B.P.R.D., Volume 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories

by Mike Mignola, Various

Overview

The Hollow Earth, by Mike Mignola, Chris Golden, Tom Sniegoski, and Ryan Sook, reveals the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense's struggle to save agent Liz Sherman, and their struggle to deal with life without Hellboy. That story is collected here with rare Hellboy related stories, long sought after by fans of the Mignola's hit comic, which is soon to be a major motion picture! Reprinted here for the first time are the first solo Abe Sapien comic, Drums of the Dead, by Brian McDonald and Derek Thompson, as well as the short stories "Abe Sapien versus Science" and "Lobster Johnson: Killer Inside My Skull." If these names mean nothing to you, you've been missing out on the greatest adventure saga comics has to offer. If you do know these names, then this is the collection you've been asking for.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621150008
Publisher:	Dark Horse Comics
Publication date:	01/28/2003
Series:	B.P.R.D. Series , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	152
File size:	46 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Mike Mignola's fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age; reading Dracula at age twelve introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore, from which he has never recovered. Starting in 1982 as a bad inker for Marvel Comics, he swiftly evolved into a not-so-bad artist. By the late 1980s, he had begun to develop his own unique graphic style, with mainstream projects like Cosmic Odyssey and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. In 1994, he published the first Hellboy series through Dark Horse. There are thirteen Hellboy graphic novels (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien, and Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder), prose books, animated films, and two live-action films starring Ron Perlman. Along the way he worked on Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer for Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), and was the visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). Mike's books have earned numerous awards and are published in a great many countries. Mike lives in Southern California with his wife, daughter, and cat.

John Arcudi is a comic book writer and creator from Buffalo, New York. Arcudi has more than 300 titles to his name, some of the most prominent being Abe Sapien, B.P.R.D., The Creep, Dark Horse Presents, and Predator. Arcudi was educated at Columbia University.

Dave Stewart is a multiple Eisner Award–winning colorist who works for Dark Horse, Marvel, and DC Comics. His credits include Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin, Daytripper, and Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. 

Gabriel Bá is a comic book artist, creator, and cover artist. He is known for his work on How to Talk to Girls at Parties, B.P.R.D., Hellboy, and De: Tales. Bá was born in Brazil and often works with his twin brother Fábio Moon. 

You can learn more about Bá at fabioandgabriel.blogspot.com.

Editorial Reviews

This latest installment in the Hellboy series collects stories about the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, a secret organization that investigates and combats paranormal threats. Hellboy, the hulking demon with the bionic arm, is usually the Bureau's star investigator. But in this book, he has left the Bureau after it tried to kill his friend and fellow agent Roger the Homunculus. Hellboy's absence gives formerly supporting characters a well-deserved chance at the spotlight, especially Abe Sapien, "the popular fishman," who appears in three of the four stories. The first tale, "Hollow Earth," is action-packed but still driven by characters. In it, Abe recruits Roger and Johann, a soul without a body, to rescue former teammate Liz Sherman from a spooky Nazi junkyard at the center of the earth, as Hellboy has show-stealing flashbacks to his first meetings with Abe and Liz that present their former mentor in his most endearing light yet. Another highlight is "The Killer in My Skull," which introduces the kitschy Lobster Johnson, a 1940s-style superhero who uses "the harsher justice of the lobster's claw" to fight crime. Ryan Sook's art on the title story has the dynamism and narrative sense of early Jack Kirby, with a distinctly modern edge. And Derek Thompson's art shines in the last piece, "Drums of the Dead," in which Abe and a psychic must put to rest the ghosts of slaves who died during the Middle Passage. Mignola's witty, appealing characters dash off one-liners as they battle paranormal phenomena while retaining their remarkably human qualities. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly