B.P.R.D. Volume 3: Plague of Frogs

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola finally reveals Abe Sapien's bizarre history. Introduced in the first Hellboy book and featured prominently in the film, Abe Sapien has remained one of the most intriguing mysteries of Mignola's celebrated work. The recent Hellboy film steered clear of any origin story for Abe so that the tale could be told in Plague of Frogs. The story of Abe's origins unfolds as the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense try to stop the monstrous frog men from the first Hellboy graphic novel, Seed of Destruction. The plague begins its spread across America, lending an apocalyptic new direction to Mignola's stories.

From Booklist

Hellboy spinoff B.P.R.D. finally comes into its own in the long story constituting the third collection of the comic book. Plague of Frogs explains where B.P.R.D. regular Abe Sapiens, who is amphibious, came from. It's what's known in the superhero biz as an origins story, and it implies that Abe is an emanation in a time loop. He has a -nineteenth-century manifestation that he accesses from the present via something like the astral plane. No birth-equivalent is suggested, so whether Abe exists in other periods, too, is an open question. The revelation about Abe arises from a series-typical spooky caper involving highly evolved fungi escaping from a secret lab with the aid of a possessed professor, an outbreak of frog-monsters traceable to a cult that has taken over a small New England town, a fiery showdown of cult-and-monsters versus Abe and his Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense colleagues, and Abe's near-death. Writer-artist Mignola surrenders drawing duties to Davis, whose broader palette, suppler line, and more intricate backgrounds serve an often-dialogueless scenario superbly. Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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