This week, our resident Mignologists, David Harper and Brian Salvatore, excise their personal demons to talk about the conclusion to “Excorcism!”
Written by Mike Mignola and Cameron Stewart
Illustrated by Cameron StewartField agent Ashley Strode attempts to purge a demon from a 100-year-old exorcist, utilizing a deadly rite that sends both of them into a spiritual hell.
*Owl demons!
*Featuring the origin of Ota Benga from B.P.R.D.: 1947.
Brian: As Robert Frost once said, “Nothing gold can stay,” and we find ourselves at the end of of “B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Execution” after only two short issues. Last month, we gushed big time over this book, and gave major props to Cameron Stewart for his incredible work on both sides of the creative team. How do you feel issue #2 held up to its predecessor?
David: You know, I thought the conclusion to Exorcism was great. Just like in the first issue, it did a wonderful job of bringing a seemingly obvious supernatural tie to B.P.R.D. – the act of exorcising demons – into the reality in the book, and it made it all the more badass. Most specifically, it was a wonderful introduction to the character of Ashley Strode. I’m going to go ahead and say this – if she doesn’t become a near regular in this world, it’s a damn shame. I enjoyed the hell out of her, especially the way her confidence grew over the period of these two issues.
So ultimately, the character work crushed for me. I was a big, big fan of it, and am totally onboard with Strode. What about you?
Brian: There is literally nothing not to like here, besides the short issue count. This is the world building we’ve talked so much about in this column done exactly right. We got a new character who has a purpose, a unique skill set, strong motivations, and a kick-ass backstory. Like you said, this feels just like a B.P.R.D. story, despite tackling some new areas of the supernatural.
So let’s break this down a bit, and start with the art. Stewart is clearly a god among insects, and his work here is all the evidence we should need of that.
David: We already knew that to a degree. I mean, the guy has been awesome on everything he’s done for…well, his whole career. But he’s a great fit for B.P.R.D. for a number of reasons. First off, his writing style fits well with Mignola’s like John Arcudi’s does – brings out the character and the emotions in the big ideas. Second off, obviously his art is incredible. There were a lot of big moments, but the fight between Ashley and the demon once it inhabited the goat was amazing. Such an important part of B.P.R.D. art is their capability at creating scary, badass monsters. And man, how great was that?
Brian: That scene was incredible; the fear, knowledge, courage, and intelligence of Strode were all on clear display, and the scene had me on the edge of my seat. What I love about Stewart’s art is that even though he pays great attention to detail, his work never appears overstuffed or flashy for its own sake. Each line is well placed and appears necessary.
As for the story, I particularly enjoyed the first few pages, where we see Strode and Ota struggling with the perception differences between the “real world” and Ota’s body, where Sybacco is being held. While we think that Ota is on Strode’s side, the paranoia that Stewart both draws on her face and puts in her words let us see how she could be confused like this
David: Well, first off it wasn’t Sybacco being held. That’s the one in the boy Strode originally visited. Marquis Andras is the big badass Strode fights in goat form.
But I agree – the opening was very strong. I love that, even though she knows full well that she is being unnaturally paranoid, she still can’t fight it and almost comes to blows with Ota. As you said, Stewart’s art was very emotive in those scenes and made her panic all the more palpable. It’s a killer mini-series, and kind of bums me out that we won’t have any more Stewart on B.P.R.D. any time soon.
Continued belowBrian: My b, maybe I’m demon-racist, because they all sound the same to me.
Yeah, that is the shame of having a higher profile guy like Stewart do the occasional B.P.R.D. story, is that you know they will be few and far between.
This reminds me of a more successful “Pickens County Horror,” where a familiar supernatural concept is brought into the Mignolaverse, and done so in a creative way. I liked “Pickens,” bu this just takes everything to a different level. One thing both series also have in common, with Becky Cloonan handling “Pickens,” and the Brian-approved Victor Kavalchev tackling these. When you take into account the cover artists, the regular crew of artists, and the Stewarts of the world who pop in from time time to time, I can’t think of a more formidable gang of artists in all of comics.
David: I have to say, I didn’t even notice Cloonan or Kalvachev on either of those books, which is weird because I LOVE Kalvachev’s cover art. Crazy big fan, am I. I agree though – the artists involved with B.P.R.D. became far more expansive with Guy Davis off, and any one of them isn’t as good as him, but combine them and this is still as attractive of a book as there is in comics.
I do have to say though, since Russia and The Long Death, Pickens and this are my favorite stories from B.P.R.D. It’s been in an odd slump – the Mignolaverse has been, with the last LoJo story falling flat for me – but these asides have been stronger than the main story for me recently. What about you?
Brian: This is, I think, my favorite B.P.R.D. mini of 2012. There just isn’t much more I can say about it without just continuing to gush. You’re right, the “main” stories haven’t been killer lately, but they have been good enough, which in non-B.P.R.D. books would be great. These books are just so consistently great that for us to have this column, we really need to nitpick and break these apart. Writing about these books has made me hyper-critical of even the smallest missteps. But after “The Devil’s Engine” basically being two minor tales sewed together not all that seamlessly, the focus of this mini really shines through in a great way.
So, I’m going to assume that I’m not alone in giving this book a very high score – a 9 seems fair to me, although I could be persuaded to go higher.
David: I’m going to go with a 9 for the issue and the mini-series overall. It was a great comic book, but from a written and art standpoint. Really looking forward to what’s next for Ashley Strode. I really, really hope she’s a factor going forward.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
