B.P.R.D., Vol. 13: 1947

B.P.R.D.

by Mike Mignola, Joshua Dysart, Dave Stewart

Kicking off with a trainload of Nazi officers drained of blood, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense learns that there are things far more ancient and dangerous than they could have imagined in this direct sequel to B.P.R.D.: 1946. Broom enlists an already damaged crew to lead an investigation that may be doomed before it can begin, climaxing in a witches' Sabbath, a vampire massacre, and an exorcism.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2010

About the author

Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.

In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.

In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.

Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.

Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how we get to see the professor building the BPRD in the early days. With WWII just having ended, Bruttenholm mainly pulls from the armed services to build out his teams. They're way over their head and unbelievers at first until they walk into a horde of vampires. I love how innocent Lil Hellboy is and how he is just a normal little boy at heart. Ba and Moons art works well, especially during the ethereal witches' ball. It's nice to see a little more color in the Mignolaverse as well.

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good story!

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

BPRD #13 opens with the mass mutilation of a train full of SS officers. The tone is set right? The story involves centuries old vampires, malevolent spirits, an eternal ball of dead people, and how the BPRD made it through the rocky second year of their formation without Abe Sapien or Hellboy or Liz or any of the regulars to help them. Hellboy puts in a cutesy performance as the kid he was, asking for pancakes and reading Lobster Johnson, but essentially the story centres around a small group of former GIs who go out to do battle with the ghosties and the ghoulies.

Ace script from Mignola, some fantastic artwork from Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, and a haunting tale of an ordinary man magicked away to fairy land and somehow finding his way back. This edition also features a small strip about the Professor in his youth staying the night in a haunted church. A great addition to the BPRD series, roll on 1948!

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

1947 rewinds to the early days of the B.P.R.D., when there were just a few agents who didn't really understand what they were up against. There's some great stuff here: vampire covens, parallel realities, and tiny Hellboy playing baseball with Bruttenholm. But one of the best things this book has going for it is just how quickly and seamlessly the first four B.P.R.D. agents are fleshed out. By the end of the first issue, I had a sense for who they were and what made them distinct for each other. Necessary, really, because who would care what happened to them otherwise?

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my favourite BPRD story so far. Its tale of the early days of the organisation was beautifully constructed and oozed darkness. The new characters seemed to breathe, making me want to see more of them, and the previously established characters were handled well. It's always nice to see the Professor and Hellboy interact, although their relationship is always touched by a hint of foreboding.
I originally expected the flashback arcs of BPRD to be filler but this volume is anything but.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little entry into the B.R.P.D. canon, but I felt slighted ni how the field agents were treated. We are given back story but each, for they ended up being cannon fodder. For longtime followers of the Mike Mignola's creations we do get Hellboy pancake scenes.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable outing in Mignola's Hellboy universe - a little sad to not see any of the regulars except young Hellboy, but the story makes up for it and feels right at home in the universe. WWII soldiers fighting vampires they hardly even believe in; an interesting contrast. And the scenes of the Hecate summoning are beautiful work - Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon always do amazing, and their style fit the BPRD universe to a T as well.

[Otherwyrld · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume really missed a trick. Here we are, in 1947 at a base in New Mexico and the story totally fails to mention the Roswell incident? I know that we are dealing with the paranormal here but at least we could have had something about it, maybe a request to investigate only to be slapped down with "We are the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. We deal with monsters from hell, not little green men from outer space!" (or words to that effect)

Instead, we get a continuation of the last book, with more vampires, more demon girl Varvara, and a confusing plot where poor lost B.P.R.D. agents are thrown into a situation they are ill-equipped to deal with. It is sometimes difficult to work out who is who, and you know the story is in trouble when the sketchbook at the end of the book has to make each person visually distinctive instead of making them actual characters with personalities that distinguish them in the story. At one point one of our agents is seduced by vampires in France, but is then found in Austria, with no clear idea in the story about how he got there.

There are some interesting bits - the vampire conference in which the leaders display their long-term plans, for example. The old priest called in to save the vampires victim is also an interesting addition to the group.

