B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #103: The Abyss of Time part 1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie
Artist: James Harren
Colors: Dave Stewart
In a story that takes place before the Return of the Master, agents of the BPRD are descending through a building in a shady neighborhood in Chicago. They’re led there by a junkie that claims he’s heard of people going down to the basement, and never being heard from again. They creep down to the basement, and then even lower. Once in the depths of the structure, they find what appears to be a temple. One that was for the worship of Ra, and it has been around for centuries. The cult ran all across Europe, but then stalled in England around the time of Jack the Ripper. One of the agents finds a wall of weapons, and as he grabs it, well, what happens next is absolutely mind-boggling.
OK, well, this book had some good points and some that were less than marvelous. First off, the part when the agents found the room with the artifacts and such was great. The panels left you wanting more, but before you know it, you’re slung into some kind of time warp or something, and things got way too complicated. The beginning with the junkie was a little slow, too, but it still was an overall satisfactory read. The main problem was that this issue seems to be just more of the same thing. Now granted, things did get crazy after the agent grabbed the artifact, but it also went so wild you couldn’t tell up from down.
Artistically, the book was solid and exactly what has been the high standard that Dark Horse has for this title. James Harren is always on his game when he does a BPRD book. Along with the colors of Dave Stewart, the book was definitely picked up immensely by the artwork. If the art would have been bad, this would have been just average. The cover was fantastic, and really makes you sit back and just be in awe. You rarely get a cover and interiors that are top notch these days, so even if the story leaves you bored, the artwork certainly helps pick the book up. Rating 2.5/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
