Book Review: B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 3 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 3 stories by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; art by Guy Davis, and Dave Stewart; letters by Clem Robins

Another series of stories featuring the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, the place where Hellboy grew up and worked for years (though he is no longer with them in these stories). These tales naturally come after Volume 1 and Volume 2.

The Universal Machine--With the plague of frogs under control, the team assesses the damage. The biggest loss is the death of Roger the Homunculus, though Johann thinks he is not permanently dead. Kate Corrigan goes in search of an ancient tome that might have some way to bring Roger back, though the small, east European town she travels to has a lot more trouble than she bargained for. Meanwhile, back at HQ, Ben Daimio tells how he came back from the dead, a harrowing tale from the jungles of South America. The other staff tell horror tales from their past too. The overall story has a lot of character development for everyone with an unhappy ending for Roger.

The Garden of Souls--Abe gets another clue to the shrouded history of Everett Langdon Caul, his previous identity. He receives a strange message with a map to an Indonesian island. He and Daimio go there but find little in the city. Then Abe is approached by a little girl who gives him information about a secret island where Caul's former associates are waiting for his return. Abe takes an old boat provided, leaving Daimio in the dark about where he's gone. Daimio does some investigating on his end (because there's a bigger conspiracy taking place) as Abe sees the scientific horrors and ambitions of his old occult buddies. The story does a good job maintaining excitement and intrigue as the plot moves forward. A new recurring character is introduced, expanding an already rich cast. Abe's past is also very interesting, making the world of the B.P.R.D. larger and richer.

Killing Ground--Part of the transfer from Connecticut to Colorado for the B.P.R.D. headquarters is moving a prisoner. In a previous story, they had captured a Wendigo, a Canadian creature that takes the soul of its latest victim as its own. The soul has some control for a while but eventually the monster completely takes over. That's happened with this creature. Daimio has a weird fascination with the creature, so when it breaks out and starts killing, he has a lot of trouble (as does the rest of the Bureau). It's another melancholic tale that provides a lot of interesting moments and yet another sad ending, this time for Daimio.

The stories are becoming more personal, fleshing out the characters that have been introduced to the story. The developments with Abe Sapien, Kate Corrigan, and Ben Daimio are the most interesting. These volumes are a bit more pessimistic than the Hellboy stories. Hellboy struggles to overcome his fate of bringing about the end of the world. The B.P.R.D. struggles too but there seems to be less hope of success. The gore is very strong in this series, so it is definitely not for little kids.

Recommended.