Knocking around in the background is the young Hellboy, who is here starting to feel like a neglected child (which of course he is at this point).

Not a total loss but not great either.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoy these stories with Prof. Bruttenholm in his early days, kiddy hellboy in the background and post-WWII Europe horror shows. Moon and Ba add-up their personal touch with their art and the overall result is great, some steps above the regular BPRD series with Davis and Arcudi. 1946 and 1947 (and i hope 1948 too) have a "Mignolic" finesse that the main BPRD series lacks big time, without being cheap copies of Mike's style.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice story arc of the early days in the Hellboy Universe. Good plot and over all story. Recommended

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

So another in the chronology of Hellboy this time there was a lot more of the titular character appearance than before - but still you are seeing the birth and growth of BPRD and the early stories that shaped the department.

For me these a classic tales with the story telling and artwork I came to love to know - this book really follows on from the first but not as much that you cannot tell what is going on.

I think one of the things I love (and yes I know this was written after the majority of the other books) are the easter eggs dotting throughout the book from references to the comics Hellboy reads to the future of characters this book fits perfectly in to the continuity of the wider series.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eerie look back at the early days of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Our founding heroes are overmatched as they struggle to discover--and fight--a new foe. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon do an excellent job merging the historic and otherworldly in their art. There's a flicker of hope in the ending, although this optimism is diminished in light of the bureau's struggles in the modern day.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a great read. It was so entertaining to see the incipient stage of formation of the BPRD and their early adventures. Also, child Hellboy is cute as hell!

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh prequels you are both a curse and a wonderful things when done right. Look! Here is an example of both!

I've written extensively in 1946 why I am not a fan of prequels in general so I won't go into detail here so let's dive into 1947 and I will tell you why it's both awesome and also has the same issues as prequels in general:

World: I like stylized art and Ba and Moon's art here is stylish but wonderfully frightening at the same time. I like the color usage as it is actually much more colorful than the last arc and the art difference is interesting. World building here is stellar as always and I especially like the fact that we get to see early BPRD and early Broom. The scope is just as big and I like the call back to the Mignolaverse and the payoff of the last arc. It's really strong world building indeed.

Story: Creepy and heartbreaking. I really like the fact that this time we see not so much Broom but the BPRD. This is a character piece and it's great, and very different from the general Mignola fare. The Jason centric story I really like and the 3 parallel storylines works incredibly well. Oh, and kid Hellboy is awesome and ties in to the greater Mignolaverse and what's happening to adult Hellboy at the moment, his moments make me smile. Wonderfully paced, superb tone and an ending that is both satisfying and open ended.

Characters: This is a character study through and through and I love it. I've always said that characterization is the weakest part of Mignola's writing and I may need to eat my words cause this arc is all about characters. Broom though not in the book a lot gets a huge dose of characterization and development, and the crew wow they take center stage and it's awesome. Anders is wonderful and what he goes through is both heartbreaking and relatable to readers making him a wonderful character. I like this, I did not expect to be attached to these new characters but I did. Great character work!

Man this arc is cool, a good change in focus and tone made for a fun read. The character focus is different for Mignola and this difference pays off.

Onward to the next book!

[Geert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about the humble beginnings of the B.P.R.D. in the aftermath of World War II and just before the start of the Cold War. A ragtag team of 4 World War II veterans is sent to investigate an old castle as a follow-up to murders of Nazi war criminals.
The story follows the veterans encountering the supernatural for the first time, at first unsure of how much of this they should believe and exactly what methods to employ. Another difference with the modern B.P.R.D. is that these are all ordinary men, with no supernatural powers or nature. It's refreshing to see this make-it-up-as-you-go-along bureau instead of the long established federal entity from modern times.
What I also liked seeing were the little moments of Hellboy as a small child, which made references to other Hellboy stories.
I found this volume a lot of fun: pulp fiction action, horror and expanding upon the storytelling universe Mike Mignola has constructed.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel depics the early beginnings of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Hellboy is just that, a boy, and Professor Bruttenholm is relatively young and the BPRD is in its founding stages. Unlike the current members of the modern day BPRD, however, the founding members don't have any special powers. In fact, they are average Joes or should I say G.I. Joes that include two Army soliders, a Marine and one former Merchant mariner. The combat-hardened team is set to investigate a series of murders that point to the Vampire nobleman that the Professor has tangled with in the recent past. And the vampires in this saga aren't from Twilight! If you like the supernatural and Hellboy, you should pick this up.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with B.P.R.D.: 1946, I prefer the modern-day B.P.R.D. stories, but this was still very enjoyable. The mythology behind the vampire court and the ruined chateau strikes me as more of a Hellboy story than B.P.R.D., mostly because I never got the sense of Bruttenholm's new team as true paranormal agents. I don't mean that as a criticism, because it worked really well, and the ending that wasn't an ending made the story stronger. I wish we could see more of Ota the exorcist, but I doubt even he could live long enough to be a character in the modern story.

[Etain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love vampire stories so I loved this. It feels very classical as does anders himself, a man out of time and out of culture. The classic self-grieving vampire like Louis de point du lac and his ilk. He's kind of like Hellboy in that way Byronic characters.
Makes me very excited to read his solo series.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another interesting back story that ties into the larger Hellboy world. The series has grown into an interesting world and I won't be shocked if the new Hellboy film isn't the beginning of a new cinematic universe. This was an interesting story that will continue in these yearly fashion.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. I m not completely enamored with Ba' and Moon's art, but it was very good! Because I've enjoyed this series and this was number 13, this gets 4 stars.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a lot of Nazi's, but they make up for the lack with an abundance of vampires, so it all evens out.

[Ripley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flash back from when Hellboy is a small child and BPRD is relatively new.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

B.P.R.D. Volume 13: 1947 is the second book in Professor Trevor Bruttenholm's early adventures with the Bureau. Instead of going out into the field with a team, however, Bruttenholm seems to have been promoted. However, the loss of his first team of WW2 recruits continues to linger over the man as he has to send a fresh team out to investigate an abandoned castle in France.

The previous volume, 1946, was just your simple, run-of-the-mill Hellboy-type adventure with vampires and Nazis. In fact, Hellboy hardly even made an appearance there, so it felt less like a Hellboy story as a whole. This time, however, you get this other story towards the end about Professor Bruttenholm's internal struggle with Hellboy's existence on Earth. Of course, you can also read it for the wild vampire adventure, because that's always a whole lot of fun. However, I personally enjoyed this deeper level of the story, which caught me by surprise.

I'm elated that Mignola employed Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon for penciling in this volume. The graphical side of Ba melded wonderfully with the brushes of Moon, creating two distinct yet similar worlds.

1947 may not be BPRD or Hellboy's brightest moment, but anything by Mignola is always a fun read, and this one even has a little surprise at the end to tug at the heartstrings.

[Adam Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon are two of my favorite artists currently working in comics. So I was excited to see their names on the cover of one of Mike Mignola's books. I was not disappointed in their collaboration. The melding of Mignola's vision, Ba and Moon's art, and Joshua Dysart's dialog and character building is superb.

The trickiest part of reading the Mignolaverse books (BPRD, Hellboy, Witchfinder, Abe Sapien, Lobster Johnson, and more) is figuring out an order. This book is a direct sequel from volume 9 (1946), and while it features new villains, and a new team of heroes, the surviving members of volume 9 all make appearances here.

I would recommend this book to Mignola enthusiasts, Hellboy fans who wish there were more moments like "Pancakes" (http://hellboy.wikia.com/wiki/Pancakes), people who wish Daytripper had more vampires in it, and people who like episodes of Whedon shows where characters end up in other dimensions and you watch their action and the action in the main word play out in real time.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re read this while listening to the Aw Crap A Hellboy Podcast podcast.
Love BPRD during Arcudi’s run. Though this is by Dysart. Wish he did more with Mignola.
The Fabio Moon / Gabriel Ba art is phenomenal. Wish these prequels continued between 48-52. Ah well. This is an excellent compelling adventure in the post WWII days.

