From the cozy confines of the haunted HQ, “B.P.R.D.” moves across the sea to Japan, and brings newcomer Joe Querio with it!
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Illustrated by Joe Querio
Johann travels to Japan to fight giant monsters, but what he discovers is even more disturbing. A man with no brain has been drawing pictures . . . and they tell a terrifying story.
David Harper: After a semi-disappointing finale to last week’s Lobster Johnson: Get the Lobster, we’re back with a look at our favorite Mignolaverse book, “B.P.R.D.”, as Johann and Enos go to Kaijuville. The issue comes from the regular crew of Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Dave Stewart, with Joe Querio joining the team for his first run as an artist in the Mignolaverse. I gotta admit, this issue was pretty rad. What’s your take, Brian?
Brian Salvatore: I agree – this was a pretty sweet detour from our usual, USA-based adventures, and it gave us yet another glimpse into what the Earth is really like in the wake of the last 120 or so issues.
Let’s start with the new kid on the block, Joe Querio. Joe is an artist I’ve admired for some time now, and his work here is really pretty exceptional. He does a really nice job with an issue full of cranky people, and he doesn’t shy away from their inherent displeasure. The American agents, especially, seem to be pissed off at the very notion of being in Japan, and Querio does that in a way that isn’t heavy handed in the slightest – everyone just looks a little off.
Oh, and he draws an excellent kaiju.
What are your thoughts on his work?
David: Oh, I loved his work. Interestingly enough, I never have seen his work outside of his contributions to our Mignolaverse art months, but man, he crushed it. He’s got a lot of his Brand New Nostalgia compadre James Harren in him, and he has a seriously powerful art style. There’s just a lot of energy leaping off the page, and this is an issue where he gets a lot of room to demonstrate that. Between the kaiju action and the whatever the hell you’d call it going on underneath the Tokyo, there’s a lot of room to shine here for Querio, and he does it big time. He’s a very welcome addition to the team.
Do you think the Bureau’s human resources department is overflowing with complaints at this point? Johann and Enos go straight from the New York City mission to this disaster area? Someone get the B.P.R.D. unionized, stat!
Brian: Before I answer your plot question, I want to float something by you in regards to the Mignolaversity art team. Is it just me, or do the artists chosen to work on Mignola books, though all distinct and talented in vastly different ways, all hang together in a way that is more cohesive and less jarring than we see with Big 2 books with multiple art teams?
For instance, Querio’s style is nothing like Tonci Zonjic’s, or like the Fiumara brothers, or like Tyler Crook’s, and yet, if you put the four August Mignolaverse books (not counting “Baltimore,” sorry Mark!) together, there is a certain compatibility to them that you wouldn’t see in even one title that uses a fill in artist a few times a year. Mignola books just hang together in a certain style.
I have three theories as to why that is: 1) the coloring of Dave Stewart as a binding agent, 2) the immaculately designed world that Mignola created for these books to exist in, or 3) the collective tastes of the three “architects” of the line (Mignola, Arcudi and Scott Allie) being more cohesive than the editorial approach at other publishers.
What do you think?
David: Well, that’s definitely why Dave Stewart colors everything. Like Jordie Bellaire on “Zero” or Dean White on “Uncanny X-Force”, his job is to provide consistency throughout. I think it’s a lot less #2, as Mignola didn’t really design the world, it’s just Earth with monsters so basically the monsters fall on whoever is working on the book at the time (frequently off designs from Guy Davis, though), but #3 is certainly true. I mean, we’ve talked to them before about it, and they definitely look for not perfectly aligned artists, but artists who fit the aesthetic they are going for. It helps a lot that I bet if you asked all of these guys who their biggest influences are, Mignola would certainly be there.
Continued belowI’d say the two ends of the spectrum that are furthest from the aesthetic are Laurence Campbell and Tonci Zonjic, but Stewart goes a long way to fitting those in overall.
Brian: Interesting – see, I don’t think you’re giving Mignola enough credit for the overall tone and design of the world – not the buildings and vehicles, mind you, but rather the Ogdru Hem, the aesthetics of the uniforms, etc. All of that works together to form the bed upon which these stories lie, and I think adds a tone to it. Similarly, in part, to how no matter who draws a New Gods comic has to respect/work with the blueprints that Kirby drew up 40 years ago.
