“I think this is one of the best, if not the best, series running monthly, and I can’t get enough of it.” —Mike Romeo, Robots From Tomorrow
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Illustrated by Laurence Campbell
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem RobinsThe Black Flame has returned and is wreaking havoc on the Hudson River! Panya and Kate try to psychically help from BPRD headquarters while Liz and Johann battle the Black Flame to stop him from destroying New York City.
Mike Romeo summed up my feelings about B.P.R.D. pretty well in the latest Robots From Tomorrow. Hell on Earth has been really damn good, and there’s only nine months of it left. That’s equally exciting and saddening. Every new issue carries this extra weight now. I’m bracing myself, because Hell on Earth is not going to go quietly.
And nor is John Arcudi. This is the guy that killed Roger and never brought him back. The same guy that turned Captain Daimio into one of the worst things to ever happen to the B.P.R.D. When he commits to a course of action, he doesn’t half-arse it. Wherever he takes us in these final issues, there will be no coming back from it.
Last issue spent some time kindling hope, only to grind it into the dust in the last few pages. Here comes the navy! Oh, nope, they’re dead. And Arcudi introduced a bit Deus Ex Machina in the form of McWhirter’s super weapon that can kill Ogdru Hem… and now it’s at the bottom of the Hudson. He’s sending us a message: there isn’t going to be an easy way out of this one.
This one’s going to hurt. Defeat feels inevitable.
There’s this thing about the way Mignola draws Hellboy that I really like: that his shoulders are slumped. As far as I’m concerned, the slumped shoulders are every bit as important as the sawn-off horns, the red skin, and the shovel jaw. If the shoulders aren’t slumped, it’s not Hellboy. And this extends into the whole universe. Hellboy Universe heroes have the weight of the world on their shoulders and it shows.
And this is what I love about Laurence Campbell’s work. He never forgets the fatigue of the characters. I love that he can draw Johann doing performing these very stereotypical superhero moments, but he never forgets the weight. In a story like this, where the characters are repeatedly beaten down and reduced, you need that to sell it.
These characters are fighting the long defeat, and with Campbell on art, you don’t doubt it for a second.
OK, I gave it my best shot, but this is frustratingly difficult to talk about without divulging spoilers. Skip ahead for the verdict if you want to avoid ’em.
Right from page one, this comic set the mood perfectly. McWhirter, a man in a can, his corpse floating in the water. It shows the fragility of humans in the face of this threat, shows the finality of it, and shows a mirror to Johann. He’s just a man in a can, or perhaps not even that.
As the issue goes on, Johann is faced with worse than his own mortality. He’s not going to die, he’s going to vanish. To see his soul inside the Sledgehammer armour, curled up in the fetal position, tears running down his checks, is heartbreaking. The fight’s gone out of him.
Liz on the other hand, she’s beaten too, but she’s going down fighting. The Black Flame might be able to kill her, but I don’t think he could break her like he’s breaking Johann.
Back at the B.P.R.D. headquarters, Panya is getting more and more involved with each issue. She’s always kept the others at arm’s length, so after the hints about her in the last Abe Sapien, it’s interesting to get a different read on her. I feel like in some respects she had already given up, but as she’s grown closer to Fenix, even protective of her, she’s become invested.
I like seeing this more active side of the character. I liked seeing her yelling at the unconscious O’Donnell. Panya’s always had an haughty, impertinent attitude, but it’s much more fun when that attitude is directed at something, more goal focused. I guess Panya’s more interesting when she genuinely cares about something. I hope this aspect of her character is something the series continues to develop, and I hope Laurence Campbell keeps drawing her, because he does such a great job with her.
Continued belowI was hoping for confirmation that the letter Panya received was from Howards, but no such luck. I’m certain it was he that sent it to her. Well, 99% certain.
This issue check in briefly on Leopold Kurtz, who we haven’t seen since the end of The Reign of the Black Flame arc, and Evelyn McDonald (Isiah Marsten’s secretary). Evelyn in particular is a character that I’m curious to see evolve. She’s been in the series since King of Fear, back then doing exactly as she was told. But over time she’s developed a distaste for certain aspects of the way Zinco Industries does business. She lost her admiration of Mr Marsten and ultimately allowed him to die at the hand of Iosif in The Reign of the Black Flame. She didn’t like the way R&D were experimenting on a mutant in Flesh and Stone, and after a bit of digging, executed the mutant to save it from more experiments at the had of Dr Hirsch.
She’s had a rebellious streak for a while now, but in this issue she finally let it all out. Screw the consequences, she’s evacuating Manhattan. I doubt the Black Flame will like that. And I don’t like her chances of survival, but at the same time, I’m hoping she beats the odds. At the very least, I hope she dies for something worthwhile.
Speaking of the Black Flame… I don’t know what this guy is. A Black Flame, Raimund Diestel, was active from the early 1930s until 1944, but he died. Then Landis Pope became the Black Flame in 2006 and not long after when the Hell on Earth cycle kicked off. In The Return of the Master, the Black was brought back in a specially made body. At the time, I expected this to be a third version of the Black Flame, not longer fettered to human souls like Diestel and Pope. But the Black Flame responded to the name Mr Pope, he had Pope’s memories, even some his personality seems to linger…
So, it was Pope returned as the Black Flame again, right? I’m not so sure. In this issue the Black Flame insults Johann the way Diestel once insulted Sledgehammer’s second pilot, Private Redding. That aspect of his personality still seems to be kicking around. And yet he doesn’t seem to remember the Sledgehammer armour. It’s clear when Johann firsts appears, the Black Flame doesn’t immediately know what he’s up against. It’s like fragments of Diestel remain, but in essence he’s gone.
Is the Black Flame Landis Pope with considerable power, or is Pope just a fading vessel being consumed by a force that’s far beyond him? I don’t know.
Or maybe I’m overthinking it. But I am curious as to what links the Black Flame to the Ogdru Jahad. And what links him to Liz.
“Daughter”? Make of that what you will.
Spoilers over.
This arc, End of Days, is the first half of the final Hell on Earth story, which means don’t expect anything to be to be tied up next month. Expect it to be ripped open. We’re in for a cliffhanger folks, make no mistake.
Honestly, this is agony. I want the next issue, but I don’t. January is going to be brutal.
Final verdict: 8.5.
