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  1. #16
    The Claw of Justice!
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    Sorry if I came off as elitist, that wasn't my intention. I certainly recommend giving Devil You Know a try! I totally understand that reading everything leading up to it (which would essentially be the whole Mignolaverse) would be a massive undertaking. I started reading BPRD monthly with #118, and I wasn't caught up at that point. But Arcudi's run is one of the greatest works of fiction ever, so I take every opportunity to recommend it.
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  2. #17
    Extraordinary Member thwhtGuardian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    Let's just say how two people here have already "suggested" not starting with The Devil You Know until after reading, what, more than maybe 75 or so previous issues? That almost becomes a discouragement rather than helpful advice.
    It's basically saying "don't bother trying it out".
    It's really not terrible as far as advice; BPRD in general and this latest story especially are not especially new reader friendly. The BPRD title is like a long form novel at this point and the pay off's and plot points rely tremendously on being very familiar with plot points that may have come out years before; if you're okay with being a little in the dark about who certain characters are or why different reveals are important that's fantastic, but I don't feel it's elitist to warn you that those kind of things might occur to yo while you're reading it.

  3. #18
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thwhtGuardian View Post
    It's really not terrible as far as advice; BPRD in general and this latest story especially are not especially new reader friendly. The BPRD title is like a long form novel at this point and the pay off's and plot points rely tremendously on being very familiar with plot points that may have come out years before; if you're okay with being a little in the dark about who certain characters are or why different reveals are important that's fantastic, but I don't feel it's elitist to warn you that those kind of things might occur to yo while you're reading it.
    The one catch is that I didn't start this as a "Where do I begin?" question/thread. I really wanted to find out if the tpb was only four issues worth of story or not.
    And besides, reading all those previous years of Earth being practically destroyed/taken over wouldn't necessarily be on the top of my list. I'll learn things as I go along. Remember, I'm an old guy. I actually started reading comic books back in the days of spinner racks and just newsstand distribution, well before there were comic book shops, trade paperback collections, and the internet. We didn't worry so much about not having bought the previous several issues of a comic book, and there wasn't even a guarantee that we would easily get the next issue when it came out! I think I can cope.

  4. #19
    Extraordinary Member thwhtGuardian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    The one catch is that I didn't start this as a "Where do I begin?" question/thread. I really wanted to find out if the tpb was only four issues worth of story or not.
    And besides, reading all those previous years of Earth being practically destroyed/taken over wouldn't necessarily be on the top of my list. I'll learn things as I go along. Remember, I'm an old guy. I actually started reading comic books back in the days of spinner racks and just newsstand distribution, well before there were comic book shops, trade paperback collections, and the internet. We didn't worry so much about not having bought the previous several issues of a comic book, and there wasn't even a guarantee that we would easily get the next issue when it came out! I think I can cope.
    It's not about whether there's a catch or not, it's just sound advice even for one used to just picking up issues back in the day with out a thought of what came before or the guarantee of getting the next issue. If you can cope, power to you man, but it's not elitist to point out that this book isn't user friendly...that's just a statement of a fact.

  5. #20
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    Devil You Know is great for new readers. If I was to say read anything (even though you didn't ask for the opinion), it would be Hellboy in Hell preceded by Storm and the Fury, but even that is more information than you strictly need. Everything else you need to know is that Howards is basically a modern Conan, Devon is a douchebag, Strode is an Exorcist with some former conflict with another antagonist who shows up, and Fenix is a precog. You'll pick up the rest on the way. It is well spoilery if you're gonna go back and read everything, but if you don't care about that or you're probably not gonna bother, it's all good. Enjoy.

