BPRD Hardcover

[thwhtGuardian]

No, it's been collected in the trade BPRD: Being Human along with The Dead Remembered, Casualties and Being Human. That trade is missing a number on its spine which is conspicuous because all the numbered BPRD books will go out of print as they are replaced by the omnibuses, which makes me think that at this point Scott Allie isn't sure it ever will go to the omnibus format. I think it really will depend if enough other loose BPRD stories are written for it to be gathered with.

Ah I forgot it was in that book, I bought that just to read Casualties since I missed out on the digital code.

Maybe they could make an omnibus with those stories plus the Abe minis and the recent J.H. O'Donnell story and call it BPRD: The Dead Remembered and Other Beginnings.

I'd buy that in a heart beat.

[memvnzoom]

you beat me to it...hahaha!

yes, i agree with you

[Middenway]

Ah I forgot it was in that book, I bought that just to read Casualties since I missed out on the digital code.

Maybe they could make an omnibus with those stories plus the Abe minis and the recent J.H. O'Donnell story and call it BPRD: The Dead Remembered and Other Beginnings.

I'd buy that in a heart beat.

Considering Abe Sapien is about to launch into a really big future, I think it's far more likely that series will get its own omnibuses. And the O'Donnell story will certainly find its way into the Hell on Earth omnibuses. Given enough time, I'm reasonably sure enough loose stories will accumulate. It's just a matter of waiting.

[Cyber-Kun]

Lovely cover!

I look forward to hearing what they have planned once the Plague of Frogs omnibi are complete. Presumably a bit of a break. There are surely enough 'loose' stories out there to compile into a bridge edition before Hell on Earth!?

I hope there's no break, I had only read Hellboy through the trades, and once I finished those I decided to try BPRD through these hardcover omnibuses (first time ever reading the series in any form) and waiting for these to come out is maddening (I don't want to get the regular trades at this point because the hardcovers are a great price and I don't like weird numbering on the spine mixed with other editions).
There's what... 18 trades or so of BPRD? So it should be simple to collect them in these hardcovers...

[Middenway]

Welcome to the Hellboy Forum, Cyber-Kun!

As for the omnibuses... It's not simple at all, I'm afraid. When Plague of Frogs was collected in hardcover, the stories were juggled around to make for a more logical reading order (read Scott Allie's introduction in the second BPRD Plague of Frogs omnibus volume for more information about that). Scott Allie has already said that they won't begin collecting BPRD Hell on Earth in hardcovers until the entire cycle is complete. Hell on Earth is going to be longer than the Plague of Frogs cycle too (which was 12 trades split into four omnibus volumes). The third Hell on Earth trade only just came out last month.

The only other BPRD volumes uncollected are BPRD: 1946, BPRD: 1947 and BPRD: Being Human. You'll note that BPRD: Being Human does not have a number on it's spine. This is because it was the first BPRD trade to be released since the Plague of Frogs omnibuses came out. The old trades go out of print as the omnibuses are released. What's the point of pointing a number on its spine when the previous volumes will no longer be available? So it's likely it will not be collected for a long time yet if at all. As for 1946 and 1947, they'll probably be collected with 1948 one day. Since BPRD: 1948 hasn't even come out in singles yet (it comes October 2012 - February 2013), let alone come out as a trade (that'll be roughly August 2013), I wouldn't expect to see it in omnibus format any time soon.

The good news is BPRD Hell on Earth is coming out much faster than Plague of Frogs did. This year alone has brought out enough material to fill a full omnibus, and there's seems to be no signs of slowing down. By the end of 2015, there may well be enough material to fill four omnibuses. But like I said, none of them will come out until the Hell on Earth cycle is complete, so I wouldn't expect any Hell on Earth omnibuses until late 2016 at the very earliest (and even that is extremely optimistic). You've got to remember that those four Plague of Frogs volumes represent nine years of work.

Maybe we might see an omnibus collecting 1946, 1947 and 1948 in 2015 or, if we're lucky, as early as 2014, but the wait is unavoidable if the books are to maintain the high level of quality.

[Cyber-Kun]

Welcome to the Hellboy Forum, Cyber-Kun!

As for the omnibuses... It's not simple at all, I'm afraid. When Plague of Frogs was collected in hardcover, the stories were juggled around to make for a more logical reading order (read Scott Allie's introduction in the second BPRD Plague of Frogs omnibus volume for more information about that). Scott Allie has already said that they won't begin collecting BPRD Hell on Earth in hardcovers until the entire cycle is complete. Hell on Earth is going to be longer than the Plague of Frogs cycle too (which was 12 trades split into four omnibus volumes). The third Hell on Earth trade only just came out last month.

