Nate's Reviews > B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth, Vol. 1

“New World” is a classic B.P.R.D. story that nicely transitions from the old world to the new one where Ogdru Hem have awakened. It starts out small with Abe going off on his own to investigate something in Canada, while we see growing tensions between other B.P.R.D. members now that they report to the U.N. Kate is stressed out, Panya is sneaking around, and Johann seems to be trying to revive Roger. The team dynamics have certainly changed, and Abe gets a taste of what’s to come, monster-wise. This is just a really solid read with good dialogue and action. Well done.

After a short story featuring a pair of B.P.R.D. agents, we get the dual “Gods” and “Monsters.” These focus on groups of people surviving in the aftermath of the Houston volcano. In “Gods,” we see some kids roaming around under the hesitant leadership of a psychic girl named Fenix. I’m interested to see where this goes. This story also has the potential death of a major character; I’m guessing it’s not permanent but it’s still shocking. Then, “Monsters” picks up Liz’s story where she’s living with hillbillies in a trailer park. Normally I love Liz but this story felt a little off to me. Maybe it’s the focus on frogs, which I’m kind of done with honestly. Tyler Crook comes on board for this arc, and his art fits like a glove. No disrespect to Guy Davis but I like Crook’s style better.

Then we have “Russia.” This is the best story in the collection, as it expands the scope of the Ogdru Hem world even more. Kate and Johann head to Russia where weird things are happening. Namely, that zombies are building a large structure near a mine that a psychic explored and came back from infected. The Russian team is led by Iosef, the soldier from the Abe Sapien story “Abyssal Plain.” He’s basically an asshole here, and seems to be slated for a major villain role, or at least a pain in the ass for B.P.R.D. That last page has me really interested in what comes next with him.

The collection closes with the 8-pager “An Unmarked Grave.” Kate meets Father Bill and Alice in England and gets caught up on Hellboy’s fate in “The Storm and the Fury.” You’ll want to read that before this.