboy in Hell books and pretend that the series ended there, otherwise I'll bring up these feelings of disappointment every time I look at my bookshelf.
2/5, a whisper of an end for an otherwise fantastic world.
And... Well... It's just kind of okay?
The art is fantastic as usual, providing some of Mignola's classic artwork as a surprise sprinkle of flair near the end. It's dynamic and dark with colours that shift well to show the stakes as they grow and the antagonist's shift in character.
That's all fine and dandy.
It's the writing that is really... Like, REALLY bad.
Not the story, specifically, but the writing.
Like, put yourself in the Mignola-team's shoes for a second and think about this. You have been building to this for over two decades. You have over 60 tpbs on the market, 3 movies, a handful of omnis and are reprinting books every few years due to retailer demand. These things are SELLING OUT, you guys are on fire. Mignola has become psunonomous with independent books and Hellboy is a household name. What's more, BPRD, the gamble-series that had to take the reigns while Hellboy was out of commission, has succeeded with flying colours. Under Mignola's guidance, John Arcudi has created close to 30trades worth of dynamic and fun stories that are flying off the shelves. Arcudi has a firm grasp on the characters and has taken some payed-off risks in storytelling that made the series what it is today.
Now it's the endgame. The big one. The final volume that you guys need to stick harder than any book before it because it's the one you've been leading to for over 20 years. So, you gather your team, look everybody over and take a moment to figure out who will write this pivotal moment in Hellboy history.
And you pick...
Scott Allie? The editor who has been slogging through a terribly-received Abe Sapien series and was recently accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace? That guy?
Dark Horse... What the fuck, guys?
This was such a disastrous writing decision. His personal life aside, Allie has proven to be a terrible writer through his career, and this book is among his worst. The story ideas have already been credited to Mignola, so we can't even give his props on that. The dialogue is all over the place with characters assuming conversations without them actually occuring, settings and scenes breaking up halfway through a page, leaving the reader disjointed and the scenes feeling half-finished. And the worst of it all, Hellboy is not even utilized in this book. He's resurrected for the end times, as has been predicted since the beginning, only to mope on an airship, saying two sentences to a couple characters, not consoling, not guiding, not even fighting for 3/4 of the book. He literally stands in the background and makes more of an impact through a psychic vision than he does in the final battle. Scott, you are killing our boy!
Oh and about that battle. Why did it have to be Rasputin? And if it's for some story reasons outside of the main series that somehow I missed, why build up Varvara for a decade only to pull the rug out from under us in the final three issues? AND, why was the final battle so anticlimactic? Rasputin already won, no? Ragnarok has started. Hellboy and him punch it out for two pages and then he breaks his neck.
Rasputin dies from a broken neck. The man who was stabbed, burnt alive, drowned and crushed as a man, only to survive; becomes the living embodiment of the devil, a vessel of the great dragon, and dies of a broken neck.
Strange, strange, strange.
Anyways I'm done talking about this. I'm probably going to just hang onto my Hellboy in Hell books and pretend that the series ended there, otherwise I'll bring up these feelings of disappointment every time I look at my bookshelf.
2/5, a whisper of an end for an otherwise fantastic world.
May 13, 2021
The end of 25 years worth of Hellboy, this is an emotional send off to the survivors of Hell on Earth. Varvara snags a vacant spot to finally become the central villain, and we get to end the series with the same trio that started Hellboy, albeit more battered, bruised, and disheartened than their first appearance. It's a nice little bookend for the series. To my recollection, any major characters who didn't already die during Hell on Earth (and some that did or have been dead for much longer) make appearances. And since this is Hellboy, no punches are pulled. Also Hellboy is back for the very end.
Endings are hard, and it does stumble in these last issues. Compared to the world ending threat of the Ogdru Jahad, it took me a while to take Varvara and her plan to bring all the demons from Hell to Earth seriously. We also get the story behind Varvara/Yomyael...which feels uninspired but did surprise me. For at least the third time in this series, New York City is the backdrop for climactic showdowns and it's getting stale. The Devil You Know also acknowledges the series' tantalizing question of what happened to the vampires...and then proceeds to both leave that thread unanswered and do nothing important with it. The early issues of this arc manage to be confusing/slow, and there are some sequences throughout the collection where the normally stellar art is unclear and I wasn't sure what was going on.
