Review by Frank Plowright
The Devil You Know is the culmination to not just twenty years or so of B.P.R.D., but to plots Mike Mignola has run through many associated series, whether set in the past or the present day. As such, it carries a heavy weight, and it’s ultimately disappointing.
Unlike earlier B.P.R.D. stories broken down into individual story arcs, this is a continuing escalation of horrific events over fifteen chapters, and is better experienced complete in this form than split over paperbacks Messiah, Pandemonium and Ragna Rok.
Hell on Earth ended with the B.P.R.D. making an enormous sacrifice to defeat a single massive monster. Their headquarters has been destroyed, and while that victory has paused the torment, Earth remains severely damaged. Now housed in a vast flying headquarters all surviving prominent B.P.R.D. agents are seen in the early chapters, along with some threats that arise only to fizzle out, which is the first of several puzzling lapses overall.
For most B.P.R.D. material Mignola has collaborated with John Arduci, who, for whatever reason, didn’t feel like sticking around for a final fifteen chapters, so Scott Allie co-writes with Mignola here. There’s an immediate difference in the dialogue, which is largely terse, and sometimes clever, but clarity isn’t a priority, and overall too much that needs greater explanation is left unsaid. At the start it can be overlooked, but toward the end the method fails to communicate what’s needed.
The artistic priority is the glorious devastation of a dying world, and primarily the responsibility of artist Laurence Campbell and colourist Dave Stewart, who between them create a memorable shadowy gloom with colour highlights. The vistas are sublime, but Campbell’s people tend to have blank expressions, and when not enough is explained in the script this is a slight downside. Sebastián Fiumara supplies a couple of excellent chapters, but all other artists noted are restricted to a few pages. Anything drawn by Mignola is always welcome.
While there’s a pause to begin with, the threat soon escalates, prompted by a demon in the form of a child Varvara sensing its moment has arrived after almost two centuries on Earth. Any prominent B.P.R.D. agent who’s survived so far is given a moment in the spotlight, but the finale is down to Abe, Liz and a returned Hellboy, who hangs around, but is taciturn and distant. Reasons for this can be speculated about, but it’s one of a number of matters where greater clarity was necessary. Figuring out prophecy has always been part of the B.P.R.D.’s agenda, and there’s unfinished business on that score for all three major characters. Abe’s situation is well-plotted, but again the required clarification is absent.
Everything eventually boils down to the reprise of a conflict from Hellboy’s earliest appearance, Mignola’s afterword noting that he’s always known where matters were heading. For something that he’s been building to for so long, it’s not very satisfactorily resolved. It seems too easy, and a subsequent explanation of why isn’t convincing.
B.P.R.D. is an incomparably ambitious series, and much of The Devil You Know lives up to that, especially the desperation, but on too many occasions where it counts what ought to be highlighted or explained isn’t treated well enough. This is good, but it could have been magnificent with a little more care.
