BPRD Hell on Earth: The Transformation of JH O'Donnell

Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Art by Max Fiumara

The character of Dr. O'Donnell has been lurking around the pages of BPRD for a very long time now - he's the wild-haired stooped over old guy who usually shows up making pronouncements of doom.  Very little has been told about him, and so he's been given his own one-shot as part of Mike Mignola's plans to push his Mignola-verse as close to the point of market saturation as is possible for a group of titles with one common writer.

O'Donnell's story is told as a flashback to a time in the late 80s when Professor Bruttenholm sent O'Donnell and Hellboy to investigate the library of a recently deceased necromancer.  Hellboy ended up getting into a fight with some kind of monster (I love how the narrator dismisses this part of the story so casually, since it does happen in every single Hellboy story), while O'Donnell ended up deep beneath the house, part of a ritual that involved just about every famous dead occultist you can think of, changing him forever.

The art for this issue is provided by Max Fiumara, an artist who has caught my eye on his Four Eyes series with Joe Kelly, and also impressed me with some issues of Amazing Spider-Man.  His odd figures look right at home in the BPRD world, and Dave Stewart's colours burnish his art perfectly.

There really has been too many BPRD-related comics coming out lately, but when they're all this good, it's hard to complain...

Outlaw Territory Vol. 1

Edited by Michael Woods

Now here's an example of a trade paperback that appeared without making any ripples.  This Western anthology book went pretty much unnoticed when it was published in 2009 - I don't remember seeing any reviews or promotion for it, although I do remember seeing it in Previews.  I know that there is a second volume due to be released soon, but know very little about it as well.

As someone who loves a good anthology, I was happy to settle down with this book, which contains a good thirty short stories by a ton of different writers and artists.  Most of the stories are very good, but the limited range of the Western did make many of them blend together in my mind.

Frequently the stories involved gunslingers looking for revenge, and it did become a little monotonous at times.  Still, the quality of work in this book is pretty high.  Creators whose work stood out included Moritat, Joe Kelly and Max Fiumara, Khoi Pham, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Greg Pak and Ian Kim, Christopher Mitten, and mpMann (such a treat to see his work again).  Some artists who were new to me, but who made an impression include Yeray Gil Hernandez, Christopher Provencher, Simon Fraser, and Chad Sell.

I felt like many of the stories needed more room to spread themselves out, but in all, I was pleased with this book.  Some contributor bios would have been a nice addition though...

Four Eyes #4

Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Max Fiumara

I didn't really expect to see another issue of this comic - I had forgotten it was resolicited and didn't order it; it has been more than a year since the last issue came out, and Kelly and Fiumara are both pretty involved in Amazing Spider-Man right now.

Four Eyes is the story of Enrico, a young boy whose dragon-catching father was killed in Depression-era New York, when he went hunting alone for the mobster who raises and fights dragons in an over-sized version of cockfighting.  Enrico has started working for the mobster too, and last issue was involved in his first hunt, which ended badly for him.

This issue is mostly concerned with various people looking to bring Enrico home, and his standing up for his values and new friend.  These first four issues were mostly set-up for a longer series which I now doubt is ever going to be completed, which is too bad, because there is a lot of potential in this series.

I like Fiumara's art a lot on this book.  It's very much like the style he's using in his Spider-Man issues now, and it's a cool mix of manga and cartoon influences.

Four Eyes #3

Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Max Fiumara

I've been enjoying the inventiveness of Kelly's Four Eyes. It's a story of a young boy whose father was killed trying to capture a dragon for an illegal dragon-fighting ring, operating during the Depression. Enrico has now gained employment with his father's boss, and in this issue, is used on his first hunt as bait.

The visuals in this book are just as inventive as the story, as Fiumara portrays not just the dragons, but the techniques and tools used in the hunt.

The cliffhanger ending hints at the eventual status quo for this book, as it begins to take shape as the type of comic I thought it was going to be - only better.

Rawbone #2

Written by Jamie Delano
Art by Max Fiumara and Ryan Waterhouse

If you like lusty pirates, this is the book for you. Delano continues to over-write his prose to a remarkable extent, as La Sirena gains her freedom and plots her revenge on the British crown.

The art is a little inconsistent here, but the story is enjoyable. This is a very strange project, and I like that Avatar is always willing to take risks on these off-beat genre explorations.

Rawbone #1

Written by Jamie Delano
Art by Max Fiumara

Anything written by Jamie Delano is an automatic purchase with me, but the first few pages of this book had me questioning that decision. Then I figured out that he was purposely writing with such florid, purple prose, and then I decided to simply enjoy this for what it is - a twisted, depraved little pirate tale that is purposely written somewhere in the land of bodice-rippers, adventure pulps, and Victorian over-writing.

Major Jack is commanding a group of British soldiers in a bid to rescue his betrothed from the clutches of La Sirena, a black female pirate who has taken her captive and has gotten to 'enjoy' her company. And, because Delano is playing around with pirate archetypes, there is a huge treasure waiting somewhere, if only he can convince La Sirena to lead them to it. That, of course, involves sex with a monkey, but it's best not to go there.

Fiumara's art here matches with the Avatar style - realistic and unadorned pencil art, looking nothing like his work on Four Eyes. I've noticed that he is not the solicited artist on the next two issues, which is interesting.

Four Eyes #2

Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Max Fiumara

It's been a while since this series started, but it's well worth the wait between issues. Four Eyes is the story of a young boy whose father was killed procuring a dragon for a mobster involved in the illegal dragon-fighting circuit of Depression-era New York. As things get worse for the boy and his mother, and as he discovers the truth about his father's former profession, young Enrico decides that he wants to be a part of the business, especially since it will let him watch dragons die.

Kelly is taking a slow approach to getting this series up and running, which is good, as the added time and details are really helping him to create the world he shows, and to add texture to it. Fiumara's art is incredible. It is nothing like the work he's done for Avatar and DC - it's more cartoony and rough, but also much more expressive and interesting.

This has the makings of a fantastic series, and I hope I don't have to wait another six months for the next issue to come out.

Four Eyes #1

Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Max Fiumara

This is an original premise. The story centres around a young boy living through the Depression. He has had his father die, has had to drop out of school to work, and has at times had to steal food. Kelly does an excellent job of conveying the desperation of people living through those times.

It looks from the set-up in this issue that the protagonist is going to have to seek work from the New York gangsters that employed his father.

Oh - and the gangsters hold illegal dragon fights the same way some people fight pit bulls.

This is a very well-drawn book, reminding me a little of Adam Pollina's work (but not everyone is 7 feet tall), and Kelly is taking his time with the build-up. I think this is an on-going series - not sure that there's enough for a long run, but I'm curious to see where he takes this concept.