Mike Mignola's BPRD: Hollow Earth #1
Written by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski
Drawn by Ryan Sook
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Anyone who is a longtime fan of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series of mini-series from Dark Horse will undoubtedly enjoy this. As someone who came in relatively late, with last year's Conquerer Worm mini, I still found it enjoyable.
The titular organization is the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, which you may recall Hellboy himself quit at the end of Conquerer Worm. Here, the focus is on the other members of this organization, specifically Abe Sapian, Roger the Homunculus, Kate Corrigan and new member Johann Kraus. Kraus is a disembodied former human living in a containment suit that is essentially a bag. This new character (I presume he's new, but remember, I'm still feeling my way) is one of Mignola's most delightful visuals, and should fit right in with the rest of this bizarre team of oddities.
You're probably wondering if Hellboy's absence is keenly felt, and the answer, thankfully, is no. He's a terrific visual presence and a unique and delightful character, but the creators manage to keep up the atmosphere of earlier tales, and the plot, apparently about Liz Sherman turning in the wrong direction in hopes of learning to control her mystical abilities, is as entertaining as any other Hellboy story I've read.
I don't know how strong a hand Mignola had in the scripting of this story, but the dialogue and plot feel very much like his own material, and Sook's art manages to convey a Mignola-like sense of this world, with its shadows and mysteries. It doesn't look strictly like Mignola; there's more detail and less iconography. But between the words and the pictures, one gets the sense that Mignola is extremely capable of choosing co-creators who can work in his style and express his vision. And while I prefer creators expressing their own unique point of view, I have to admit I'd rather have this sort of thing than no Hellboy-related material at all.
In summation, my take is that so strong is the foundation that Mignola has established, and so pervasive his influence, that this feels very much like a successful sequel to Conquerer Worm, even without Hellboy and Mignola claiming the spotlight all their own.
Written by Mark Waid
Illustrated by Butch Guice, Mike Perkins and Laura DePuy
Published by CrossGen Comics
The initial story-arc pitting Simon Archard and his "assistant" Emma Bishop against the devious and powerful Miranda Cross comes to something of a conclusion in this issue, a less sedate outing filled with chases and explosions. This is a climax for this first tale, but the ending leaves more mysteries than ever for Emma to ponder, not least of which is what has become of not only her and Simon's enemy, but what of Simon himself?
If you're at all familiar with this series, you know that it takes off from a Sherlock Holmesian riff and proceeds into areas of supernatural power and multiple layers of deception. The first delight in this issue comes early on, as Simon and Emma attempt to get themselves out of last issue's cliffhanger by leading the police on a chase through one of those life-size giant mazes made out of shrubbery. It's a funny predicament to place the protagonists in, and feels for all the world like Mark Waid is having a great deal of fun with this title. Nothing wrong with that.
Guice continues to amaze with his life-like rendering of the world in which Archard and Bishop ply their detective trade, and he gets terrific support fron inker Mike Perkins and colourist Laura Depuy. There is an astonishing amount of detail necessary to convincingly depict an environment like the one Ruse takes place in, and the artists seem to be doing so without even breaking a sweat. The faces of the characters are all individual and distinct, and look like the same person from all angles, a rare ability for many comics artists.
After four issues, there are more questions than ever about what Miranda Cross is up to, and what Simon Archard really knows about his partner Emma, never mind what Emma is doing pretending to be a normal human woman content to assist this famous detective. The great part is, this fourth issue has left me more curious than ever to discover the answers to these mysteries. Ruse remains the strongest of the CrossGen titles, and a very enjoyable read month after month.