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| B.P.R.D. WAR ON FROGS No. 1, June 2008 |
The first of a four-issue limited series which concentrates
upon various members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense in their
war against the frog monsters of Sadu-Hem. This particular one-shot focuses upon
the character of Roger the Homunculus and formed part of “Dark Horse Comics”
lead-in to the release of the “Universal Pictures” motion picture “Hellboy II:
The Golden Army”.
Whether you agree with the publisher’s exploitation of the (then)
imminent movie’s publicity or not is fortunately somewhat immaterial though. As
despite containing a decidedly straightforward rather action-orientated storyline,
“Number 44 in a Series” appears to be a remarkably thought-provoking tale,
without hint or trace of having been rushed into publication simply to
‘piggy-back’ upon any increased public interest in Mike Mignola’s characters. Indeed
John Arcudi’s use of the unusually large artificial “little man” made from
herbs and blood as the emotional engine for ironically, a very human story of family
devotion and love, shows just how much deliberation must have gone into the
Italian-born American’s writing. Certainly if nothing else the former “Doom Patrol”
author evidently conducted some extensive research into the background of this
comic book series, undeniably tapping into the very first “Hellboy” mini-series
for his Cavendish Hall based narrative.
Whether this means Issue One of “War On
Frogs” is something of an epilogue to the fourteen year-old “Hellboy: Seed Of
Destruction” is debatable. What is clear though is that as soon as the authoritative
figure of Roger appears to take charge of the B.P.R.D. field team the reader’s
attention is never allowed to stray from his side. Whether the alchemist’s
construction is swimming through underground tunnels, exploring dank dark caverns
populated with distressed family heirlooms and dead bodies, or wrestling with
giant upright frogs and their tentacle-like tongues, all attention is entirely
focused upon the homunculus’ actions and thoughts.
Such a confining restrictive
storytelling technique could easily have suffocated the life from this dramatic animated tale. Instead it really helps Arcudi emphasise just
how increasingly demoralised and regretful the B.P.R.D. agent becomes when he
realises that the former Cavendish brothers hadn’t actually been hurting
anyone, and the only reason they became murderously violent was because he had sought
them out and trespassed upon the Frogs' grief and guilt; "who exactly were they bothering in the first place?"
Somewhat disturbing
however is that seminal Seventies artist Herb Trimpe actually provides the
illustrations for this magazine as guest penciller. Best known for his terrific
quality output on “The Incredible Hulk” by “Marvel Comics Group”, the New
Yorker’s drawings are completely unrecognisable as a result of Guy Davis’ heavy
distinctive-looking inking. In fact rather sadly, if the Inkpot Award-winner’s
name wasn’t so clearly credited on the book’s cover, many readers would
doubtless believe the pictures were solely the work of just Davis.
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| Story: John Arcudi, Pencils: Herb Trimpe, and Inks: Guy Davis |