The only other BPRD volumes uncollected are BPRD: 1946, BPRD: 1947 and BPRD: Being Human. You'll note that BPRD: Being Human does not have a number on it's spine. This is because it was the first BPRD trade to be released since the Plague of Frogs omnibuses came out. The old trades go out of print as the omnibuses are released. What's the point of pointing a number on its spine when the previous volumes will no longer be available? So it's likely it will not be collected for a long time yet if at all. As for 1946 and 1947, they'll probably be collected with 1948 one day. Since BPRD: 1948 hasn't even come out in singles yet (it comes October 2012 - February 2013), let alone come out as a trade (that'll be roughly August 2013), I wouldn't expect to see it in omnibus format any time soon.

The good news is BPRD Hell on Earth is coming out much faster than Plague of Frogs did. This year alone has brought out enough material to fill a full omnibus, and there's seems to be no signs of slowing down. By the end of 2015, there may well be enough material to fill four omnibuses. But like I said, none of them will come out until the Hell on Earth cycle is complete, so I wouldn't expect any Hell on Earth omnibuses until late 2016 at the very earliest (and even that is extremely optimistic). You've got to remember that those four Plague of Frogs volumes represent nine years of work.

Maybe we might see an omnibus collecting 1946, 1947 and 1948 in 2015 or, if we're lucky, as early as 2014, but the wait is unavoidable if the books are to maintain the high level of quality.

Thank you for the info (as well as the welcome), I literally know nothing of the storylines for BPRD, I tend to keep myself blind and buy the trades as to not spoil a thing for me. I see the storylines seem to jump around timeline-wise, and if Plague of Frogs are the only books being shuffled into this hardcover format for the time being, I'm ok with that. I just hope that the "leftover" BPRD trades (like these 19-- books) will be reprinted without numbering on the spine so I can put them in some form of order on my shelf and not having weird numbering jumps. I'm weird like that.
Thanks again for the info!

[Middenway]

1946 and 1947 are the first two parts of the Secret Origins trilogy which ends with 1948 and will probably be collected in a Secret Origins omnibus one day (although this is unconfirmed. We'll only know for certain when it pops up in solicitations). So if you really want to avoid the numbers on the spine, that's the one to wait for. The rest is all Hell on Earth stuff, except BPRD: Being Human (which is unnumbered).

[Cyber-Kun]

1946 and 1947 are the first two parts of the Secret Origins trilogy which ends with 1948 and will probably be collected in a Secret Origins omnibus one day (although this is unconfirmed. We'll only know for certain when it pops up in solicitations). So if you really want to avoid the numbers on the spine, that's the one to wait for. The rest is all Hell on Earth stuff, except BPRD: Being Human (which is unnumbered).

And I can read the above mentioned books with only knowing Plague of Frogs and Hellboy books and not be lost?

[Middenway]

1946, 1947 and Being Human stand alone perfectly fine. Hell on Earth is a direct continuation of Plague of Frogs though.

[Cyber-Kun]

1946, 1947 and Being Human stand alone perfectly fine. Hell on Earth is a direct continuation of Plague of Frogs though.

Good to know, thank you. I will buy those books after vol. 4 of the hardcovers come out, hopefully with new printings maybe the "19" books will have no numbers. Hell on Earth trade re-starts at vol. 1, correct?

[Middenway]

Hell on Earth trade re-starts at vol. 1, correct?

That is correct.

[thwhtGuardian]

I just finished reading volume 2 and while it was fun to get those stories all together and read them in one go it reminded me why I disliked that period of time in BPRD. I loved Daimio, the introduction of the new HQ and the death of Roger was still powerful but I really hated the War on Frogs despite the lovely art. It was just too militaristic for me and turned me off, but I don't regret buying the book though as the sketches at the end made it worth it in and of themselves.

[Skinkie]

Can somebody tell me, for the War of Frogs part of the Omnibus did they flip the order of teh Johann and Daimio stories? I know in the trade the Daimio one is first, but I think the dates listed in the comics themselves put them in the opposite order. Plus in Johann's story Daimio learns someone is still making more frogs and goes off to find them which flows nicely into his story. I always found it kind of odd that the order was off so I was just curious if that got fixed for the Ultimate Reading Order

[thwhtGuardian]

Can somebody tell me, for the War of Frogs part of the Omnibus did they flip the order of teh Johann and Daimio stories? I know in the trade the Daimio one is first, but I think the dates listed in the comics themselves put them in the opposite order. Plus in Johann's story Daimio learns someone is still making more frogs and goes off to find them which flows nicely into his story. I always found it kind of odd that the order was off so I was just curious if that got fixed for the Ultimate Reading Order

I don't know about any changes with Johann and Daimio stories but in the intro it says that the presentation in the trade with Liz's story at the end rather than before Johann was the correct order. For the omnibus this changed slightly as Black Flame #1 was moved to become the first part of the War on Frogs and the Liz story then became an epilogue to the Black Flame.

I never got the trades, so it's nothing I ever noticed but that's what it says in the intro.

[thwhtGuardian]

I just preordered the fourth volume, November 20th can't come fast enough.