BPRD Hardcover

[UnravThreads]

Hellboy its its own thing. I've read upto (and including) volume 8. It isn't impacted by B.P.R.D. at all, as far as I'm aware, so yes - it is it's own thing. B.P.R.D., however, fundamentally requires some Hellboy knowledge so whilst it is its own thing as such, it still has that fundamental tie to Hellboy.

Hellboy is definitely Mignola's own. More so than any other series he currently has out - Baltimore, Witchfinder, B.P.R.D. - they're all affected by the influence of others. So is Hellboy, but I would think Mignola keeps a very, very tight hold on it.

I understand there's a reason for all the archaic languages, and I know they add to the atmosphere, but for me it puts me off a bit. It takes me out of it, it doesn't draw me in.

On the other hand, Roger and Ben talking about wearing pants drew me in.

[Kees_L]

The Hellboy being its own thing I didn't mean as 'keeping a hold' and foremostly I think the BPRD is an extension of Hellboy. What I meant was that anyone on the creative team including Scott Allie sounds like describing Hellboy or Hellboy & the BPRD as being Mignola's thing - which does not mean that there wouldn't be people lending assistance to it, such as John Byrne, Scott Allie, Christopher Golden, Dave Stewart, John Arcudi, Guy Davis, Richard Corben - all of them, up to Tyler Crook or James Harren or Cameron Stewart.
Plus as an aside: don't be so sure the BPRD doesn't impact Hellboy - in at least one BPRD trade or story arc the background of Hecate gets touched upon and with it also bits about what could mean the origin of the Right Hand Of Doom both as the Ogdru Jahad. So the link between Hellboy and the BPRD (plus also the link to Witchfinder) does work both ways I would think.

I meant that Hellboy means to being its own thing, albeit with taking the liberty of using different sort of stories (from short ones to epic trilogies), using different formats (comic / prose / short prose / western both as coming-of-age both as steampunk both as different folklore influences andsoforth)
where the BPRD seems more rather a team comic. As standing right next to X-Men or Teen Titans but as being the BPRD.

Hellboy seems meant broader or more profoundly or more specificly its own thing than just meeting up with comic book expectations. Hellboy might make some use of different languages and different story matter than what typical superhero comics would make use of. That's what I'd mean. Eventhough such would only be my personal opinion, so people would do well to form their own ones despite it.

[PreacherCain]

Finished the third hardcover omnibus today. Fantastic stuff! Probably the best of the lot so far. Davis' art is outstanding; I absolutely love those Victorian machine-men from Garden of Souls. Excellent character work from Arcudi throughout; with these collections, you really appreciate just how much planning and preparation he's put into laying the groundwork for the series.

I presume once Vol. 4 comes out and completes the Plague of Frogs storyline then we'll get some kind of odds and ends Vol. 5 collecting Being Human and maybe the Abe Sapien series? I really hope they eventually collect 1946/7/8 as they've been a personal favourite of mine. Can't wait for 1948!

I came to both series quite late having read a friends copies so now I'm buying Hellboy in the Library Edtions (and new issues as they come out cos' I can't wait!) and BPRD in these excellent Omnibus hardcovers. They really are fantastic value and beautifully presented.

[UnravThreads]

I, personally, would bet on hardcovers moving straight into Hell on Earth.

[Middenway]

I presume once Vol. 4 comes out and completes the Plague of Frogs storyline then we'll get some kind of odds and ends Vol. 5 collecting Being Human and maybe the Abe Sapien series? I really hope they eventually collect 1946/7/8 as they've been a personal favourite of mine. Can't wait for 1948!

If the Abe Sapien series is ever collected, it'll probably be under its own banner not B.P.R.D.'s. That series is gonna get a lot bigger. After the second trade, the Abe Sapien stories will be set parallel to the events of Hell on Earth, so there's going to be some pretty dramatic changes coming.

I can't wait for 1948 either. I really hope it's still on schedule for this year. And with the 1940s saga wrapping up so neatly in three volumes, it would be a shame for it not to have a hardcover omnibus released.

As for Hell on Earth...

Scott Allie has indicated that Hell on Earth will get the omnibus treatment eventually, but also emphatically stated that there will be no work on the omnibuses until the Hell on Earth cycle is complete. Just like War on Frogs was juggled to an earlier point in the story for a better reading order, Hell on Earth will likely have its own shuffles which can't be figured out until it's finished and Scott Allie knows how long it's all going to be (John Arcudi has said it will be at least twelve trades worth of material).

Keep in mind too that B.P.R.D. is picking up pace with two issues coming out every month for the foreseeable future. That's nearly five trades worth of material in a single year, enough material to fill an omnibus in just eight months (which, incidentally, is the space of time between each Plague of Frogs volume). So yeah, you'll have to wait for Hell on Earth omnibus volumes, but not that long.

[horror_of_sorts]

My guess is that these three issues and two issue arcs will be collected together like Gods and Monsters so that's quite a few trades by the end of the year.

• New World
• Gods andf Monsters
• Russia
• The Long Death/Pickens County Horror
• The Devil's Engine/Exorcism
• Untitled five issue story that runs until December

That's six Hell on Earth trades or two Hell on Earth omnibus already

[Middenway]

...and more still to come. I'm sure there will be big announcements for the latter half of 2012 soon (since the solicitations have now caught up with all the announced titles). I'm really hoping 1948 will be among them.