    p.s. (and feel free to ignore this if you just want to keep reading the way you have been) I would definitely recommend you read things like Sledgehammer 44, Rise of the Black Flame, The Visitor, and Frankenstein Underground, but mostly just because they're fun and standalone and not because of connections to this story, which they mostly aren't (yet.) I'd also say you can pick up all of Plague of Frogs for an absolute steal in paperback omnibus format now. They're awesome, they follow directly on from Conquerer Worm, are $26 each and are three times as long as a regular TPB. There are four of them, so it'll cost you over $100 for the whole arc, but that's $300 of regular TPB material, and it's really great. I can tell from your OP that you're bargain conscious, and in the Hellboy universe it doesn't get better than that.

    p.p.s Anybody who wants to discuss with me why, from a story standpoint, Devil You Know is super accessible, I'm happy to explain at length because I recently used it as a basis for a practice TV pilot screenplay, so I've done a lot of digging into what makes the story tick. It's masterful.
    Last edited by zerodemon; 06-30-2018 at 09:19 AM.

  6. #21
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zerodemon View Post
    . . . I would definitely recommend you read things like Sledgehammer 44,
    Own the tpb collection and I'm re-reading it now.


    Quote Originally Posted by zerodemon View Post
    Rise of the Black Flame,
    Bought and read as single issues when they originally came out.


    Quote Originally Posted by zerodemon View Post
    The Visitor, and Frankenstein Underground, but mostly just because they're fun and standalone and not because of connections to this story, which they mostly aren't (yet.)
    Haven't bought/read those yet, but eventually expect to.


    Quote Originally Posted by zerodemon View Post
    I'd also say you can pick up all of Plague of Frogs for an absolute steal in paperback omnibus format now.
    I'm starting to look into those, but for some reason Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 don't seem to be available as tpb versions from barnesandnoble.com these days? (Is Dark Horse maybe not publishing those anymore at present?)

  7. #22
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    Looks like they’re out of stock at the Big Evil too. I know we have copies in stores here in Canada. Maybe try your local
    Comic book store.

  8. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    I'm starting to look into those, but for some reason Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 don't seem to be available as tpb versions from barnesandnoble.com these days? (Is Dark Horse maybe not publishing those anymore at present?)
    Dark Horse is reprinting the Plague of Frogs omnibuses in that latter half of this year.

  9. #24
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zerodemon View Post
    Looks like they’re out of stock at the Big Evil too. I know we have copies in stores here in Canada. Maybe try your local Comic book store.
    The store I use these days isn't quite as "local" and a little more of a drive to get to than the one I had been using (which closed earlier this year). Don't remember if they had any copies when I was there just recently; the Mignolaverse books aren't very plentiful there. (I don't know how many customers normally read them.)

    Quote Originally Posted by middenway View Post
    Dark Horse is reprinting the Plague of Frogs omnibuses in that latter half of this year.
    Thanks for that update.

  10. #25
    Not a girls name Jan Bentzen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by middenway View Post
    Dark Horse is reprinting the Plague of Frogs omnibuses in that latter half of this year.
    It´s the hardcover versions I hope ??

  11. #26
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jan Bentzen View Post
    It´s the hardcover versions I hope ??
    And then there are people like me who prefer the less-expensive trade paperback versions.
    (At least until I win a few million dollars in the lottery or something . . . )

  12. #27
    Incredible Member Kees_L's Avatar
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    According to this post on reddit: https://imgur.com/gallery/RwEY2eo

    Dark Horse is currently planning those upcoming Plague of Frogs omnibus reprints in TPB-format only.
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  13. #28
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kees_L View Post
    According to this post on reddit: https://imgur.com/gallery/RwEY2eo

    Dark Horse is currently planning those upcoming Plague of Frogs omnibus reprints in TPB-format only.
    That works for me (but may not be good news for JB).

  14. #29
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    Hardcovers are for those of us that couldn't wait for the paperbacks.

  15. #30
    Not a girls name Jan Bentzen's Avatar
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    If Dark Horse want´s us to buy all the BPRD - "Hell on on Earth" and Abe Sapien hardcover collections, they need to reprint the "Plague of Frogs" hardcovers.

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