Review by Frank Plowright

Over the course of Hell on Earth the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense has had to face a planet-changing threat with fewer superhuman resources than before. Military action has been the necessary option, but after Metamorphosis it seems as if they’ve hit on a weapon more than capable of dealing with the monstrous manifestations.

Mike Mignola and John Arcudi are nearing the end of the Hell on Earth sequence, so they revert to bigger picture storytelling in which all B.P.R.D. agents and associates are featured in successive scenes. The apocalypse is approaching, and the artistic combination of Laurence Campbell’s vision and Dave Stewart’s colours brings it home terrifyingly. Campbell is called on to design a succession of new monsters, and the results are amazing, and the effort put in is appreciated. Around halfway through there’s an undersea creature only required for two panels, and the design is astonishingly good.

Truth be told, End of Days isn’t the jumping on point for new readers. Mignola and Arcudi reference situations from a considerable while ago, and return a couple of characters unseen since the Plague of Frogs sequence. However, anyone who’s followed Hell on Earth over a dozen previous volumes ought to derive maximum pleasure in the way it ties together so much of what’s occurred in earlier stories. There’s no mistaking the ending as not as happy as it might be, but this thrills on a grand scale, living up to the title.

The next volume is The Exorcist, which technically has little to do with the ongoing plots, which is why it wasn’t allocated to the bulky Hell on Earth 5. Don’t skip it, because it’s good, but Hell on Earth concludes with Cometh the Hour.