Hellboy & B.P.R.D. Omnibus: 1946-1948, review: the B.P.R.D. before Hellboy!

When Hellboy made his appearance in the comic book world, Mike Mignola, by his own admission, was unaware of the success the beefy Red was going to have. Although born in the middle of the Modern Age of comics, Hellboy was outside the circuit of the two great giants of comics, yet, thanks to the sparkling and unbridled climate of that period, he had considerable success. Consecration that led to the birth of various spin offs, including Hellboy & B.P.R.D., Which is recently proposed by Magic Press in collector's volumes. A look at the Hellboy universe starting with Hellboy & B.P.R.D. Omnibus: 1946-1948

Hellboy & B.P.R.D. Omnibus could only begin with that two-year period, central to the chronology of the Red saga. In the first story in which the devil of Mignola appears, The Seed of Destruction, we witness the 'birth' of Hellboy, which took place on a dark night in 1944, but immediately we come to the present in which Red is an adult and enjoys his favorite sport: fist fights with monsters!

Telling the past of Hellboy's world

This temporal hole, in reality, represents an incredible opportunity for all those authors who have joined Mignola in giving depth and life to the world of Hellboy. But, always in compliance with the ruthless law of continuity, it was necessary to shape the history of this incredible character, and the choice, as Scott Allie tells in the introduction of Hellboy & B.P.R.D. Omnibus: 1946-1948, was to give life to a Companion, a 'companion' of readings that would help not get lost in the events of Red's life.

But writing the Companion had a totally unexpected effect on Mignola, according to Allie

“While elaboravamo the chronological sequence of the facts already known, Mike seemed more interested in whatever could be in those years. [....] The best thing about the Companion is that it has had as a direct result of the stories contained in this volume is”

Translated: in constructing the history of the existence of Hellboy, there were new stories . Adventures that the protagonist, the young Red, but that help to better design an essential person in his life, but whose early death in the debut of the character prevents the necessary deepening: Trevor Bruttenholm .

The adventures of a young Bruttenholm

adoptive Father of Hellboy, a charismatic figure, and a director for years of the B. P. R. D., the arrival of the Red in 1944 Bruttenholm is a young scholar of the occult and the paranormal. Mignola, developing the intuition that flowed from the creation of the Companion , decided to fill the gap of lost years in The Seed of destruction and separated them on that dark night of 1944 from the first adventure of Hellboy.

Choice that fits perfectly within the concept of Mignola's world of Hellboy , it is lived not as a monolithic entity but as a key element of a narrative universe in which there are space different insights into the narrative, from Lobster Johnson, B. P. R. D.

due to the existence of Red within a mysterious agency, however, it was necessary to show the first steps of this institution, but, more importantly, finally give to professor Bruttenholm and the right space. To give assistance to this new narrative is, above all, the historical context: the second world war . Taking advantage of the already mentioned obsession of the Reich to the occult and the paranormal, is built to be a trilogy of stories that give additional strength to the world of Hellboy , giving the adoptive father of Red the opportunity to show your own personality.

Before entering in the three narrative arcs more ( 1946 , 1947 and 1948 ), Mignola, flanked by Johsua Dystart, reveals two moments of the past, of Bruttenholm in And what do we find? and The devil of the bishop Olek . We are faced with two short stories that help, however, to understand, humanly, the character , the first in giving us the measure of his interest in the occult, and the second detector of a strength of mind and a special bond with the little Hellboy that will become the fulcrum of his existence. Not surprisingly, these two short stories are included as a Prologue in Hellboy & B. P. R. D. Omnibus: 1946-1948, a first step for the reader into a fascinating world and fully inserted within the continuity of Hellboy .

in Fact, to be honest Hellboy & B. P. R. D. Omnibus: 1946-1948 represents the basis of the continuity of Hellboy . Inside of the 1946,1947 and 1948 is, in fact, created a synergy between the known elements of the saga of Red and the new ideas particularly successful , giving life to a narrative new, but is based on a family background to the reader.

The presence of enemies, such as Von Klempt, the nazi threat is still not eradicated completely, and the weird science of the Reich appreciated in the stories of Hellboy , in fact, is interwoven with new characters, such as the fantastic and creepy Varvara, the corresponding soviet of Bruttenholm. The winning idea is the have set in this period of tense and historically complex that would have originated in the Cold War, a story in which the protagonist is not in a position of dominance , but rather to be put at such a disadvantage compared to the counterparty.

Bruttenholm, while being prepared, it is necessary to handle threats, earthly and paranormal, which force him to revise not only the way of conceiving reality, but also his obsession with the occult. The reader, however, accustomed to seeing a semi-god struggling with mystical entities, and threats to other planes of existence, finds himself to participate in an adventure extremely human, in which to oppose these paranormal threats are men armed with courage and tenacity. It is a step-change narrative is compelling, perfect to define the essential features of the B. P. R. D. in which militerò then also our beloved Hellboy.

The skill of Mignola and his collaborators, is to have kept Hellboy to the margin of the stories of Hellboy & B. P. R. D. Omnibus: 1946-1948 . The reader, obviously, knows that Red exists, it is mentioned but not as the focus of the narrative but rather as an extension of emotional Bruttenholm , becoming an element of enrichment for the figure of the professor. Is the proof of how Mignola is able to create a narrative universe which, although resting on the mighty shoulders of Hellboy, has the possibility to expand in the direction of autonomous, without vacillamenti or lack of great ideas.

Great names for great stories

To give depth to the stories in Hellboy & B. P. R. D. Omnibus: 1946-1948 is the presence of an artistic cast of the first order. To sign the plates of 1946, Paul Azaceta ( Outcast ), 1947 has the creative verve of the brazilian brothers Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba ( The Umbrella Academy ) and 1948 is entrusted to the couple of argentinian brothers Max and Sebastián Fiumara , authors of the stories of Abe Sapiens . While showing a difference of the stroke, the tone, the visual of the plates remains in the tradition of the Red, making the reader feel at ease with this further journey into the world of Hellboy .

Hellboy & B. P. R. D. Omnibus: 1946-1948 is a volume which fits perfectly in the continuity of Hellboy . If a player fond of Red represents a further look inside the narrative universe of Mignola, for those approaching for the first time the character is an excellent first step.

Magic Press has developed, as in previous omnibus dedicated to the adventures of Red, a solid volume and well cared for, with a graphic idea in line with the previously released Hellboy. The generous size, great for enjoying the spectacular tables, does not make it a reading from the trip, but it is more than suitable to experience the best the world of Hellboy , thanks to a rich portfolio of extras, including sketches, work-in-progress and interventions of the authors .

Hellboy & B. P. R. D. Omnibus: 1946-1948 then open the series dedicated to the stories of the B. P. R. D., a thrilling way to discover the world of Hellboy from another angle