So I'm happy with the series and how it ended, but it would be remiss to ignore it's missteps.
Endings are hard, and it does stumble in these last issues. Compared to the world ending threat of the Ogdru Jahad, it took me a while to take Varvara and her plan to bring all the demons from Hell to Earth seriously. We also get the story behind Varvara/Yomyael...which feels uninspired but did surprise me. For at least the third time in this series, New York City is the backdrop for climactic showdowns and it's getting stale. The Devil You Know also acknowledges the series' tantalizing question of what happened to the vampires...and then proceeds to both leave that thread unanswered and do nothing important with it. The early issues of this arc manage to be confusing/slow, and there are some sequences throughout the collection where the normally stellar art is unclear and I wasn't sure what was going on.
So I'm happy with the series and how it ended, but it would be remiss to ignore it's missteps.
October 23, 2021
Welp, there it is! The big ender! The new race of man, as we've known since the beginning, come to rise! It was really interesting to see the ending we were told we'd have right at the beginning of the story play out before our eyes. He told us what we were gonna get and we got it. And ouch, kind of? But also it's kind of refreshing, these characters have been going through so much for so long and it felt really good to see the last panel say 'The End'.
July 16, 2024
(4,4 of 5 for the end of Hellboyverse timeline)
And the finale is here. There might, is and will be more stories from Hellboyverse, but this is the end of its timeline. I think there is room for more stories from further down, but these boundaries feel nice and tidy and give the Hellboyverse a nice frame. To the Devil You Know itself - it's great. I described my reservations about Campbell's art before, but that's still a personal preference, I would wish somebody else but this also works fine. As always avoiding spoilers, there is little to say, except it's good. It's not a pompous finale and I love that. Everybody feels exhausted, and apathetic, sleeves off as the long and terrible apocalypse has taken a toll on everybody. So the final battle feels like another necessity and it just changes the flow of things a little, because it's bigger than the world.
Anyway, I'm satisfied enough by it and I' 'm happy the whole thing feels homogenous, sufficient to give one "lively and complex" world. Hellboyverse is definitely one of the best things the world of comics has.
And the finale is here. There might, is and will be more stories from Hellboyverse, but this is the end of its timeline. I think there is room for more stories from further down, but these boundaries feel nice and tidy and give the Hellboyverse a nice frame. To the Devil You Know itself - it's great. I described my reservations about Campbell's art before, but that's still a personal preference, I would wish somebody else but this also works fine. As always avoiding spoilers, there is little to say, except it's good. It's not a pompous finale and I love that. Everybody feels exhausted, and apathetic, sleeves off as the long and terrible apocalypse has taken a toll on everybody. So the final battle feels like another necessity and it just changes the flow of things a little, because it's bigger than the world.
Anyway, I'm satisfied enough by it and I' 'm happy the whole thing feels homogenous, sufficient to give one "lively and complex" world. Hellboyverse is definitely one of the best things the world of comics has.
May 18, 2023
Well.... That's it, the end of the series. Or well the end of the first phase of the series, the end of the old world. I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I love the development for Liz and that ending, as bittersweet as I expected but on the other hand it's no where near as good as it could have been, as good as it should be. Why didn't Mike write it? He should have. It loses something that he didn't. I don't know. I don't even know if in disappointed or not. Fuck me, why does it have to be so complicated, why couldn't it just be. great. 5 stars. done.
I guess that's just how life is, always complicated.
I guess that's just how life is, always complicated.
July 3, 2021
“This one’s gonna hurt, isn’t it?”
25 years of grand comic world-building and it all ends here — not too shabby. It’s just a blast seeing all these seemingly disparate stories finally pay off in a finale that Mignola pretty much had planned out from the jump. Only real complaint is that there are one too many drop-ins or cutaways to characters or storylines that I had basically forgotten about — and then end here with a whimper.