[Skinkie]

My guess is that these three issues and two issue arcs will be collected together like Gods and Monsters so that's quite a few trades by the end of the year.

• New World
• Gods andf Monsters
• Russia
• The Long Death/Pickens County Horror
• The Devil's Engine/Exorcism
• Untitled five issue story that runs until December

That's six Hell on Earth trades or two Hell on Earth omnibus already

I think your list of thinking matches the one I proposed that Scott Allie shot down saying that no one had quite guessed how they were going to do it, but he thought we would be pleasantly surprised. I thought it made sense to pair a 3 issue main story with a 2 issue side story in collection, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

[UnravThreads]

It could be that all these mini-series are collected into a single, more expensive trade.

[Middenway]

I think your list of thinking matches the one I proposed that Scott Allie shot down saying that no one had quite guessed how they were going to do it, but he thought we would be pleasantly surprised. I thought it made sense to pair a 3 issue main story with a 2 issue side story in collection, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

I've no idea what he's planning. I think The Long Death and The Devil's Engine will likely be collected together as their covers seem to be part of a set, just like Ryan Sook's covers for Gods and Monsters. As for the rest, well, I'd assume The Pickens County Horror, The Transformation of J.H. O'Donnell and Exorcism would be collected together, but like you said, Scott Allie said they were going to be collected a little differently, so... I don't know. Maybe they're trying something that'll make a clear division between the ongoing stories and the side stories? Clearly I'm not very imaginative this morning...

[Jelio]

The ideal reading order of the entire mignola verse is really weird because there are multiple reading order paths.

Publication date or Hellboy through to conqueror worm then BPRD then back to Hellboy at some point ... then when is the best time to read Lobster Johnson and Witchfinder and BPRD 1947 ect...

[horror_of_sorts]

The ideal reading order of the entire mignola verse is really weird because there are multiple reading order paths.

Publication date or Hellboy through to conqueror worm then BPRD then back to Hellboy at some point ... then when is the best time to read Lobster Johnson and Witchfinder and BPRD 1947 ect...

I uploaded this list and when I want to read the whole thing through I follow that list. It's in order of published trade paperback.

[Middenway]

The ideal reading order of the entire mignola verse is really weird because there are multiple reading order paths.

Publication date or Hellboy through to conqueror worm then BPRD then back to Hellboy at some point ... then when is the best time to read Lobster Johnson and Witchfinder and BPRD 1947 ect...

I've thought about putting together a reading order a few times, but it'd mainly be for my own benefit, just to please myself. It's such an arbitrary thing. Personally, I find I tend to get the most satisfaction by reading the side stories at points when they become relevant to the ongoing story. Like Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus, it stands alone, but it's clearly meant to be read before B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess, so I like to read it right after The Killing Ground when the character makes his first impact on the main B.P.R.D. plotline. Then I like to read Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels after B.P.R.D.: The Warning when that Hollow Earth plotline has returned. It just helps to give me a fuller picture of the unfolding story.

Then there are other stories which were written to be read in a certain order, but due to publishing constraints were released in a different order. So with the War on Frogs stories, I prefer to read them out of publishing order, and in the intended order as they are collected in the trade.

Then there are others, like The Ectoplasmic Man published in 2008 after many B.P.R.D. stories have already come along, but I like to read it straight after Conqueror Worm and before Hollow Earth as a sort of introduction to the B.P.R.D. series. I have no reason to read it in this order except that I like it this way.

Another patch of stories which I find don't really fit anywhere are B.P.R.D.: The Dead Remembered, Abe Sapien: The Drowning, and B.P.R.D.: Casualties, which I like to read as a set in that order since Casualties is like an epilogue to both stories.

Then there are just those odd little Hellboy shorts like The Troll-Witch, which is set chronologically long before Box Full of Evil, but it is clear from reading it that the reader is meant to be aware of the crown Hellboy wears even if he isn't aware of it yet. So the point of view of the story places it in a reading order after that information is first revealed in Box Full of Evil.



Slightly sideways for a moment, writing this post got me thinking about what Scott Allie had previously said about how the latest B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth stories would be collected...

Your assumptions about how things are being collected are not accurate, but I think you'll agree, reluctantly, that what we're doing will make sense.

... Perhaps the shorter side-stories like The Pickens County Horror won't be collected immediately. Pickens after all is picking up on the vampire plotline, and I'm pretty sure it's not going to end there, so perhaps at some point in the near future further B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth vampire stories will be collected together with it. Considering that Jason Latour is sticking around (according to a recent Hellmail), he may even be doing the next part of the ongoing vampire story. And I know after Exorcism Cameron Stewart has suggested he may do another story with Ashley Strode, so there may be an entire trade full of stories with her.

Just a theory though. I've got nothing whatsoever to back this up.

[UnravThreads]

And I know after Exorcism Cameron Stewart has suggested he may do another story with Ashley Strode, so there may be an entire trade full of stories with her.

That "thud" sound you just heard was me fainting.

[Middenway]

That "thud" sound you just heard was me fainting.

Before you get too excited, that was a "he may" not a "he will".