Comics
Review: ‘B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: The Devil’s Engine’ #2
After the first issue of The Devil’s Engine I was at a bit of a loss, not nearly as enjoyable as I have come to expect from the B.P.R.D family. Well, after this issue I’ve learned to shut my trap because issue #2 of this three-parter knocked me on my ass. The plot thickens in the “Hell on Earth” epic event, as we learn more of insidious plots cooking in the cauldron, while our unlikely pair of heroes take a stroll done Holy F*ck lane.
WRITTEN BY: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
ART BY: Tyler Crook
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
RELEASE: June 20th
The anxiety level for Andrew Devon leaps up a couple notches in this issue. His psychic friend and her dog attempt to locate an alternative form of transportation in light of recent catastrophic train wreck. The sweet cover of this months issue should give you a hint as to what you’ll find inside. The book starts off with a bang and ends with a mother of a cliff hanger! Thus far, “Hell on Earth” has kept us mostly in the dark, but as the multiple storylines begin coming to a crossroads, you can smell something big in the air, and every issue of B.P.R.D. works builds that tension.
The artwork in the book is on par with the great work we’ve all come to expect from B.P.R.D., clear images yet a sketchy element that adds a sort of eerie layer to the drawings. The coloring and shading also adds an extra degree, as much of the scenes tend to the dark side of the color spectrum (even in the daytime).
One thing that often goes unnoticed in comics is sound effects, and the sound-scape created. B.P.R.D. books have a very, very good use of sound. It’s the small things, like a bang or scraping on a door, that make it stand out. Pay attention next time, and you can almost hear the sounds, as opposed to just reading letters on a page. This usage of noise creates a much more enjoyable experience, tricking the senses in a way.
Fun, fast paced, and a cliff hanger to boot! If you’re not sold on following the “Hell on Earth” event, I don’t know what kind of comics you’re reading! Get in there!
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – GreenBasterd
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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