Trade Post: B.P.R.D. 1946 & Catwoman Crime Pays

2008-12-17
1:37:54 am

Okay, time for another installment of trade post:

B.P.R.D. 1946 Volume 9 (Dark Horse)

Written by Mike Mignola & Joshua Dysart

Drawn by Paul Azaceta

I love me some Hellboy, you guys and, of course, that includes B.P.R.D. I didn't get into the Hellboy-verse until a few years ago, which was pretty good timing because I was able to read all the trades at Wizard and I was able to hop over the long gap when there weren't any new books and Hellboy was spending a few years under the ocean. I'm a big fan of how intricate the history is. There's elements in 1946 that resonate later on, though I can't point all of them out, because it's really hard to keep everything straight in my head. I do like to re-read the books every year or so, but I haven't done that in a while and even right after I do it's hard to remember.

This story follows Hellboy's adoptive pops Trevor Bruttenholm in one of his post-WWII adventures with a group of soldiers in a bombed out Germany. This one's got everything from vampires and werewolves to little girls in white dresses leading the Russian version of the B.P.R.D.

One of the great things about Dark Horse's Hellboy and B.P.R.D. trades is that you can pretty much pick any of them up, understand what's going on and enjoy a great story with a beginning, middle and end. Sure there are smaller elements that you might not pick up on, but might also drive you to check out other books. The other thing I love about these books is that they almost always have extras. Usually that includes an intro by Mignola along with a sketchbook with commentary in the back by Mike and whoever else is drawing the book. Unfortunately, this volume lacks the intro, which usually has Mignola explaining the genesis of the idea (where the mythology came from, that kind of thing). I really like those and was bummed to see there wasn't one. There was, however an Afterward by Dysart explaining his first 1946 meeting with Mignola and the sketchbook.

Oh, one more thing, I really dug Paul Azaceta's art. Like a lot of the non-Mignola or Dan Davis Hellboy/B.P.R.D. it took me a while to get used to his style (what can I say? I'm used to my superhero artists), but Azaceta seems like the perfect artist for this project. I look forward to seeing him on future B.P.R.D. projects almost as much as I'm looking forward to all the other Hellboy-verse books.

CATWOMAN: CRIME PAYS (DC)

Written by Will Pfeifer

Drawn by David Lopez

Catwoman's one of those characters that I have an on-again off-again relationship with. I actually had a subscription to the Jim Balent-drawn version for a year which I dug. I'd also grab whatever crossover issues came out. I completely missed out on Brubaker's relaunch and still want to go back and read it, but I have read a few of Pfeifer's trades, this being, I believe, the second to last of the current run (it's getting canceled right? I'm super behind).

Anyway, this story follows Selina's attempt to start a new life with her baby, then get rid of the baby and finally waking up in her empty apartment which then explodes, leaving Cats on the run in Gotham without her mask or whip. There's a character called The Thief who disappears due to Catwoman's involvement in the Salvation Run storyline which feature supervillains being sent to a crazy planet far far away.

I was actually pretty interested in the Thief storyline and seeing Catwoman stripped of everything and on her own, but it got cut off by the Suicide Squad getting the jump on her and sending her to the prison planet. I wasn't a big fan of the whole Salvation Run storyline, partly because it seemed a bit too close the Marvel's Negative Zone prison (did they even really flesh that out? All things Civil War are a blur thanks to the Civil War Room column), even though it's a pretty sound idea in theory. I don't even know how that mini-series ended and this trade doesn't offer up much insight. You get an issue of Cats wandering around from faction to faction only to end up with Luthor's crew, but then she ends up in this weird world where's practically SuperCat and runs everything. Once she's out, she presumably rejoins the Salvation Run storyline. I feel bad for Pfeifer because it doesn't feel like the Salvation Run stuff was very organic, probably more dropped on his plate. But he handled it well, though the story itself doesn't hold much consequence (even though it's pretty cool).

I've liked Pfeifer's writing in the past, his Aquaman Sub Diego stuff was rad and HERO is one of the coolest books from the past five or six years not yet collected (seriously, what's the deal with that? come on DC, where's my omnibus?!), but for whatever reason Catwoman hasn't really absorbed me yet, though I'll probably grab the next trade when it makes its way into the Wizard office. I also like David Lopez, he's a solid artist with a distinct style that makes him stand out. He seems equally adept at drawing grim and gritty street-level stuff as huge superhero group shots, which he also gets to do in this book.

I can't really recommend Crime Pays to non Catwoman readers. There's a lot going on in this book that's not only connected to past Catwoman continuity, but also a part of DC's last year that seems generally ignored (seriously, I read a ton of DC books, how did the villains get back?). Hopefully the next volume will wrap things up with The Thief (I'm seriously interested in that storyline, as well as what the heck Catwoman's supposed to do with all her stuff gone).