B.P.R.D. Vampire #4: The cover has a big-ass spider on it. So, that’s enough to make me excited. Well, that, and all this trucker speed. What, you thought I was like this normally?! Ha! No, it’s all the trucker speed talking.
Anyway, thanks to Barry “The Big Rig,” for…his input.
Come children, let’s see if it’s any good.
B.P.R.D. Vampire #4 (Dark Horse)
Ba and Moon are back on story and art duties. And Mike Mignola must have texted them a smiley face or something, so he gets a writing credit. Maybe one of those winky faces. Who doesn’t love a winky face?
A lot of action in this issue. Agent Simon is possessed by the two vampire bitches, whose spirits(?) are trapped within him. It’s always nice when they’ve got all the buildup out of the way, so they can have epic fights between a vampire possessed by, um, vampires, and witches. Shit is bananas. Even more attacks and supernatural fare than last issue, which is good, Ecxcept I’m having a hard time giving a crap about Agent Simon. This could be the argument against most of the current B.P.R.D. output. We get agents we’ve either never met, or only just met, and we are expected to care about their well being. We do to a point, but not as much as we’d care if an agent we were used to was put in grave peril.
Not the hugest fan of the pointy noses, but the panels still flow like a river through the forest. The color of flames, the use of shadow, the way Dave Stewart mixes cool blues with bright yellows. It really accommodates Ba and Moon’s style quite well.
Also, whoever came up with the idea of the spirits trapped within Agent Simon forming a giant spirit-spider to attack the witches deserves a pat on the back, and a delicious snack of colossal magnitude. Maybe a deep dish pizza? It’s cool seeing the various supernatural peeps fight each other, and Ba and Moon draw it well. The sweeping landscape battles are great to watch.
8.0
- Great fight scenes.
- Cool use of supernatural entitites.
- Why do we care about Agent Simon again?
Is It Good?
Pretty good, and it has its moments: A really spectacular fight scene, and some cool panels of dark gods, and dead things. But at the end of the issue, though you’re intrigued where the last issue is headed, there is one nagging question. Why should I care about these random B.P.R.D. agents I barely know? Abe Sapien I care about. Johann I care about. Hell, wheelchair lady, Panya, I care about. But these one- or two-and-done agents that keep popping up to either die, or go back in time, or turn into… There have been so many B.P.R.D. issues being churned out, and I’m having trouble remembering one with an agent who I cared about the safety of. Read it for cool supernatural people battles, but don’t expect to be worried for another red shirt.
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