Anyway, back to the plot. Yes, working in the HR department at the Bureau must truly be the worst job on Earth at the moment. But truthfully, I think this reinforces just how banged up the Bureau’s resources are – if they had the manpower to let these fellas rest a bit, they would, but they don’t – they are that compromised at the moment.
Forgive my ignorance here, but is this the first time we’ve had inter-dimensional travel in a Mignola comic? Outside of heaven and hell, if you wish to call those alternate dimensions.
David: Well, I’m not saying Mignola wasn’t a huge part of it, but I know a lot of the monster designs (and maybe even the uniform designs for the Bureau) are Guy Davis, and in the later chapters of B.P.R.D. a lot of that – like the Black Flame redesign and the monsters in Reign of the Black Flame – fell to James Harren. I’m not trying to discredit Mignola by any means, but it’s certainly not a one man band when it comes to B.P.R.D. in specific, and if you really want to get back to the origins of the look, I am pretty sure much of the monster world was designed around Lovecraftian ideas.
Either way, I just don’t think that aspect is necessarily a huge, defining reason as to why these books look similar. Designs are designs, and if Bill Sienkiewicz worked on one arc and then Faith Erin Hicks worked on the next one, it wouldn’t really matter who was the original visual architect. That’s all I was trying to say.
As for the inter-dimensional travel, I guess it depends on how exactly you want to define that. I mean, the Ogdru Jahad are beings trapped in an otherworldly abyss, which by definition isn’t another dimension but probably fits based off how loose with the term dimension you want be. Those dudes aren’t from Tuscon exactly, or from Saturn. I don’t exactly know where they were from. But I don’t think it was just an anomalous place in space, really. This is another time where Mark will shake his head at us, I fear.
Random thought time: I think that big ass kaiju dude who came in at the end is a good guy! What if in the parallel reality, the kaiju are the good guys?! This is where my mind is at, Brian.
Brian: Hang on, I need to go pick my brains up off the floor.
That is an interesting observation, in part, because of who that final kaiju greatly resembled. That creature bore a not-so-slight resemblance to a certain fish man, am I right?
David: Oh man, I was hoping you were going to think that! He TOTALLY did. Going back to Dave Stewart, the way he colored him was completely to remind us of Abe. Maybe that’s the final evolution for Abe’s people. Maybe that’s that reality’s version of Abe! I don’t know exactly, but that was wild. I really loved getting off the beaten path and seeing what else was going on around the world, and Japan is the perfect place for a story like this. If it has something bigger behind it? All the more payoff!
Brian: Good, I’m glad I’m not nuts. That is totally the final evolution of Abe in some alternate dimension! How couldn’t it be at this point?
I was struck by seeing Johann so lost towards the end of the issue – he is a character that, even in peril, keeps his cool usually, so seeing him so worried about being left really put into focus just how dangerous the world, and specifically this part of it, is right now.
Continued belowAnything else to add before grading?
David: You know, I’m not sure if that was Johann losing his cool so much as being super annoyed at losing his tour guides. I think if he was really freaked out, he wouldn’t have pointed at the big red death energy in the sky and said “I want to go to there” in his best German Liz Lemon impression.
Anyways, only one last thing to add before grading: do you kind of feel that, even though it’s expanded more than it has been in the past, the Mignolaverse is more weighted towards B.P.R.D. than ever? It seems like things like LoJo and Abe should matter a lot more, but I think I’d be perfectly happy only reading this title. I know that’s a glum perspective, but it’s kind of how I’ve felt in recent months.
Brian: I agree with you, although I think that is because the main title has been killing it lately and, as we have documented, we’ve felt that the peripheral titles haven’t been as strong as they could be. Because of that, I am far more excited when “B.P.R.D.” (or “Hellboy in Hell,” to be fair) arrives than I am any of the other titles. Part of that is that LoJo is set in the past, and doesn’t have direct impact on the stories, and “Abe” is sort of a weird companion book, but is so small in scale that it is almost naturally dwarfed by “B.P.R.D.” Does that answer your question?
David: I’d say it does quite well. I’ll give this issue, for my precious “B.P.R.D.”, an 8.5. Welcome to the team, Joe Querio. I hope you survive the experience (and come back lots).
Brian: 8.5 seems fair to me – and I echo your sentiments to fair Mr. Querio.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – a great debut from a new artist, and a fascinating look at what the other side of this world looks like
