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brandonadaniels's review against another edition
5.0
I think this may be my favorite of the trilogy. I was particularly impressed by the art of Max Fiamura, who may be my new second favorite Hellboy universe artist- behind Mignola of course. As always, Dave Stewart deserves a huge shout out to making this world what it is.
thisotherbookaccount's review
2.0
Atomic bombs, monsters from a parallel universe and a beautiful scientist -- what could possibly go wrong?
At least that's what I thought when I got into the third part of Professor Bruttenholm's early adventures with BPRD. The first two installments were both brainless fun, and the second one even had a few touching moments towards the end of the book. The main stories also had a logical closure that felt just right. However, I can't say the same about 1948.
The story about the atomic bomb ripping a hole in the fabric of the universe was intriguing at first, calling back some of my favourite episodes from Fringe. Monsters from an alternate dimension are always fun to read about. However, that story didn't really get a proper closure. The protagonist killed the monsters that got through and... that's it. No attempts were made to actually close the hole between the universes -- nothing.
Anders' story from 1947 was a cliffhanger, but his character goes off on this monster killing spree here for... what, exactly? PTSD? We don't actually know. What we got was this back-and-forth relationship between Bruttenholm and the scientist, which didn't really amount to anything either.
I must say, though, that the creature design and art continue to be top-notch in this series. Max Fiumara has a gift with monsters, especially those tentacles, and the series should definitely keep him around for further installments.
A halfway decent entry into the series, but you will not remember it in T-minus 2 hours.
At least that's what I thought when I got into the third part of Professor Bruttenholm's early adventures with BPRD. The first two installments were both brainless fun, and the second one even had a few touching moments towards the end of the book. The main stories also had a logical closure that felt just right. However, I can't say the same about 1948.
The story about the atomic bomb ripping a hole in the fabric of the universe was intriguing at first, calling back some of my favourite episodes from Fringe. Monsters from an alternate dimension are always fun to read about. However, that story didn't really get a proper closure. The protagonist killed the monsters that got through and... that's it. No attempts were made to actually close the hole between the universes -- nothing.
Anders' story from 1947 was a cliffhanger, but his character goes off on this monster killing spree here for... what, exactly? PTSD? We don't actually know. What we got was this back-and-forth relationship between Bruttenholm and the scientist, which didn't really amount to anything either.
I must say, though, that the creature design and art continue to be top-notch in this series. Max Fiumara has a gift with monsters, especially those tentacles, and the series should definitely keep him around for further installments.
A halfway decent entry into the series, but you will not remember it in T-minus 2 hours.
jonathancrites's review
5.0
The last part of this collection, I liked 1948 the best. Great art, a cool setting in New Mexico and hints of more to come. Would recommend.
otherwyrld's review
3.0
1948 sees the B.P.R.D. team investigating monsters that appear after a nuclear test in Utah. Whilst there, Trevor Bruttenholme has a bit of a flirt with a sexy female scientist, and vampire-possessed Anders goes off the rails. In other news, Hellboy learns to smoke and is excited by a potential meeting with President Truman but has an important lesson to learn about appearances. He may still be just a child, but he's a demon child after all. Varvara makes a couple of appearances but only to pout a lot.
After complaining about spending too much time with vampires in old Europe in the first two books, I get my wish to have a story set in the USA only to find it falls rather flat. The Utah desert scenes are lifeless and boring to look at (much like the Utah desert, I suspect). Anders is just not an interesting character and cannot hold the storyline together. The monsters are well designed and really quite nasty looking, but as mindless creatures they are not much of a threat.
The relationship angle is potentially an interesting one, but the female scientist is written very inconsistently - she wants to be taken seriously as a scientist but spends too much time doing "girly" things for my liking. Maybe this is a consequence of the period in which this story was set, but we could have had a strong, interesting female character instead of the passive-aggressive, screaming girl we get here.
Project Enkeladus is mentioned here, which was an idea to use nuclear bombs to power a spaceship - I was going to complain that this was a British rather than an American idea but a quick Google search proved me wrong. Project Orion was an American idea from the 1940s, and the British idea (Daedalus) was in the 1970s.
