B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Long Death #2
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artist: James Harren (cover by Duncan Fegredo)
Colorist: Dave Stewart
After seeing the carnage that last issue ended with, Johann Kraus is at a hospital with one of his lead agents. She’s very unhappy with him for leaving her and the rest of the team to try and locate his former friend, Captain Daimio. Needless to say, Kraus is obsessed with finding Daimio because he had infected Kraus previously. The agent is furious with Kraus, and tells him that she’s filing a report about his actions. He’s been quite negligent with his leadership of this team, and he’ll answer for that, no doubt. The matter at hand, though, is that Daimio is out in the wilderness, and killing at random. Johann and his team are tasked with finding and stopping him. Will Johann be able to put his personal feelings aside and take down Daimio? Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, we get to see an angry zombie moose and a Wendigo!
Alright, well, this issue was pretty good and thought provoking. That sometimes isn’t the case with this title. Typically the action outweighs any of the cerebral stuff, but not this time. Johann is in a pretty tough predicament with Daimio, and even though he declared that he will stop him, that has yet to be seen. Not that he hasn’t appeared to try, but is his heart really in it? That along with the anticipation of other B.P.R.D. agents (like Abe, Liz) hopefully making a triumphant return has me excited!
James Harren has quite a unique style that is great for this type of book. He does a great job with the “zombies” and makes the Wendigo seem really creepy! It’s not big and bulky like the Marvel version, but scary nonetheless. He somehow makes Johann, a formless being, look sad, even depressed. Yeah, the word balloons help, but just the expressions and mannerisms inspire sympathy. Dave Stewart is on his game, as well, with the colors. The panels where the team is surrounded by snow, but then finds huge amounts of blood, are a fantastic contrast. Overall this team couldn’t be doing any better. From Mignola and Arcudi writing, and Harren and Stewart with the art, this is a solid book even without any of the main players from the B.P.R.D. in it right now. Think about it, that is a huge testament to the job this team is doing. Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