25 years of grand comic world-building and it all ends here — not too shabby. It’s just a blast seeing all these seemingly disparate stories finally pay off in a finale that Mignola pretty much had planned out from the jump. Only real complaint is that there are one too many drop-ins or cutaways to characters or storylines that I had basically forgotten about — and then end here with a whimper.
September 30, 2021
Overall I think it was a fitting way to end the series. I was not expecting one particular group to make a power play like that so that kinda was foreshadowed but still surprised me! Every character had their arc fulfilled. I am hoping there are more stories out there but if it ends like this I am well satisfied.
December 31, 2024
Ok, now someone give us a faithful television adaptation of the entire series from Hellboy issue one to this. Done right, it could be one of the greatest of all time.
I was mostly very satisfied with this conclusion. It had some clunky moments in the writing, but it looked great, pulled no punches, and all the important characters got their last shining moments (except Abe. He deserved more).
The climax felt a bit rushed, but I thought the story beats were all a lot of fun. Start to finish, this has been my favorite comic series, and I’m glad I got to see a (mostly) satisfying conclusion.
I was mostly very satisfied with this conclusion. It had some clunky moments in the writing, but it looked great, pulled no punches, and all the important characters got their last shining moments (except Abe. He deserved more).
The climax felt a bit rushed, but I thought the story beats were all a lot of fun. Start to finish, this has been my favorite comic series, and I’m glad I got to see a (mostly) satisfying conclusion.
July 7, 2021
Every time i pick up a B.P.R.D book i think it will be the last, and this is kind of a last one, there are more stories coming about the BPRD and Hellboy no worries, but this is what Mike Mignola and his crew been working too for 25 years, and it is a ending that has been foreshadowed since Seed of Destruction. Its nearly imposible not to spoil things here, so i remain a little vague. We see the hardcore crew back with Liz, Hellboy and Ape Sapien and that already is a blessure. Alot of writers and artists return to do some work and even Mike Mignola, my mouth fell open when i flipped a page and saw his pages. This last volume is so fast paced it feels rushed at times, and all the characters that make a appellante does not help. Its cool though! But it feels a bit messy at times. But you also have that feel of importance and dread, and when your getting to the end your reading like a maniak fully emmersed in the story. There are not many that can convey this kind of feelings to me in a comic, but Hellboy/BPRD is one that can do that for me. All in all a good send-off
⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
July 14, 2021
That's a wrap folks. Hellboy is over. It ended with a bang and a whimper. Halfway through this book, I figured it was foretelling an ending. And it did. I loved it and hated it, finally having an answer and a finale is great, but it was a little weird. Characters I'd been reading for decades were gone, even Hellboy was a shadow of his former self. It was well done but not perfect. It's weird to say this about a book that's taken over 20 years to tell it's tale, but the ending felt rushed. I feel like Mignola and many others were exhausted of telling the story by now and pushed to have it over. I don't know that I could recommend this book to anyone but the most diehard of Hellboy fans but it was great.
April 4, 2022
I'm still a little choked up here having just finished the book. It's a bittersweet goodbye, I'm sad it's all over, but I'm also overjoyed that it ended so well. Mysteries cleared up. Characters said farewell too. Everyone dies, but the world is renewed in the blood of Hellboy. I've been reading Hellboy since it's first inception, since it was an amusing little mini-comic handed out at convention, since then it has become a staple of my reading diet and I still cannot believe it's all over. Yet, I'm glad it happened. Rest in Peace, Hellboy.
March 28, 2021
Where so much of BPRD felt like being in a whirlpool - going around and around and ever downward, repeating the same story beats with fewer smiles every time - the finale is a suitably epic, tragic end to the 20-year Hellboy saga. The fire, punching and Lovecraftian chanting feels earned here, because there's some reason to keep fighting. Like any post-apocalyptic series, BPRD went on too long, but unlike most of them, it ends with style, more Hellboy than Plague of Frogs.
June 21, 2021
I really loved the scale of this saga and the events in this volume. I wish (again) that it was longer, because the authors don't seem to have time to stop and slow down the time in action scenes, so reading feels at times like watching a movie in fast forward. That's my general gripe with American comics though. The story I liked quite a bit, though in retrospect some of it appears like just trying to tie loose ends that makes me wish more time was spent on this.
