The Hellboy Project: B.P.R.D. Vol.3: Plague of Frogs

Written by Mike Mignola
Art by Guy Davis

This BPRD trade is notable for a few reasons.  First, it launches the beginning of Guy Davis's tenure as the regular artist, and it starts the long-running Frogs plotline, which has only recently concluded.

The book starts with the reincarnation of Sadu-Hem, the big bad from the first Hellboy volume, in the form of a gigantic elephantine fungus creature that turns people into frog creatures.  This volume also gives us a very disjointed understanding of Abe Sapien's background, but in such a way that raises more questions than it answers.

Also important is the way in which the BPRD team has started to mesh.  Liz Sherman finally comes to a level of comfort with her abilities, and Abe takes on the duties of leadership with some reluctance, but with great facility.

Davis is a really good fit for this book.  He draws great monsters and creatures, and tends to draw the main characters with the same stout body shapes that is typical from Mignola.  I really like the way he draws Johann Krauss, the 'ectoplasmic' character.  This guy is basically ectoplasm in a suit (kind of like the Legion's Wildfire), and Davis draws him like he's a huge, wobbly balloon character, which I found brilliant.