[Augusto Bernardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a surprisingly good side story for the BPRD. I didn't really have any relevance to the main story and more so to Hellboy but it continued a previous side story of 1946. So now you have 2 different stories happening on different time lines in the same comic series which is actually really cool and can be explored further which is actually much more exciting as it gives continuity. It continued the story of Trevor Butterholm, Hellboy's adopted father as he sends some men to investigate a castle. Well one of them gets taken by some beautiful, Victorian vampire ladies and most of the rest meet gruesome deaths. There were no real epic finale which was disappointing but there were some really cool scenes with vampire and witch gatherings summoning the witch queen, Hecate. That really reminded me of Dark calling in Hellboy saga. The biggest stand out though in this volume wasn't the story though but the different and modern artist. I normally hate new artists doing a cheap job with characters you know and love but this artist did a fantastic job which was extremely fun to read.
Look forward to more of this timeline.

[Eli · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little disappointing. I have to compare it to B.P.R.D. 1952 which I recently read and it does not compare favourably. There were a lot of great bits but it just didn’t land for me. It has a great opening. The premise is okay if not spectacular but overall the execution just felt, disjointed. The presence of Hellboy here as a boy (see the year for a clue) felt tokenistic. All the scenes except for the beginning and end at B.P.R.D. headquarters felt like filler. There is a lot of occult ceremony and less character development then I would have liked. On the upside the villains are interesting and I’d like to know more about this long game plot and the players involved. But no Nazi’s no real Hellboy = ☹️. That said even disappointing Hellboy is better then most comics and the art is excellent. I’d probably have given it 3 stars if it were a different comic. That said Hellboy fans can probably take it or leave it.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seguimos con el relato de los primeros años de B.P.R.D. Los protagonistas son algunos soldados que recluta el Doctor Bruttenholm para formar su unidad de investigación paranormal, el Doctor tiene un papel importante pero no protagonista, ya que permanece en la base mientras los soldados que menciono realizan el trabajo de campo. Mejor no encariñarse porque no todos seguirán con vida. Hellboy hace algunas apariciones poco trascendentes (en esta época aún era un niño) principalmente pidiendo tortitas y buscando alguien que juegue al baseball con él.

La premisa inicial lleva a un grupo de cuatro veteranos de la segunda guerra mundial a investigar una fiesta que tuvo lugar en una mansión alemana doscientos años antes... brujas, vampiros y la aparición de villanos clásicos del universo Hellboy son los principales reclamos de este tomo, junto con el dibujo de los hermanos Gabriel Ba y Fabio Moon, espectacular.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Když jsem zjistil, že tuhle knihu kreslila brazilská dvojčata Gabriel Bá a Fábio Moon, tak jsem se začal hodně těšit. Tyhle dva mám rád, ať už kreslí cokoliv. Tuhle knihu by mohlo výtvarně vylepšit jediné, se vší úctou k Dave Stewartovi - kdyby si ji sami i vybavili vodovkami. Ale i Dave odvedl skvělou práci. 


Příběh je taková směs všeho možného. Je to mafiánský příběh s upíry, má to špetku z Baltimora, a v neposlední řadě i kousek Vymítače. Hellboy a lívance příbaleny. Dohromady to funguje. Sice tomu chybí kyborgské opice a šílení vědci, ale je to napínavé a já jsem docela spokojený. Kvůli těm těm klukům brazilskejm se kloním k vyššímu hodnocení.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike just know how to mix folklore into his story. Although it always fell more or less the same, it's that similarity, that makes it great. Like enjoying favourite drink in a bar. You know what to expect, but you still enjoy the taste.

This time, main ingredients are vampires, forming mysterious society and watching mankind from behind, combined with brave agents setting foundations of B.P.R.D. and winnings first fights, garnished with young Hellboy strolling around the base and killing boredom.