March 27, 2022
I don't even know what to say. I've been reading Hellboy since I was like 15 and I finally got to the end. Thankfully I still have lots of leftover odds and ends to mop up, so my time with this world isn't actually over. But it feels monumental to get here. I love comics so much, and this one was my first love. Had a great time seeing it all come together like this.
January 28, 2025
I sit here, having finally finished the massive, 25-year run of Hellboy/BPRD stories, completely devastated by the final climax. Devastated that it could've been so poorly handled, fumbled so gloriously at the 1-yard-line, limping towards its end with some of the worst writing I have ever seen in a comic. Genuinely, Scott Allie should've been banned from ever writing a comic book again simply by how badly he handled this (but instead he got banned from ever writing a comic book again because he's a huge piece of abusive shit. Something I only discovered when Googling why the hell he was allowed to write this!).
Allie has absolutely no idea how to write a comic book. Every single panel of this thing is confusing, with too many characters talking, often not even about the same things. You can't sense a conversation in this book. And his idea of "conflict" is just "characters screaming at each other." Everyone in every scene is always furious with each other. It's so annoying. Truly, this moron's writing grates on my nerves every time a character opens their mouths.
Then, the characters themselves. They're non-existent. This is the grand finale of decades of buildup for Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and Hellboy. Instead of spending time with them and getting into their heads (something John Arcudi was excellent at), we just have them kind of stand around moping, not saying anything that isn't commenting on something we can already see, and then just sort of topple into a final battle with no agency or drive. God this made me so mad.
Then there's the plot itself. For about the first 8-10 issues of this eternal slog, nothing happens. Nothing of consequence whatsoever. Just people walking around, mumbling, looking stupid. Sure, a bunch of monsters are attacking people, but that's been happening for 6 omnibuses at this point. None of it feels new or larger than the dragon the size of the damn moon they fought in the previous book.
Then, after those 10 issues or whatever, we get a Big Fat Twist. And it is stupid, y'all. Extremely unearned and unsatisfying hogwash. And then, rather than try to even live in this new status quo, it's all just treated with a shrug as Hellboy and the others go off to stumble into another fight that feels absolutely no different from the others. Liz and Abe's stories wrap up with such suddenness and lack of feeling that I could barely tell they ended. Luckily, Hellboy gets more attention (and some stellar pages from Mignola himself), but it's too late. Allie has already destroyed this series by the end, doing more damage to the world of Hellboy than any of the Ogrdu Jahad could ever hope to.
Honestly, this is depressing. I loved this series so much. Used to tell people it was my favorite of all time. But everything post Plague of Frogs has felt like a giant waste of time, and this volume just proves that it was. I will definitely never re-read this. It's too infuriating, feels too much like it's stomping on my friend's throat.
Endings are rarely going to be fully satisfying. They require you to say goodbye to something you've cared about, potentially for years. But they can be a LOT better than this shit. They don't need to be perfect. But they do need to have empathy and emotion and depth and a sense of closure. This feels like reading someone's soulless outline. A true grocery list.
Thanks for nothing, Scott Allie!
Allie has absolutely no idea how to write a comic book. Every single panel of this thing is confusing, with too many characters talking, often not even about the same things. You can't sense a conversation in this book. And his idea of "conflict" is just "characters screaming at each other." Everyone in every scene is always furious with each other. It's so annoying. Truly, this moron's writing grates on my nerves every time a character opens their mouths.
Then, the characters themselves. They're non-existent. This is the grand finale of decades of buildup for Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and Hellboy. Instead of spending time with them and getting into their heads (something John Arcudi was excellent at), we just have them kind of stand around moping, not saying anything that isn't commenting on something we can already see, and then just sort of topple into a final battle with no agency or drive. God this made me so mad.
Then there's the plot itself. For about the first 8-10 issues of this eternal slog, nothing happens. Nothing of consequence whatsoever. Just people walking around, mumbling, looking stupid. Sure, a bunch of monsters are attacking people, but that's been happening for 6 omnibuses at this point. None of it feels new or larger than the dragon the size of the damn moon they fought in the previous book.
