B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know

[URL="http://www.multiversitycomics.com/reviews/bprd-devil-you-know-15/"]We got the whole Mignolaversity crew together to review this one.[/URL] And I've definitely got to do a Hell Notes about this issue.

Some of you guys' thoughts are similar to my own regarding this final cycle.
Perhaps some personal stories of surviving characters may give them more of an ending but to be honest I am kind of disappointed.

With a story this huge with this many plot points the end was unfortunately fated to feel a bit impersonal and anemic without dragging on for many more issues. I am sad to see the crew go, but I think the point of Ragnarok is how we face our absolute end and what it reveals about our character; how do those actions and sacrifices inform the new world? In a way we all face our own personal Ragnarok in death; we all know it's coming and inevitable, how do you face it? Hellboy and the BPRD chose to go out as heroes.

I view Hellboy in Hell and this series as a means of Mike kind of controlling his story; he taking his toys and saying "this is my sandbox". I feel like most comic book creations, like Spider-man, or Batman, will never get definitive endings. This was just Mike's way of wrapping up Hellboy on his terms.

I actually really like the ending. I adore the final issue. I thought it was a genuinely great send off.

It's the 14 or so leading up to it I didn't love.

[SPOIL]I think, Hellboy, Liz and ABe all got the sendoffs we'd been told for years they would get. I thought it was all poetic and beautiful, in typical Mignola fashion.

It was the 14 previous issues of coldly dispatching all the other characters we'd spent years with, and checking off the plot lines that I didn't love. Even then, I didn't dislike the story, it just felt like it was done out of a need to be done with it, than an interest in doing it well. The final issue is the only one where I don't feel that way. There's moments here and there that I thought worked. I thought the Vampire bit was kind of perfectly Mignola in its anti climax, for example. They were never a big thing anyway.

But a lot of these characters I thought deserved more. Or better. [/SPOIL]

I'm also curious to read this in a sitting, and see how it sits that way. I read them monthly, but have not gone back and read anything yet.

I definitely plan on re-reading through the whole thing; easier to connect the dots in my feeble mind that way.

I have been reading the Mignolaverse for so long that I wasn't shocked to see that Mignola was going to handle some of the art on this last issue. I figured maybe 6, 8 if we're lucky, but 13 pages!!! Wow!
I enjoyed the pedal to the metal pace of TDYK very much. Sure, we could of had more character moments after key deaths, but that's been done before and there's no point in aping John's style in an attempt to possibly pull it off. This way, the door is open still to tell survivor underground stories and give it the space and the pacing it needs in order for it to work well.
I had read Frankenstein Underground again about a month ago. It paid off to have that fresh in my mind going into this last issue. Also, Campbell killed it! A top 3 BPRD artist for me.

Days later and I still kind of feel like I'm in shock from this.

[QUOTE=KROENEN;4319301]Days later and I still kind of feel like I'm in shock from this.[/QUOTE]Like your world ended or something?

I wouldn't go that far haha, but I tend to read some of the back issues daily, and it certainly feels different, like reading an obituary of a struggling world gone by.

Spoilers at the link...spoilers if you aren't caught up on TDYK #15.

I made a 10 page comic depicting my reaction to the last issue and it's up on [URL="https://www.mignolaverse.com/news/bein15"]Mignolaverse.com.[/URL]

Check it out!

[QUOTE=Matt Strackbein;4362773]Spoilers at the link...spoilers if you aren't caught up on TDYK #15.

I made a 10 page comic depicting my reaction to the last issue and it's up on [URL="https://www.mignolaverse.com/news/bein15"]Mignolaverse.com.[/URL]

Check it out![/QUOTE]

That was great Matt!

I just read through BPRD Devil you know vol 1-3. I Hadn't read any of the BPRD Hell on earth, just Hellboy omnis plus Witchfinder vol 1, Frankenstein Underground and Koshcei. So I could relate to how Hellboy felt, back on earth. I felt a bit behind, which I in a way think fit my experience reading these books.

But I have a question regarding Roger's grave.

1. What got Devon into going after - what turned out to be Roger's- grave? Was it intel from Fenix? I don't get it what he was after? Dig it up, and then what?
2. When they realised it was Roger's grave they were going after, what was the plan then? Just to bring him back to life, or did they have anything else planned?

I'd just like to get clued in a bit :) I enjoyed the book quite a lot, especially the last pages. Fantastic end to Hellboy.

Great ending to Hellboy gonna miss it oh well we still have one shots.

[URL="https://www.horrordna.com/features/exclusive-b-p-r-d-the-devil-you-know-omnibus-cover-revealed"]There's an omnibus coming in August...[/URL] much sooner than I expected!

That cover is beautiful! Caught me by surprise that Mike did the cover and not Laurence. But hey, I'm not complaining at all. One of my treasured spots on my bookcases is this run of Mignolaverse omnibus/hcs & library editions.