Book Review: B.P.R.D. Omnibus Vol. 4 by M. Mignola et al.

B.P.R.D. Omnibus Volume 4 written by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Guy Davis, art by Dave Stewart and Clem Robins

More adventures with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense!

1. The Warning--Abe has been trying to find Ben Daimio though bigger issues pull him away. Liz Sherman gets kidnapped by the mysterious stranger that has been haunting her, causing a lot of problems for the Bureau and for the world at large. The whole team heads to Germany where they make some very unhappy discoveries. The plague of frogs is not quite over as new players start stirring up trouble and the bleak fate of the world (i.e. the victory of the frogs) looms again. The story is a little choppy and seems more like a transition from one narrative to another, larger narrative. This is one of those plots that need to be read in context to understand what is going on.

2. The Black Goddess--The team pulls out all the stops to rescue Liz from Memnan Saa/Martin Gilfryd, a sorcerer who has been alive since the 1860s. He fought with Lobster Johnson, so Kate interviews the last member of Johnson's gang as Johann and Abe search through Johnson's old headquarters for clues. Their information leads them to a snowy Asian mountain where Memnan Saa is preparing for the war to come. The story ends with a narrative cliffhanger as an old character is reintroduced.

3. King of Fear--Kate and Johann work to resolve the Lobster Johnson situation as Abe and the rest of the crew work wind up fighting the titular King of Fear, who turns out to be The Black Flame. The Black Flame has been living underground for years and is working with the frog people and the Hyperboreans to get ready for the next step in evolution, something the rest of the world, and certainly the B.P.R.D., probably doesn't want to happen. The story is exciting with a lot going on and many portents of doom. Having read most of the stuff that comes after, it's both disheartening and impressive to see how early a lot of plans were laid. I enjoyed the development of the characters, especially some minor ones like Devon (a regular human B.P.R.D. agent).

These stories mark the transition from the Plague of Frogs storyline to the Hell on Earth saga. The personal stories of Liz and Abe are the most interesting, though both of them are moving to darker futures. 

Mildly recommended--you have to be a fan of the series to get what's going on.