Then, after those 10 issues or whatever, we get a Big Fat Twist. And it is stupid, y'all. Extremely unearned and unsatisfying hogwash. And then, rather than try to even live in this new status quo, it's all just treated with a shrug as Hellboy and the others go off to stumble into another fight that feels absolutely no different from the others. Liz and Abe's stories wrap up with such suddenness and lack of feeling that I could barely tell they ended. Luckily, Hellboy gets more attention (and some stellar pages from Mignola himself), but it's too late. Allie has already destroyed this series by the end, doing more damage to the world of Hellboy than any of the Ogrdu Jahad could ever hope to.
Honestly, this is depressing. I loved this series so much. Used to tell people it was my favorite of all time. But everything post Plague of Frogs has felt like a giant waste of time, and this volume just proves that it was. I will definitely never re-read this. It's too infuriating, feels too much like it's stomping on my friend's throat.
Endings are rarely going to be fully satisfying. They require you to say goodbye to something you've cared about, potentially for years. But they can be a LOT better than this shit. They don't need to be perfect. But they do need to have empathy and emotion and depth and a sense of closure. This feels like reading someone's soulless outline. A true grocery list.
Thanks for nothing, Scott Allie!
August 29, 2021
Twarda gustowna oprawa albumu BBPO. Znany diabeł skrywa piętnaście zeszytów będących finałem całej długiej i wspaniałej historii. Przedstawiony tutaj świat pomimo pokonania wielkiego niebezpieczeństwa, nadal znajduje się na granicy zagłady. Potworne siły dalej pustoszą naszą planetę, a agenci tytułowego Biura Badań Paranormalnych i Obrony walczą, aby ocalić jak najwięcej ludzkich istnień. Jest to heroizm skazany z góry na porażkę, ale nikt nie będzie się poddawał. Jedyną nadzieją dla garstki ocalałych wydaje się odnalezienie schronienia głęboko pod ziemią. Ostatnia ostoja ludzkości musi więc być broniona za wszelką cenę. Nie będzie to jednak łatwe, biorąc pod uwagę kruche siły BBPO. Nawet pomoc powracającego do akcji „piekielnego chłopca”, może nie wystarczyć na zbliżający się ostateczny Armagedon.
Koniec długiej historii to również powrót starych „weteranów”, którzy byli jedną z głównych sił napędowych całej serii. Teraz bardziej doświadczeni, o wiele mocniej świadomi swoich słabych i mocnych stron oraz piekielnie zmęczeni nieustającą „walką”, będą musieli kolejny raz wykrzesać z siebie nowe pokłady energii. Mignola i jego współpracownicy na przestrzeni tych wszystkich lat, wielokrotnie pokazali, że potrafią idealnie łączyć ciekawe postacie z równie świetną fabułą. Kolejne wydawane części zaskakiwały czytelnika nowymi wątkami i masą naprawdę interesującej akcji. W tym albumie cała ta historia otrzymuje swoje zwieńczenie. Każdy nawet najdrobniejszy detal komiksu, ma tutaj swoje znaczenie i kieruje czytelnika w kierunku pożądanych odpowiedzi. Całościowo zaprezentowana tutaj historia jest więc bardzo dynamiczna i nadal potrafi w niektórych momentach miło zaskoczyć.
Jest jednak pewne ale… Próba uporządkowania wszystkich napoczętych przez te lata wątków, na dość ograniczonej ilości miejsca oznacza konieczność pójścia na pewno ustępstwa. Chociażby nie wiem jak mocno autor się starał, nie da się stworzyć perfekcyjnego zakończenia, biorąc pod uwagę ograniczoną liczbę stron jaka była do jego dyspozycji. Niestety, ale powoduje to, że akcja mknie tutaj błyskawicznie do przodu. W pewnych fragmentach można uznać to nawet za zaletę. Pojawiają się w historii jednak sceny, kiedy to scenariusz wręcz prosi się o lekkie zwolnienie i mocniejsze skupienie się na rozterkach bohaterów. Mignola i Allie nie mogą sobie jednak pozwolić na taki komfort. Kończy się to tym, że niektóre sceny nie są do końca takie jak mogłoby się od nich oczekiwać. Dodatkowo przeskakiwanie pomiędzy miejscami akcji wprowadza czasem lekki chaos (nawet dla wielkich fanów).
Niczego złego nie można za to napisać na temat warstwy wizualnej komiksu, która kolejny raz prezentuje się wyśmienicie. Na największą uwagę moim zdaniem zasługują tutaj prace Campbella (ocena mocno subiektywna), który stawia na mroczny i twardy styl, który idealnie pasuje do apokaliptycznej treści scenariusza.
Pozostaje więc najważniejszym pytaniem – czy mamy tu do czynienia z doskonałym zwieńczeniem kultowego dzieła? Odpowiedź nie będzie jednoznaczna. Do perfekcjonizmu bowiem tutaj trochę zabrakło, nadal jest to jednak świetne zakończenie, które powinno zadowolić naprawdę spore grono fanów Hellboya i Mignoli.
https://gameplay.pl/news.asp?ID=132525
Koniec długiej historii to również powrót starych „weteranów”, którzy byli jedną z głównych sił napędowych całej serii. Teraz bardziej doświadczeni, o wiele mocniej świadomi swoich słabych i mocnych stron oraz piekielnie zmęczeni nieustającą „walką”, będą musieli kolejny raz wykrzesać z siebie nowe pokłady energii. Mignola i jego współpracownicy na przestrzeni tych wszystkich lat, wielokrotnie pokazali, że potrafią idealnie łączyć ciekawe postacie z równie świetną fabułą. Kolejne wydawane części zaskakiwały czytelnika nowymi wątkami i masą naprawdę interesującej akcji. W tym albumie cała ta historia otrzymuje swoje zwieńczenie. Każdy nawet najdrobniejszy detal komiksu, ma tutaj swoje znaczenie i kieruje czytelnika w kierunku pożądanych odpowiedzi. Całościowo zaprezentowana tutaj historia jest więc bardzo dynamiczna i nadal potrafi w niektórych momentach miło zaskoczyć.
Jest jednak pewne ale… Próba uporządkowania wszystkich napoczętych przez te lata wątków, na dość ograniczonej ilości miejsca oznacza konieczność pójścia na pewno ustępstwa. Chociażby nie wiem jak mocno autor się starał, nie da się stworzyć perfekcyjnego zakończenia, biorąc pod uwagę ograniczoną liczbę stron jaka była do jego dyspozycji. Niestety, ale powoduje to, że akcja mknie tutaj błyskawicznie do przodu. W pewnych fragmentach można uznać to nawet za zaletę. Pojawiają się w historii jednak sceny, kiedy to scenariusz wręcz prosi się o lekkie zwolnienie i mocniejsze skupienie się na rozterkach bohaterów. Mignola i Allie nie mogą sobie jednak pozwolić na taki komfort. Kończy się to tym, że niektóre sceny nie są do końca takie jak mogłoby się od nich oczekiwać. Dodatkowo przeskakiwanie pomiędzy miejscami akcji wprowadza czasem lekki chaos (nawet dla wielkich fanów).
Niczego złego nie można za to napisać na temat warstwy wizualnej komiksu, która kolejny raz prezentuje się wyśmienicie. Na największą uwagę moim zdaniem zasługują tutaj prace Campbella (ocena mocno subiektywna), który stawia na mroczny i twardy styl, który idealnie pasuje do apokaliptycznej treści scenariusza.
