What do you think?
Rate this book
Hellboy Universe Essentials: B.P.R.D.
Jump on to the B.P.R.D. series and jump in to the horror-fueled adventure with this introductory volume! Meet Abe Sapien, a senior agent in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He and his fellow uncanny agents Liz Sherman, Roger the homunculus, and Johann Kraus uncover his occult origins while try to stop a plague of monstrous frog men. As it begins its spread across America, an apocalyptic new direction to Mignola's stories opens up. Hellboy Universe B.P.R.D. is a perfect entry point for curious fantasy, horror, and occult readers looking for a taste of something new! Collects Plague of Frogs #1–#5.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 7, 2021
5 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Mike Mignola
1,873 books2,545 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 3, 2022
This book collects B.P.R.D.: Plague of the frogs #1-5, which is for me a step back as I am reading the Hell on Earth currently. But it indeed answers some questions I did have.
The team now has to manage on their own without the help of Hellboy even if his assisting hand was more like an unguided rocket 🚀.
Still the story is strong and the art 🖼 is very strong, like most stories from this universe it is dark, but the darkness is just starting.
A nice collection for new readers.
The team now has to manage on their own without the help of Hellboy even if his assisting hand was more like an unguided rocket 🚀.
Still the story is strong and the art 🖼 is very strong, like most stories from this universe it is dark, but the darkness is just starting.
A nice collection for new readers.
December 7, 2021
I quite enjoyed this! Both the story and the art are moody and atmospheric, spooky and creepy, and those frog men are disturbing! This story arc gives us a back story for Abe, which was interesting, and Johann is always fun. Seriously, all I can think about are those frog men now, I'll probably have nightmares about them - thanks, Mignola.
February 11, 2026
Czy można serwować danie główne bez głównego składnika? Dark Horse próbuje nas przekonać, że tak. Hellboy Universe Essentials: B.P.R.D. to pozycja paradoksalna. Z jednej strony mamy do czynienia z fenomenalnym rzemiosłem, z drugiej – z marketingowym tworem, który może pozostawić czytelnika w nieprzyjemnym rozkroku.
Zacznijmy od konkretów. Ten tom to nic innego jak kultowy cykl Plague of Frogs zebrany w całość z nową okładką i otagowany hasłem „Essentials“. To również moment przełomowy dla uniwersum: Biuro Operacji Parapsychicznych musi nauczyć się żyć bez Hellboya, który był dotąd ich „niekierowanym pociskiem”. Ciężar narracji przejmują Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman i Johann Kraus. I tu Mignola błyszczy. Scenariusz jest gęsty od okultyzmu, a pochodzenie Abe’a intryguje bardziej niż niejedna wielotomowa saga. Warstwa wizualna to majstersztyk, kreska Guya Davisa i kolory Dave’a Stewarta tworzą atmosferę tak duszną i mroczną, że niemal czuć zapach bagna i śluz potwornych żabich ludzi. Te monstra to prawdziwy triumf designu grozy; zostają pod powiekami długo po zamknięciu albumu.
Jednak muszę postawić pytanie: dla kogo jest ta edycja? Seria „Essentials” z założenia ma być progiem wejścia, ale objętość tego tomu jest wręcz skąpa. To zaledwie zwiastun nadchodzącej apokalipsy. Czytelnik znający uniwersum poczuje niedosyt (to zaledwie wycinek większej całości), a nowicjusz może poczuć się oszukany tytułem „Essentials”, nie znajdując w środku ani grama Hellboya, a jeżeli chodzi o B.P.R.D. to mamy tylko jedną historię, a gdzie reszta?.
To świetny komiks w wątpliwym opakowaniu. Jeśli szukacie gęstego horroru i wybitnych rysunków - bierzcie śmiało. Jeśli jednak oczekujecie kompleksowego przewodnika po świecie Mignoli, przygotuj się na to, że ten tom jedynie rozbudzi Wasz głód, zamiast go zaspokoić.