Hellboy makes more of an appearance in this story than in previous ones. He is growing up fast, but at heart he is still a child. A careless jest made at his expense leads him to contemplate removing his horns, the most obviously non-human part of him, missing the point that he is still a demon and will be treated as such by most people. This is probably the most intriguing part of this story.
After complaining about spending too much time with vampires in old Europe in the first two books, I get my wish to have a story set in the USA only to find it falls rather flat. The Utah desert scenes are lifeless and boring to look at (much like the Utah desert, I suspect). Anders is just not an interesting character and cannot hold the storyline together. The monsters are well designed and really quite nasty looking, but as mindless creatures they are not much of a threat.
The relationship angle is potentially an interesting one, but the female scientist is written very inconsistently - she wants to be taken seriously as a scientist but spends too much time doing "girly" things for my liking. Maybe this is a consequence of the period in which this story was set, but we could have had a strong, interesting female character instead of the passive-aggressive, screaming girl we get here.
Project Enkeladus is mentioned here, which was an idea to use nuclear bombs to power a spaceship - I was going to complain that this was a British rather than an American idea but a quick Google search proved me wrong. Project Orion was an American idea from the 1940s, and the British idea (Daedalus) was in the 1970s.
Hellboy makes more of an appearance in this story than in previous ones. He is growing up fast, but at heart he is still a child. A careless jest made at his expense leads him to contemplate removing his horns, the most obviously non-human part of him, missing the point that he is still a demon and will be treated as such by most people. This is probably the most intriguing part of this story.
blackestclovers's review
4.0
More fantastic work from the 1940s Era of BPRD series. People complaining it's thrown together or characters aren't developed must have been watching TV and trying to read this at the same time. There's something in the works here. More Anders, more about these monster's origins and the Prof, but it'll come in the next volume. Mignola never disappoints.
venerablemonster's review
3.0
Read this out of order. This is before Vampire. I want to give it four stars for great art and interesting story, but the story ends up too split to accomplish itself well on either front. Anders' subplot should have been left alone entirely to be dealt with in Vampire, and the core '48 storyline could easily have been a two volume arc.
The BPRD '40s series has been a really interesting exercise, and I'd love to see them do more with it except as side stories between BPRD arcs.
The BPRD '40s series has been a really interesting exercise, and I'd love to see them do more with it except as side stories between BPRD arcs.
pdz's review
4.0
B.P.R.D. and Hellboy - all of those Mike Mignola properties seem to be things I just can't keep up with. Maybe because they're so many volumes of them, and they're not labelled 1 - infinity. Somehow I located 1948 at my library. When I flipped through a page or two and saw that Mignola wasn't doing the art, I was a little disappointed. But that was really presumptuous of me. The art is great. It's understated when it needs to be, and it's gory as all hell when it needs to be. This volume was great. It really captured a nice essence of the 1940s (or at least whatever romanticized version of it I've been programmed to like) and gave us a great glimpse into some small bits of Hellboy's personality.
I know it might seem like I'm on a 4 star kick recently, but I think I've just been making good choices and catching up on good stuff I've left on the shelf for a while. Why not 5? This book is amazing, but I think one little bump in the pacing would've been good. Just a little shove forward and it would be perfect. As it is, I find myself looking at the list of graphic novels on the back cover and wanting to buy every damn one of them.
Would a Mike Mignola - inspired tattoo be over the top?
I know it might seem like I'm on a 4 star kick recently, but I think I've just been making good choices and catching up on good stuff I've left on the shelf for a while. Why not 5? This book is amazing, but I think one little bump in the pacing would've been good. Just a little shove forward and it would be perfect. As it is, I find myself looking at the list of graphic novels on the back cover and wanting to buy every damn one of them.
Would a Mike Mignola - inspired tattoo be over the top?
kateofmind's review
5.0
Excellent story again -- even a wistful failed romance subplot! But little Hellboy almost steals it all. If he doesn't break/melt your heart, grab a stethoscope and make sure you still have one.