Pozostaje więc najważniejszym pytaniem – czy mamy tu do czynienia z doskonałym zwieńczeniem kultowego dzieła? Odpowiedź nie będzie jednoznaczna. Do perfekcjonizmu bowiem tutaj trochę zabrakło, nadal jest to jednak świetne zakończenie, które powinno zadowolić naprawdę spore grono fanów Hellboya i Mignoli.
https://gameplay.pl/news.asp?ID=132525
July 13, 2024
What a disjointed mess this was. It's like a bad trailer to a bad movie. The scenes and dialogue change suddenly and constantly, and with no context. You have to be a professor in BPRD to know every character and place. I don't care much for any of these characters, and this doesn't help them at all. Just to top it off, multiple dialogues go on at the same time - within the same shots. People seem to like this, and I can't say why
The redeeming qualities are that the art was pretty good, and that the stakes are really high. Also, it's good to get an ending to this whole thing. Oh and Mignola drew a few pages in the middle, which was really nice to see. I wish he would participate a lot more in this. Also, the ending does leave potential for interesting stories to be explored. I just hope they are mostly about new characters and from new creators
Can't help but feeling disappointed as I was looking forward to this ever since reading the last Hellboy library ed. I wasn't very surprised though, since I haven't enjoyed BPRD as much. If you judge by the average score, it does seem that people enjoy this as much as everything else though (it seems everything gets a 4/5, no matter what it is), so if you have enjoyed BPRD it's of course a no brainer to see it through
The redeeming qualities are that the art was pretty good, and that the stakes are really high. Also, it's good to get an ending to this whole thing. Oh and Mignola drew a few pages in the middle, which was really nice to see. I wish he would participate a lot more in this. Also, the ending does leave potential for interesting stories to be explored. I just hope they are mostly about new characters and from new creators
Can't help but feeling disappointed as I was looking forward to this ever since reading the last Hellboy library ed. I wasn't very surprised though, since I haven't enjoyed BPRD as much. If you judge by the average score, it does seem that people enjoy this as much as everything else though (it seems everything gets a 4/5, no matter what it is), so if you have enjoyed BPRD it's of course a no brainer to see it through
March 2, 2024
BPRD: Hell On Earth ended with a bang. The Devil You Know is more of a whimper, but it’s a fitting end for the most part.
I’m not quite sure who is to blame, but the storytelling in this series takes a nose dive. I have read the entirety of BPRD in the last year, and I even found myself confused on several pages. It’s a bummer and distracting, but the end does come together, largely because Mignola does the art for the final bit. Tim Sale even comes in for a few pages, which was an amazing treat.
Even with the slight stumble at the finish line, the story is given a satisfying conclusion. It’s far from a happy ending, but I never expected one, and there is some catharsis.
There’s still a few dozen mini series I still have to read in this world, and they continue coming out. But the combined run of the Hellboy Series and the BPRD saga is an incredible achievement. They will be in print and continue to be read for at least decades.
I’m not quite sure who is to blame, but the storytelling in this series takes a nose dive. I have read the entirety of BPRD in the last year, and I even found myself confused on several pages. It’s a bummer and distracting, but the end does come together, largely because Mignola does the art for the final bit. Tim Sale even comes in for a few pages, which was an amazing treat.
Even with the slight stumble at the finish line, the story is given a satisfying conclusion. It’s far from a happy ending, but I never expected one, and there is some catharsis.
There’s still a few dozen mini series I still have to read in this world, and they continue coming out. But the combined run of the Hellboy Series and the BPRD saga is an incredible achievement. They will be in print and continue to be read for at least decades.
March 10, 2025
The culmination of 30+ years of storytelling in the Mignola-verse, as Hellboy finally returns to re-join the B.P.R.D. It's a truly epic tale told on a global scale with an incredibly satisfying ending. This book as had many artistic teams over the years and it's a shame Mignola didn't take more pencil duties for this finale as some of the panels aren't especially well rendered. Also, inevitably, with so many characters in the back catalogue, it strains under its own weight a little and some characters are short changed. But to have so many surprises still up its sleeve and to pay off so many plot threads with such drama and pathos is a huge achievement.
March 24, 2021
This book is about going back to a job that you quit years ago and finding that, while your old mates are still there, there’s been a regime change and it’s no fun anymore. Also the end of the world is happening with giant monsters.
End of an unbelievably consistent and gorgeous 25 year long story. Kind of hard to believe it’s over.
End of an unbelievably consistent and gorgeous 25 year long story. Kind of hard to believe it’s over.