Nie wiem czy będę brnął w kolejne tomy „Essentials“ bo jeżeli kolejne „zbiory“ mają zaledwie +/-120 stron, to już lepiej czytam Omnibus lub Library Editions.
Ocena: 3,7/5 (goodreads 4/5 | lubimyczytać 8/10 | nakanapie 8/10 | thestorygraph 3,75/5)
Zacznijmy od konkretów. Ten tom to nic innego jak kultowy cykl Plague of Frogs zebrany w całość z nową okładką i otagowany hasłem „Essentials“. To również moment przełomowy dla uniwersum: Biuro Operacji Parapsychicznych musi nauczyć się żyć bez Hellboya, który był dotąd ich „niekierowanym pociskiem”. Ciężar narracji przejmują Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman i Johann Kraus. I tu Mignola błyszczy. Scenariusz jest gęsty od okultyzmu, a pochodzenie Abe’a intryguje bardziej niż niejedna wielotomowa saga. Warstwa wizualna to majstersztyk, kreska Guya Davisa i kolory Dave’a Stewarta tworzą atmosferę tak duszną i mroczną, że niemal czuć zapach bagna i śluz potwornych żabich ludzi. Te monstra to prawdziwy triumf designu grozy; zostają pod powiekami długo po zamknięciu albumu.
Jednak muszę postawić pytanie: dla kogo jest ta edycja? Seria „Essentials” z założenia ma być progiem wejścia, ale objętość tego tomu jest wręcz skąpa. To zaledwie zwiastun nadchodzącej apokalipsy. Czytelnik znający uniwersum poczuje niedosyt (to zaledwie wycinek większej całości), a nowicjusz może poczuć się oszukany tytułem „Essentials”, nie znajdując w środku ani grama Hellboya, a jeżeli chodzi o B.P.R.D. to mamy tylko jedną historię, a gdzie reszta?.
To świetny komiks w wątpliwym opakowaniu. Jeśli szukacie gęstego horroru i wybitnych rysunków - bierzcie śmiało. Jeśli jednak oczekujecie kompleksowego przewodnika po świecie Mignoli, przygotuj się na to, że ten tom jedynie rozbudzi Wasz głód, zamiast go zaspokoić.
Nie wiem czy będę brnął w kolejne tomy „Essentials“ bo jeżeli kolejne „zbiory“ mają zaledwie +/-120 stron, to już lepiej czytam Omnibus lub Library Editions.
Ocena: 3,7/5 (goodreads 4/5 | lubimyczytać 8/10 | nakanapie 8/10 | thestorygraph 3,75/5)
January 13, 2022
This is the first BPRD comic I've read and, while it's specifically presented here as an introduction to the group without Hellboy appearing, I still felt I was missing a lot of backstory from his title. It was nice to see the book in colour and with a larger format than the German editions I've been reading, but the story was pretty basic and, whilst at times evoking a suitably weird atmosphere, ultimately disappointed.
January 31, 2024
I grew up on the 2000s Guillermo Del Toro Hellboy movies, but hadn’t yet had a chance to get into the comics until I picked this up at a 2nd hand comics shop - really accessible intro to the Hellboy universe, with a pix of characters I’m already invested in (hi Liz, hi Abe) plus some new faces! Really interested in tracking down more Hellboy comics, especially mainline ones with Mignola’s own art!
May 2, 2022
I loved this, and don’t get the poor ratings. It was my first intro to BPRD (beyond Hellboy) and I loved the dove into Abe Sapien’s past.
This was cool.
This was cool.
July 23, 2023
Great entry into the B.P.R.D. Mike Mignola and his storytelling never disappoints!
August 24, 2025
This may be my favorite Hellboy collection! Great art, compelling writing, good story arcs, and memorable lines that are indescribably Hellboy. I highly recommend picking up this Essentials collection!
March 7, 2024
I read this a number of months ago. I remember liking it but not being wow’d by it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews