BPRD: The Dead Remembered #3

Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Art by Karl Moline and Andy Owens

This series, which has examined Liz Sherman's first mission for the BPRD, ends very well in this issue.  Earlier, I found that things felt a little forced at times, but with this last chapter, Mignola and Allie really find their groove, and give us a very good story.

Liz has accompanied Professor Bruttenholm on a mission to Massachusetts to aid an old friend who believes his house is haunted by a victim of the witch trial days.  As it turns out, it's actually the woods that hold the spirit, and Liz and a young local boy are the ones that discover that.

There's a very cool scene where the ghost forces Liz to relive her own experiences, and the art keeps shifting from what is happening to Liz in the present to what happened to the accused witch in the past.  It works very effectively.

I did enjoy getting reacquainted with Liz's character, and look forward to her return to current continuity with the next issue; it's been a long time since we've seen her in BPRD.

BPRD: The Dead Remembered #2

Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Art by Karl Moline and Andy Owens

One of the things I've appreciated the most about the Mignola-verse of comics (BPRD, Hellboy, and a few other titles) is the way that Mignola and company regularly dig into the character's pasts, and tell stories set throughout the twentieth century.  This series is centred around Liz Sherman, who hasn't been seen in the contemporary stories for a while.

In this three-issue series, Liz is fourteen, and still coming to grips with her abilities.  She's traveled with Professor Bruttenholm to help an old friend deal with a haunting, and it's her first experience in the field.  She's not a proper member of the Bureau yet - it's really just supposed to be a bit of an excursion.  The thing is, she's had the most concrete encounter with the ghost - the spirit of a woman who had been accused of witchcraft back in the Salem days.

Now Liz, and the local boy she's met, want to conduct their own investigation.  The ghost story is pretty standard stuff, but it's basically just a vehicle to delve into Liz's character.  The problem is that the sudden confession of how she killed her parents feels a little awkwardly crammed into the book, like the entire series exists just for this scene, but it doesn't flow well.

So, while this is not the best BPRD comic I've read, it's not awful.  I am curious to see how it ends, but I'm also pleased that said ending is coming soon.  Mostly, because I want to see what's going to happen to Abe after the end of the last mini.

BPRD: The Dead Remembered #1

Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Art by Karl Moline and Andy Owens

As much as I want to see what is going to happen after the end of the last BPRD Hell on Earth arc, I like that Mignola and company are revisiting some of the earlier days of the Bureau, in a manner we've become completely accustomed to with Hellboy.  This three-issue arc is focused on Liz Sherman, the pyrokine who has been around since the earliest days of Hellboy.

This story is set two years after Liz killed her family when her abilities first manifested, and has come to live with the Bureau.  Hellboy convinces Professor Bruttenholm (how nice to see them in this comic again) to take Liz with him on a ghost-hunting trip to Massachusetts.  She's dripping with attitude, but is also working pretty hard to disguise her interest in what's going on.  It's been a while since we've seen the adult Liz, so I have to wonder if this arc should be seen as a hint that she will be returning soon.

The Fog

Written by Scott Allie
Art by Todd Herman and Andy Owens

I picked this up at a convention because I liked the Mignola cover, and because it was pretty cheap.  I knew Allie's work as an editor quite well, but didn't know if I'd read anything else that he's written, and Todd Herman was unknown to me.  I did not have any clue that this was tied into a film with the same name.  I suppose I was aware of John Carpenter's film, even if I'd never seen it, but I have no memory of there being a remake released in 2005.

Anyway, this short graphic novella was designed as a prequel to either movie, although it stands quite well on its own merits.  The story takes place on Prince William Island in the American Northwest of the period just after the end of the Civil War.  A small mining outpost has been established there, and Chinese labor has been brought to work the mines and the land.  The Chinese live in uneasy deference to the whites, many of whom were former slave holders in the South.

When a strange and familiar fog starts to engulf the town, the Chinese inhabitants recognize what is going on.  They have been carrying a curse for generations, and thought they had escaped it by coming to the New World.

The book is a pretty standard horror comic, although nicely drawn by Herman and Owens.  It's a quick read, but it's creepy and interesting throughout.  It doesn't do much to make me want to see the movie though...