March 15, 2023
A fast-paced, explosive, very full finale. That final Mignola spread, chef’s kiss.
Felt rushed at times, but also hey, Ragna Rok had to come eventually.
I read the Hellboy In Hell omnibus before diving in, would recommend doing the same.
Hats off to the whole team at Dark Horse—Mignola, Arcudie, Allie, etc. Great art to the bitter end.
Felt rushed at times, but also hey, Ragna Rok had to come eventually.
I read the Hellboy In Hell omnibus before diving in, would recommend doing the same.
Hats off to the whole team at Dark Horse—Mignola, Arcudie, Allie, etc. Great art to the bitter end.
July 27, 2023
Может со мной что-то не так, но в финале мне было скучно.
Рагнарок случится, так или иначе, и жизнь так или иначе продолжится, но большая часть героев погибнет. Это всё было понятно сильно до финала.
В чем же тогда хук концовки? Непонятно.
Возможно надо было прочитать что-то ещё кроме минимально списка чтения, но пока так.
Рагнарок случится, так или иначе, и жизнь так или иначе продолжится, но большая часть героев погибнет. Это всё было понятно сильно до финала.
В чем же тогда хук концовки? Непонятно.
Возможно надо было прочитать что-то ещё кроме минимально списка чтения, но пока так.
August 25, 2023
I was kind of let down by the end of Hell on Earth, but I really liked where the series ultimately goes, and the return of Hellboy (and, crucially, Mignola on a few pages) won me back over. I'll really miss this group of characters, and I really admire the commitment to changing up the status quo and introducing more and more new ideas throughout the series.
January 8, 2024
As reader of just the Hellboy comics and not the other BPRD series, this book really wasn’t too fantastic except for the last couple issues. That being said, I enjoyed the ending as a Hellboy fan, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the book overall would be received better if the rest of the BPRD series has been read.
January 20, 2024
Having read the main Mignolaverse titles over the past year, I have to say I'm disappointed with its final cycle. While providing a good enough ending for the overall plot, it lacked most of the compelling aspects of character-based storytelling that made me fall in love with this universe, specially B.P.R.D.
John Arcudi's work is sorely missed in this final chapter.
John Arcudi's work is sorely missed in this final chapter.
February 1, 2024
This is a great ending for Hellboy. Unfortunately he’s only like a third of this book, and the other characters don’t hold as much appeal/sentimental value for me. Oh well! I might read some BPRD stuff later to figure out who these guys are because they’re not bad but generally hopping in on the last book of any series is a poor choice. Whodathunk?
November 2, 2024
They say Jesus died for our sins.
Hellboy died for all of us, went to Hell to kill the devil, came back, died again fighting Rasputin, came back again and then died one more time to get himself sealed into a sentient Iron Maiden for eternity after encouraging Liz Sherman to destroy everything with fire. Don't worry the humans now all live underground
Hellboy died for all of us, went to Hell to kill the devil, came back, died again fighting Rasputin, came back again and then died one more time to get himself sealed into a sentient Iron Maiden for eternity after encouraging Liz Sherman to destroy everything with fire. Don't worry the humans now all live underground
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2025
Ermmm this feels rushed, as insane as it may sound. It feels like the ending to a different story, or many many stories. They literally switched villains, then end them in 1 omnibus. Especially the sorta epilogue at the end, feels like a speedrun.
Vol 9 i think will always have the place in my heart as the true ending of BPRD
Vol 9 i think will always have the place in my heart as the true ending of BPRD
March 8, 2025
След повече от две години с огромно вълнение и задоволство затварям вселената на Хелбой...Поне за момент т.е. до появата на следващата история в този невероятен свят.
Ох, искам да поставя някаква финална оценка, но просто ми е безкрайно трудно да не изпадна само и единствено в суперлативи. Невероятни истории, страхотен арт, вълнуващ сюжет. Просто четете вселената на "Хелбой" !
Ох, искам да поставя някаква финална оценка, но просто ми е безкрайно трудно да не изпадна само и единствено в суперлативи. Невероятни истории, страхотен арт, вълнуващ сюжет. Просто четете вселената на "Хелбой" !
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